Wights, Elves & Dwarfs

If the enemies of our Folk are out there monitoring this post it is, once again, going to invite accusations of my having 'mental health problems'; but to those who are wiser and still loyal to Kin, Folk, Gods, Ancestors and who are aware of the Spirit-Worlds in which dwell other Holy Beings who withdrew from this realm when the Christians turned them into 'demons' or 'devils' and mankind drew away from them and eventually almost forgot they existed. Far from having 'mental health problems' those who believe in there being other worlds of existence, and other being who dwell in these worlds, and the ones who hold to the truth. Quantum Science, although still partly stuck in the physical world, is beginning to find the truth, and much of this is not due to modern ideas but to the study of ancient texts. 

The problem in creating this post lies in the fact that what we know as 'Wights', 'Elves', Dwarfs' and other 'otherworldly beings' have in the main been demonised by the Christian Church - turned into 'devil's and 'demons'. The modern materialistic consumer society has done its part in cutting man off from the other-worlds and the only vestiges left are perhaps that the Elves come at 'Christmas' with 'Santa Claus'. Not only were these beings treated in this way, but also our Gods who were demonised, the best example being Woden who was turned into the 'Devil', as we shall show.

Luckily, there are still remnants of the truth, especially in the works of Jacob Grimm - Teutonic Mythology - and Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. 'Synchronistically', the name 'Grimm' is a by-name of Woden. Writers of this era, fortunately, had access to old 'folk-tales' still passed down through word of mouth, something we do not have today. Jacob Grimm and his brother, Wilhelm Grimm, had the foresight to write down some of this and leave it for those to come. 

As I said, the Christian Church was responsible for 'demonising' our gods, wights, elves, dwarfs and other beings, but this is not the whole story. This we know to be the case but as with all things mankind, having developed the means to choose, chose to go the wrong way and to believe what the church said, admittedly sometimes out of fear for their lives. In following this path they lost the contact with the other realms, and in doing so the beings of these realms would naturally not be so keen on dealing with men - hence no doubt why we find mischievous elves or sometimes downright hostile elves or other wights. Another consequence seems to go some way to explaining the rather complicated remnants of this Folk-Lore where Elves were seen to be 'little-people' rather than the tall, fair Elves of Tolkien. 

This is quite easily explained when we see the same thing has happened to men, who have diminished in height over thousands of years, and these wights also diminished in height. In many instances the Dwarves (Dwarfs) were seen to be taller than the Elves. My own experience of this was in the Scottish Highlands on the shore of the Moray Firth where Asbeorn (an Odinist Magician) and I performed an Alfar Blot and just after doing so I stood beside a small stream running down from the mountains above, aptly named the Fairy Glen. A shining blue-white figure of beautiful appearance stood before me, a shimmering blue-white light about four foot tall. This was one of the Elven Folk. We can see by this that the Elves are smaller now, have 'diminished' as Tolkien wrote in his Book of Lost Tales. This explains the anomalies in the tales of these wights.

THE ELVES.

The word 'elf' is related to the ideas of 'shining', 'white', 'brilliant' etc. and stems from -

OE - aelf, elfen, ylfa

ON - alfr, alfar

Goth - albs

German - alb

elb/elben

For our purposes we shall always use the term Elf or Elven, using a capital letter to show that we see these as a 'Holy Folk', just as we do with the Gods and the Ancestors. For this, we must add, the term is used of the Light Elves or High Elves alone, for reasons that will become clear in this post. There are three kinds of Elves to be found in Norse Mythology -

Light Elves - liosaflfar - dwelling in Alfheim.

Dark Elves - dokkalfar - dwelling within the Earth.

Black Elves - svartalfar - who seem to be the smiths and craftsmen.

The 'Dark Elves' are obviously not the same as the 'Black Elves', and seem to be rather more 'dim' or 'dingy' rather than 'black'. Indeed, they are more 'brown' or even (in a lot of cases) 'grey'. Popular belief held that dwarfs wore grey clothing or grey or brown 'cap-of-darkness'. What struck me here was that even today these beings may not have completely stopped entering our realms unrecorded. Is it not possible that the Light Elves are the 'Nordic Aliens' and the Dark Elves the 'Grey Aliens'? (*) These are just modern interpretations of ancient mysteries seen through the eyes of technology. 

