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Help[Facts] Re: Question- meaning behind word element "elf" in many Germanic names?
in reply to a message by Wes
Elf in personal names is an enigma, given the contemporary concept of elves (they turn the cream, spoil the milk, make people and animals sick in body and mind, wither the crops etc.). The other "monsters" used in dithematic names (thurse {giant or "long man"} and worm {dragon}) are tribal totems, but elves were immaterial, malicious spirits. It's possible it didn't originally refer to the evil spirits at all — the word is identical to the name of the German river Elbe and literally means "white", cognate with Albion, Alps etc. — as spirits elves, like ghosts, are white, and the Elbe at its source is the "white" river. Of course other themes drop out of use once they acquire negative meanings in prosaic language, so it's a mystery why "elf" persisted onomastically in an era when they were viewed so negatively.
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Of course other themes drop out of use once they acquire negative meanings in prosaic language, so it's a mystery why "elf" persisted onomastically in an era when they were viewed so negatively.
It could possibly have had to do with superstition. Perhaps in some (if not all) Germanic tribes, there was the belief that if you incorporated the name of something negative (in this case, elves) into the name of your child - thereby "honouring" that negative thing in some way - your child would be protected from coming into contact with said negative thing, at least for the duration of their childhood (if not for their entire life). An onomastic vaccine of sorts, if you will.
If not that, then the use of given names containing "elf" might have persisted out of respect for the ancestors who had borne such names, as Germanic tribes greatly valued their ancestors, if I recall correctly. Just like people in many cultures today like to honour their immediate family members, the Germanic peoples did the same but also looked further than that, i.e. went further back in their families for names. Obviously, they had no genealogical records at their disposal: they had had to rely on the information that was passed on orally over the generations.
I suppose we will probably never know for certain, but I just thought I should put these possibilities out there. :)
It could possibly have had to do with superstition. Perhaps in some (if not all) Germanic tribes, there was the belief that if you incorporated the name of something negative (in this case, elves) into the name of your child - thereby "honouring" that negative thing in some way - your child would be protected from coming into contact with said negative thing, at least for the duration of their childhood (if not for their entire life). An onomastic vaccine of sorts, if you will.
If not that, then the use of given names containing "elf" might have persisted out of respect for the ancestors who had borne such names, as Germanic tribes greatly valued their ancestors, if I recall correctly. Just like people in many cultures today like to honour their immediate family members, the Germanic peoples did the same but also looked further than that, i.e. went further back in their families for names. Obviously, they had no genealogical records at their disposal: they had had to rely on the information that was passed on orally over the generations.
I suppose we will probably never know for certain, but I just thought I should put these possibilities out there. :)
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