How Did Elves Become Part Of Christmas?

Elves are meant to be supporting players in the story of Christmas, but in the 21st century, they’ve stolen the show. Santa’s helpers now star in hit movies, decorate our ugly holiday sweaters, and spy on us from our shelves. Unlike Santa Claus—a.k.a. St. Nicholas—elves don’t have early analogues in Christianity. So how did the industrious sprites come to be associated with Christmas?

Naughty and Nice

If you don’t picture tiny toymakers at the North Pole when you talk about elves, you may think of woodland creatures from European fairytales. The English word elf derives from the álfar from Ancient Norse mythology. These folkloric figures predate the Christmas characters by several hundred years. 

Though the álfar are often cited as history’s first elves, they varied significantly from the magical fellows we know today. They didn’t build shoes or toys while wearing pointy hats. Nordic elves weren’t even short, necessarily. The alternative name for álfar was huldufólk, or “hidden folk,” and they were believed to occupy the unseen realm between worlds. Beyond that, there wasn’t a solid set of characteristics defining the creatures across myths. The Ancient Nordic people probably pictured them looking similar to humans. 

Legends of human-like creatures that lived just out of sight in the shadows of our world soon spread through pre-Christian Europe. In Scotland, there were brownies—tiny beings that would either do your chores or make your house messier, depending on their mood. German kobolds similarly alternated between being helpful and impish, as did Swedish tomte.