In Scotland there are such things as the elf-arrow, elf-flint, and elf-bolt, and knots in wood were ascribed to the Elves. In Scotland a know-hole is called an elfbore. In Smaland (Prussia) a tale is told about the ancestress of a family that she was an Elfmaid, that she came into a house through a knot-hole in the wall with the sunbeams. I am going to come back to this because of the statement given by Jacob Grimm - 'with the sunbeams'. 

Elves are also associated (like Dwarfs) with invisibility and also with the butterfly, which seems to where we get the Victorian idea of the 'fairies' who have wings. The butterfly is a symbol of transformation since it starts off as a caterpillar (without wings) and transforms into the winged butterfly. On this same idea the 'Fairy Ring', which occurs in grass with mushrooms, should rightly be called an Elf-Ring since we get the terms alledands (Danish) and alfdands (Swedish). We have been led away from the true meanings through using terms not suited, since 'Fairy' comes from 'Fay' which is connected to 'Fate', again we have a mix-up of different concepts. 

THE DWARVES.

There is so much overlapping here that it seems there is either a complete mix-up of the Elves & Dwarfs, or that, like the Gods these are 'titles' given to different aspects of these wights. Some of the Dwarfs were cunning smiths, and we find that the Elves also forge weapons, so certain parts of what seems to be two different races have been mixed up, maybe due to their roles. 

The Dwarfs are very much like that which is shown in The Hobbit where their home is in a mountain and where they mine the gold and precious gems. As with man - probably reflected in what has happened to man - they became obsessed with gold, gems and wealth. This is how these people are shown in The Hobbit which Tolkien himself stated was NOT based upon any modern events (like the 'Return to Zion' that was suggested by an Israeli Paper). The Dwarfs were shown as being honourable and loyal, even if they sometimes slipped, as is shown also of the Elves. We have to consider that not only man but also the wights were influenced by the Dark Forces, and that some of them turned to this Dark Side as did men, especially the rulers of men. 

The Dwarfs, as stated, lived in the mountains, in caves usually, and this is reflected in an Old Norse word dvergmal meaning 'echo'; this suggests that these wights were contacted via some form of chanting (such as Yodelling) which produces an 'echo' from the mountains. This may have developed into some form of human contact through sound but this does not mean that it did not develop from the original form of contact with other wights. 

The following Dwarf-names should ring a bell to those who have watched The Hobbit -

Vitr & Litr/ Fili & Kili/ Fiallar and Gallar/Skinir & Virnir/Anar & Onar/Finnr Ginnr/ Bivor & Bavor/ Nar & Nainn/ Thrar & Thrain/Nainu & Dainu/Oinn & Moinn/ Dvalin, Durrin, Thurinn, Fundinn.

There were also dwarf-names connected to the Elves - Alfr. Gandalf & Vindalfr.

In regard to their living in rifts and caves in the mountains we have three words in Old English that confirm this idea -

bergaelfen

dunaelfen

muntaelfen

And in the Netherlands we have alfenbergen, in Denmark biergmond, biergfolk and biergtrold. 

The Dwarfs also need the aid of mankind at times, especially with the following -

• Fetching midwives/goodwives to assist the She-Dwarfs in labour.
• Men of understanding to divide a treasure or settle a dispute.
• Borrow a hall to hold their weddings in.

These ideas may seem rather ridiculous, but it does go to show how - once - there was a very tight bond between men and the wights, and that each was in harmony with the other. As we can see in Norse Mythology it was Loki The Deceiver who wrought mischief amongst the Elves, turning kin against kin, and he did so with mankind too. Loki is an agent of the forces that seek to divide, creating disharmony and chaos, and eventually to destroy.

The Dwarfs are associated with invisibility and we find this so many times in our Germanic Lore. This is through certain means -

• Hat, cloak, tarnkappe.
• Grey coats.
• Red caps, scarlet cloaks. (The Red Cap is also connected to the Elves and the Amanita Muscaria mushroom.)

We have the following names connected to this -

• helkappe,
• nebelkappe,
• tarnkappe,
• tarnhut
• Hodeken (From the cap he wears.)

There are also certain Germanic words that connect to this -

Old Saxon - helith-helm

Old English - heolthhelm/haelthhelm

Old Norse - hialmar huliz

Old English - grimhelm

When Dwarfs appear singly to amongst men they are wise counsellors, and this is how we should see them again. Knowledge can be still gained from these wights of all races. 

