HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS ELVES By Cheri Kay Clifton

During Christmas, does one of these little fellas occupy a place in your home? I’ve always had an elf or two either sitting on our mantel, hanging from a light fixture, or perched on a Christmas tree limb.

Have you ever wondered when and where these tiny folks first appeared and how they evolved into cute little creatures dressed in green or red with large, pointy ears and pointy hats?

After doing some research, I found there is a lot of conjecture as to the origin of elves, although most folklorists believe they date back to ancient history. Ancient Norse mythology refers to the ‘alfar’, also know as “hidden folk.” The Scandinavian and Celtic cultures had myths of fairies, elves and nature spirits. Interestingly enough, most folklore of that time depicted elves as more naughty than nice, more mischievous than merry.

The Scandinavians and Celts weren’t the only Europeans who believed in supernatural species. Germans had their dwarves and little sprites called kobolds. Scots had house spirits called brownies.

The word, “elf,” derives from the ancestral language of German and Old English and dates as far back as 500 A.D.

The transition of elf myth to Christmas tradition is difficult to explain. Clearly originating from pagan roots, many countries participated in seasonal celebrations, many of which took place during the winter solstice. Centuries of elf traditions merged with the traditions of Christmas.

The association of Santa Claus with elves could well be linked from the phrasing of Clement Moore’s 1823 poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known today as “The Night Before Christmas.” That poem refers to Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf.”

Godey's Ladies Book

Harper's Weekly

Louisa May Alcott later wrote a book that was called “Christmas Elves” and a popular publication of the times, Godey’s Ladies Book published art work of Santa and his tiny elves. During the 19^th Century, many writers were inspired by the elf link to Christmas. In 1857, Harper’s Weekly published a poem called “The Wonders of Santa Claus,” which tells of the elves working for Santa and making toys and sugar plums to fill children’s stockings.

In 1922, famed artist Norman Rockwell released his painting of an exhausted Santa surrounded by busy elves finishing a dollhouse in time for Christmas.

Through the decades, movies have depicted elves helping Santa prepare for Christmas, some quite unconventional, such as the "misft" elf named Hermey in 1964’s classic TV special, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and in the 2003 movie, “Elf,” starring Will Ferrell.

The trademarked “Elf on a Shelf” started in 2005 when author Carol Aebersold self-published a tale of a little elf sent by Santa to report on children’s behavior leading up to Christmas.

Although Santa Claus will always hold top billing, in the USA, Canada, and Great Britain, diminutive elves clad in green and red also add to the magic of children’s Christmas traditions.

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Who Really Wrote "The Night Before Christmas?"

Presented by Paisley Kirkpatrick

(A short excerpt of this Christmas story)

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

For almost 180 years, families have loved and shared a joyous poem of Christmas with their families. The poem, A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS, more commonly known as 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, has been a classic since its first appearance in the Troy Sentinel in 1823. The poem was published anonymously and, as excitement over the verses grew, everyone wanted to know the name of the author. In 1837 Clement Clarke Moore, a biblical scholar in New York City, allowed his name to be attached as author and, in 1844, he included the piece in his own book, POEMS. Moore explained that he had written the poem on the Christmas Eve of 1823.

One would think that that would have put the issue to rest. But there was a problem.

The problem was that for at least fifteen years before the poem saw the light of a Troy New York day, by 1808 at the latest, a group of children had been listening to Henry Livingston read them the poem.

And all four of them - Charles, the oldest, and his next-door-neighbor bride Eliza, second son Sidney, and third son Edwin - all remembered the event and their pleasure in the poem.

Whether Henry, dead by the time Moore took credit for the poem, would have cared for the fame and attention is doubtful.

Whether he would have appreciated someone appropriating his work, though, is a completely different thing.

For over a century and a half, those who remembered have passed on the story to the next generation. Descendants collected one another's memories in the hopes that some stray thread would be found that could be pulled on, and maybe, just maybe, unravel the curtain preventing their story from emerging. But for all that time, and all that effort, the Livingston descendants failed to make a case strong enough to put up against the word of the son of the Rector of New York City's Trinity Church. There was no smoking gun. The original in Henry's handwriting had burned in a Wisconsin fire.

Taken from Christmas Tree Farm Network