roseembolism (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
roseembolism) wrote2008-11-20 04:47 pm
roseembolism) wrote2008-11-20 04:47 pm
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paper: the True Elves of Europe
I'm not going to vouch for the accuracy of this paper, but it is interesting, in that it traces the common elements of the "elven" legends of pre-Christian Europe. Highly abridged, and translated from the Russian:
Leonid L. Korablev
The True Elves of Europe
Abstract:
In view of (relatively) abundant references to Elves in surviving ancient and medieval texts, modern connotations of the word 'elf' as well as 18th-19th century related folk-lore ideas appear as grotesque distortions of a waning tradition. Observing the older references, we notice striking similarities between Elves and their counterparts of various names across the mythological landscape of North-Western Europe. We claim that these are traces of an integral tradition, which, with time, gradually lost its integrity and merged with other traditions and/or random elements of folk fancy. It is clear that Tolkien widely used the elements of that tradition in creating his Elves; we maintain that besides being a marvelous achievement of a story-teller, Tolkien's Elves (Eldar, Quendi) were a (veiled) attempt of a scholar at reconstructing the tradition in question. Similar treatment of the Atlantis myth (i.e. providing a 'real' story of which the known myth could be an echo) speaks in favor of our hypothesis.
And then there's more, including the common characteristics of elves, and comments on how Tolkein adapted them to his work. Interesting stuff, I'd love to see the whole paper.
The True Elves of Europe
Abstract:
In view of (relatively) abundant references to Elves in surviving ancient and medieval texts, modern connotations of the word 'elf' as well as 18th-19th century related folk-lore ideas appear as grotesque distortions of a waning tradition. Observing the older references, we notice striking similarities between Elves and their counterparts of various names across the mythological landscape of North-Western Europe. We claim that these are traces of an integral tradition, which, with time, gradually lost its integrity and merged with other traditions and/or random elements of folk fancy. It is clear that Tolkien widely used the elements of that tradition in creating his Elves; we maintain that besides being a marvelous achievement of a story-teller, Tolkien's Elves (Eldar, Quendi) were a (veiled) attempt of a scholar at reconstructing the tradition in question. Similar treatment of the Atlantis myth (i.e. providing a 'real' story of which the known myth could be an echo) speaks in favor of our hypothesis.
And then there's more, including the common characteristics of elves, and comments on how Tolkein adapted them to his work. Interesting stuff, I'd love to see the whole paper.