ELVES-DWARFS.

In this section I am going to lump the two together as one since we have no way of telling which applies to which, although I have tried to show there was originally some difference. Certain wights are associated with Frau Holda and these were referred to as -

die guten holden ('The Good Holden')

holdeken ('Holde-Kin')

hulderchen (not known)

In Iceland we have the huldafolk, huldamenn names used of the Alfar; in Denmark we have hyldemand where hylde is the Elder-Tree giving us the 'Elder Mother' who is supposed to dwell in the tree - Tree Spirit. Frau Holda comes from the Elder Tree. There is also an association with Venus or 'Dame Venus' who dwells in the mountain, obviously a reference to a Heathen Goddess (Freya?) who dwells in a certain mountain. 

WOOD-WIGHTS.

There are also other beings to be found in Germanic Lore, some of which are obscure due to time and also distortions. We have the following interesting things to consider -

• The term bilwit or bilewit which can be found in some Old English texts, as can the phrase bilewit faeder. Can we connect the term 'Bil' with the Norse 'Bil' or maybe even to the 'Billings' who were a ruling line of the Saxons, found in names such as 'Billingshurst' (West Sussex). 
• Schretel - there is an Old English scritta and Old Norse skratti ('Giant'), and the English version seems connected to the Wood-Sprites or Wood-Elves which are the Wuduaelfenne. Interestingly the OE scritta gives us the later 'scrat' and I remember using the term 'scratty' for someone who was 'rough' or 'shaggy' or 'wild', terms used of the Wood-Sprites. 

We have the Wuduwasa or Woodwose who is the 'Wild Man of the Woods', more likely Woden as Herne the Hunter, Lord of the Trees, but also no doubt used of those who he sent to do his will on Earth - a 'projection' of the God. There are certain other names associated with the wildwoods -

• Wildfolk.
• Forest-Folk
• Wood-Folk
• Wildwood-Folk
• Moss-Folk 

WATER-WIGHTS.

There were also wights connected to the water, water-sprites and water-monsters as they became later. We find that certain words connected to these stem from the god Woden and his association with the sea and with water -

Nichus - OHG

Nicor - OE

Nikr - ON

Nok, nocke - Danish

Nikarr/Hnikkar, Nikuz/Hnikuz found in the Eddas, the former from ON and the latter from OHG. 

Then there is Grendal and Grendal's Mother who are connected to water, and who are 'monsters' of sort that had to be slain by the hero - Beowulf.

HOME-WIGHTS.

Here we come to something interesting since this section is directly connected to Ingui/Ingwe through various words, but also through the 'Legend of Cuthman' which I am going to go into. We have the Latin ingoumen/ingoumo which means 'Guard of the Interior' as well as Ingeside/Ingesinde meaning 'domestic' or 'inmate'. We find in Middle High German the term heilige Ingeside referring to this same concept. In Old Norse we have the term skurgodh - 'Hearth Gods' connected with the hearth and the home-fire. Here we also have the English term 'inglenook' for the fireplace, a name obviously linked to Ingwe. 

In Cuthman & A Continuing Tradition by George Cockman (an unfortunate name!) we find the following statement -

'When Cuthman came to build his church, he was said to have hung his gloves on a sunbeam.'

Remember the Elf-maid who appeared through the knot-hole on a sunbeam? Is this a coincidence, or have we here a tradition passed down with a knowledge (even dim) of the Elves and of Ingwe - Lord of the Elves. Cuthman is Ingwe as I have shown before. When the work of building the church neared its end Cuthman was struggling to fix the main roof beam when a stranger appeared and helped him to finish it. Cuthman asked who he was and he replied - 

'I am he in whose honour you are building this church.'

In one version it is inferred that is is 'Jesus' and in another 'Saint Andrew' - the latter probably being a later version since we can equate 'Jesus' (Krist) with Ingwe. The 'main roof beam' is symbolic of the Sacred Centre just as the Barnstock Oak at the centre of the House of the Wolsungas represents the Sacred Centre. 

The 'Gift of Ing' is Fire and we have the 'inglenook' as the fireplace surrounding the Hearth Fire (Sun), and it would seem that the fireplace was the entrance fo these Hearth Wights to enter the house. Our modern society has by and large rid itself of the Home Hearth through 'central heating' and through making fires something that is 'anti-social' - this is so since in many areas having a 'bonfire' is frowned upon. The link between the 'sunbeam', the 'hearth' and Ingwe is interesting.

