Elves in a Rabbit Warren. An elf is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Early elves, whose description depends almost entirely on Norse mythology texts, were a race of beings with magical skills, ambivalent towards humans and

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Elves in a Rabbit Warren. An elf is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Early elves, whose description depends almost entirely on Norse mythology texts, were a race of beings with magical skills, ambivalent towards humans and capable of either helping or hindering them. But Christianized societies were viewing elves in increasingly sinister light. From around the Late Middle Ages, the word elf began to be used as a term loosely synonymous with fairy and other beings. In the Victorian period stereotype of the elf, appearing in illustrations as tiny men and women with pointed ears and stocking caps. Richard "Dickie" Doyle (September 1824 - December 11, 1883) was a notable illustrator of the Victorian era. In 1846 his illustrations for The Fairy Ring (a new translation of Grimm's tales), first made his name as a fairytale illustrator. Following this in 1849 he produced Fairy Tales from All Nations which proved a tremendous success. Doyle was able to fully explore his love of fairy mythology with his many illustrations and borders filled with elves, pixies and other mythical creatures.