InEnglish-speaking cultures,Christmas elves are diminutiveelves that live withSanta Claus at theNorth Pole and act as his helpers. Christmas elves are usually depicted as green- or red-clad, with large,pointy ears and wearingpointy hats. They are most often depicted ashumanoids, but sometimes as furry mammals with tails. Santa's elves are often said to make the toys inSanta's workshop and take care of hisreindeer, among other tasks.
They were first introduced in literature byLouisa May Alcott in 1856. Santa is much older, emerging in U.S.folklore in the early 17th century fromSaint Nicholas with attributes of various EuropeanChristmas traditions, especially from EnglishFather Christmas and DutchSinterklaas. The association of Christmas presents with elves has precedents in the first half of the 19th century with the Scandinaviannisse or tomte, and Saint Nicholas himself is called an elf inA Visit from St. Nicholas (1823).
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The origins of the elf are said to have been derived fromNorse mythology, which refers to theálfar, also known ashuldufólk 'hidden folk'. The elf character is most likely to have combined this Norse legend with other Scandinavian and Celtic cultures and myths regarding elves,fairies and nature spirits. In various regions of Europe there were similar supernatural beings that can be connected to elves, such askobolds from Germany andhouse spirits named brownies in Scotland. In medieval Europe, elves were seen as nefarious and were often linked to demons.
The Christmas elf appeared in literature as early as 1850 when Louisa May Alcott completed, but never published a book titledChristmas Elves. The image of the elves in the workshop was popularized byGodey's Lady's Book, with a front cover illustration for its 1873 Christmas issue showing Santa surrounded by toys and elves with the caption "Here we have an idea of the preparations that are made to supply the young folks with toys at Christmas time".[1] During this time, Godey's was immensely influential to the birth of Christmas traditions, having shown the first widely circulated picture of a modern Christmas tree on the front cover of its 1850 Christmas issue. Additional recognition was given in Austin Thompson's 1876 work "The House of Santa Claus, a Christmas Fairy Show for Sunday Schools".[1]
In the 1823 poemA Visit from St. Nicholas (commonly known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas), often attributed toClement Clarke Moore, Santa Claus himself is described in line 45: "He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf".[2] Prior to the influence of Saint Nicholas inSweden, the job of giving out gifts was done by theYule goat. By 1891, the saint had merged withTomten, which was previously an elfish / dwarfish farm guardian. Following the work ofJenny Nyström, this hybrid figure became known asJultomten.[3]
In the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland, the modern legend of Santa Claus typically includes diminutive elves atChristmas; green-clad elves with pointy ears and pointy hats as Santa's employees / assistants. They make the toys in Santa's workshop located in the North Pole. In recent years, other toys—usually high-tech toys like computers, video games, DVDs, and DVD players, and even mobile phones—have also been depicted as being ready for delivery, but not necessarily made, in the workshop as well. In this portrayal, elves slightly resemble nimble and delicate versions of thedwarfs ofNorse myth.
In recent films (e.g.The Santa Clause series andThe Christmas Chronicles), the elves' jobs also include operating police and air forces protectingthe North Pole, helping Santa outside the Pole when he is captured by the real-world police, and as Santa'ssecret-service-like bodyguards (Fred Claus).
The elves are generally said to live for hundreds, or even thousands, of years, despite the fact that in some cases they appear eternally youthful as children.
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Christmas elves have had their role expanded in modern films and television. They are generally portrayed in live-action films either bylittle actors, children,forced perspective to make normal-sized actors appear diminutive, orcomputer-generated imagery (CGI); otherwise bytraditional animation,stop-motion animation, orcomputer animation according to the format of the film. For instance:
Valentine D'Arcy Sheldon's children's picture book,The Christmas Tree Elf,[11] tells the origin story of how Santa met his elves. It also introduces Blink the elf, who introduces Santa to the elves and saves Christmas by extinguishing a Christmas tree fire.
A strong connection to Christmas and elves can be found in the popular fairy tale "The Elves and the Shoemaker" published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. In this tale a shoemaker, who had not been able to meet the demand to make more shoes, is greeted by several elves just before Christmas to finish all the shoes for him.
In European countries, Santa has differing helpers depending on the country. In the Netherlands and Belgium, Saint Nicholas is accompanied byZwarte Piet (Black Peter) whose inclusion has become a controversial issue for theblackface depiction of the character.[12]
InGermany, the companions are theKnecht Ruprecht and inLuxembourg, they are known asHoesecker.[13]
In Nordic countries, Christmas Elves are considerednisser and not elves and they will usually wear only red instead of the green and red outfits that they are known for in English speaking countries.[13]
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