OTHER WIGHTS.

There are other wights that we know of which include the following -

• Puck - This is the English name of the wight known as Phuka in Ireland and Pwcca in Wales. However, this should be taken as a 'borrowing' from the Celtic since we find the following in the Northlands - pog (Danish), pojke (Sweden), puki (Old Norse) and Pocca (Finland). 
• There is also a tomt found in Germany and it is possible that this is connected to the 'Tom Bombadil' of Tolkien?
• Another name that comes down to us from mainly Germany is kobolt/kobold but this is likely a later addition from the Greek.
• 'Goblin' is Latin.
• Robin Goodfellow is the equivalent of the German Knecht Ruprecht.

WIGHTS IN TODAY'S WORLD.

There are so many people who talk about 'ecology' and 'nature' who see this as merely based upon the physical world as we see it today. Yet we can see in this 'Physical Nature' a state of decay, as Markwood (Mark = Boundary) becomes Mirkwood where all is in a state of decay and death. This is not 'Nature' which is bound also to the spiritual worlds but 'nature' locked into matter as ,man is locked into matter. The Spirit of Nature is being lost whilst rampant technology destroys everything that is sacred to us on the physical plane, at the same time driving the Spirits of Nature away at the same time. 

We have to reverse this process and welcome the Spirits of Nature back into our world; this is not impossible and I am sure that these Spirits of Nature will welcome our attempts at setting right what has gone wrong. In the process, as we have shown, these Spirits of Nature also help give knowledge and wisdom that will aid us in our struggle. 

Even today we have the concept that at Yuletide we leave something out for the Elves, and it seems clear that in order that they are appeased we need to give something to them as a 'gift'. It seems strange to say that we give food to the Elves, some German tales telling that a loaf of bread should be baked and given as a gift, but that is precisely what seems necessary. Some years ago, whilst living in Gwynedd, North Wales, I had a dream about Deganwy Castle and that I should go there to contact the Elves, and did so as suggested. However, when nothing of interest happened I realised that in the dream I had been told to give a gift to the Elves - which I had forgotten to do. A lesson learned since we have to give 'blot' to the Elves, give a gift just as is also said to have to happen at Yuletide when the Elves come with 'Santa Claus'. This is something to consider. 

The above may seem strange since it is hardly possible that the Elves can eat the food we give, but there is something we need to keep in mind here. In eld-time the Warrior-Kings were buried with their regalia, their horses, and in some areas wives etc. This suggests that they had would be able to use their weapons and regalia in the 'other-world' which seems rather crazy. However, perhaps they could use these since they also existed in this other-world, which is suggested when we see weapons as having names which thus charged them with Magical Power. So maybe they could have been charged in order that they existed in both worlds - which is also possible when we consider a 'gift' to the Elves. 

It is also suggested from Germanic Folklore that the Elves and Dwarfs love to dance, and that bells can summon the dwarfs - another thing to consider when we seek to reconnect to these Land-Wights. Also, we have the Guardian Goddess of England in the figure of 'Britannia' which invokes the Spirit of the Land, and the Guardian-Goddess of the English in the figure of the Wolf-Queen (Idunn or Kara) who can be invoked in battle or in peace. The White Dragon symbol is used to invoke the Land of Ing and the Folk of Ing.

The Elves are often associated with the Waene-Gods, hence the link to Venus as the Morning Star & Evening Star. The Light-Elves live in Alfheim and the Waene in Vanaheim. One the Elven-Kin is named the 'Sons of Ivalde' which includes Idunn who is the daughter of Ivalde. The English equivalent seems to be Ewald or Hewald stemming from the Old English Heawold. 

EALA EARENDEL ENGLA BEORHTEST.

Tolkien seems to have seen Earendel as the planet Venus - the Morning & Evening Star. Since his earlier version of this piece is named Scipfaereld Earendeles AEfensteorren we can deduce that he saw Earendel as the Evening Star, and not the Morning Star. The 'son' of Earendel is named Ottor Waefre (OE 'restless', 'wanderer') who became known as Eriol. I say 'son' of Earendel because he was 'born under his beam' through this father was named Eoh (OE 'horse') who was slain by his brother Beorn. Ottor Waefre settled in Heligoland where he married Cwen ('Queen') and had two sons, Hengest and Horsa, born to avenge his father Eoh, which they did.

Here, of course, Tolkien has put into this tale the Saga of Hamlet where the father is slain by the brother, and the son revenges the death of the father, though here it is the two sons who take on this task. After the death of Cwen he left his young children and set out to seek Tol Eressea - 'The Unknown Island' - and there he was 'made young by limpe (also known as lith in Old English) and they had a son named Heorrenda. Eriol later adopted the name Angol and -

Thus it is that through Eriol and his sons the Engle (the English) have the true tradition of the fairies, of whom the Iras and the Wealas (the Irish and the Welsh) tell garbled things....

Thus a specifically English fairy-lore is born, and one more true than anything to be found in Celtic lands.'

'Book of Lost Tales - Volume II' by J.R.R.Tolkien

Tol Eressea is placed in the location of England and is also seen as Luthany and Albion. Tolkien changes this story and replaces certain places and figures, and thus Eriol or Angol becomes AElfwine (OE 'Elf-Friend') and the Elves name him Lurhien because he comes from Luthany. According to this account he loved the sign of Orion and thus the Elves called him Luthien ('Wanderer'). 

There are certain things which are of interest -

• 'How Old English became the sole mortal language which an Elf will speak to a mortal that knows no Elfin.
• Ingwe and Earendel who dwelt in Luthany before it was an isle and was driven east by Osse to found the Ingwaiwar.
• The 'seventh invasion' was 'that if the Ingwaiwar, who were not hostile to the Elves'. 
• 'How he (Ingwe) became the half-divine King of the Ingwaiwar, and taught them many things of Elves and Gods, some that some true knowledge of the Gods and Elves lingered in that folk alone.'
• Ingwe...becomes the king of the Angali, Euti, Saksani and Firisandi who adopt the title of Ingwaiwar. He teaches them much magic and first sets men's hearts to seafaring westwards.'

Tolkien set out to create an English Mythology because he thought that they had lost theirs; but he was also a scholar of many Indo-European Languages and Cultures - as is clear from his writings. We could see this as a bias when he see the English as having the True Knowledge of the Elves but when we consider that the English are a very rare people in having so many Old English names that actually contain the word 'Elf' - Alfred being the most obvious that everyone knows. The following are some of these names -

• AElfgar - Algar - Elgar
• AElflaed
• AElfgifu
• AElfheah
• AElfnodh
• AElfraed - Alfred
• AElfric
• AElfsige
• AElfstan
• AElfwid
• AElfrydh - Elfreda
• AElfweard
• AELfwine

We should ask ourselves who so many Old English names are linked to the Elves, and our answer must come from the fact that the Divine Ancestor of the English Folk is Ingwe - Lord of the High Elves. It seems that Tolkien saw AElfwine as a descendant of Ingwe who had gained a knowledge of and love of the Elves from the tradition of his family. He wrote the Golden Book of Tavrobel which is mentioned in his Quenya Dictionary as The Golden Book - the collected book of legends, especially of Ing and Earendel. This also seems to have been called The Lost Tales of Elfinesse. 

'Even as Men wax more powerful and numerous so the fairies fade and grow small and tenuous, filmy and transparent, but Men larger and more dense and gross.'

The word 'fairy' is often said to stem from 'fae' and thus 'fate' but if we use it in the sense of the Fair Folk it takes upon itself its true meaning. It is also interesting to note that the Welsh Tylwyth Teg is used for 'fairy' and means 'Fair Family'. The word 'Teg' means 'fair' and is that used of the Tegeingl or 'Fair Ingle' who dwelt in Ireland and then North Wales. I would assume that 'Tylwyth' is like the Irish 'Tuatha' and Germanic 'Teuta' meaning 'tribe' or 'family' which is the smaller unit. 

In regard to the lack of English 'Fairy' Lore there was obviously an abundance of this but through the most oppressive measures used against the English Folk this has been lost to us - no doubt destroyed. Even so, pockets of this still exist, and we have proof that Tolkien was right in that we are the only peoples here to have had names using the prefix AElf. 

(*) The 'Grey Aliens' could also be linked to the standardised, raceless, sexless beings that parallel the 'progress' of the human race today - towards a 'Race of Slaves'.