Whatever its origin, the word Alf has continued till the present day in all the Teutonic languages. The Danes have _Elv_, pl. _Elve_; the Swedes, _Elf_ pl. _Elfvar_ m. _Elfvor_ f.; and the words _Elf-dans_ and _Elf-blæst_, together with _Olof_ and other proper names, are derived from them. The Germans call the nightmare _Alp_; and in their old poems we meet with _Elbe_ and _Elbinne_, and _Elbisch_ occurs in them in the bad sense of _elvish_ of Chaucer and our old romancers; and a number of proper names, such as Alprecht, Alphart, Alpinc, Alpwin,[104] were formed from it, undoubtedly before it got its present ill sense.[105] In the Anglo-Saxon, [Old English: Ælf], or [Old English: Ælfen], with its feminine and plural, frequently occurs. The Oreas, Naias, and Hamodryas of the Greeks and Romans are rendered in an Anglo-Saxon glossary by [Old English: Munt-ælfen], [Old English: sǽ-ælfen], and [Old English: feld-ælfen].[106] [Old English: Ælf] is a component part of the proper names Ælfred and Ælfric; and the author of the poem of Judith says that his heroine was [Old English: Ælf-seine] (_Elf-sheen_), bright or fair as an elf. But of the character and acts of the elfs no traditions have been preserved in Anglo-Saxon literature. In the English language, Elf, Elves, and their derivatives are to be found in every period, from its first formation down to this present time. FOOTNOTES: [90] _Edda_ signifies grandmother. Some regard it as the feminine of _othr_, or _odr_, wisdom. [91] This language is so called because still spoken in Iceland. Its proper name is the Norræna Tunga (_northern tongue_). It was the common language of the whole North. [92] See Tales and Popular Fictions, chap. ix. [93] It was first published by Resenius in 1665. [94] By the Æser are understood the Asiatics, who with Odin brought their arts and religion into Scandinavia. This derivation of the word, however, is rather dubious. Though possibly the population and religion of Scandinavia came originally from Asia there seems to be no reason whatever for putting any faith in the legend of Odin. It is not unlikely that the name of their gods, Æser, gave birth to the whole theory. It is remarkable that the ancient Etrurians also should have called the gods Æsar. [95] So the lötunn or Giant Vafthrudnir to Odin in the Vafthrudnismal.--Strophe vii. [96] Thorlacius, Noget om Thor og hans Hammer, in the Skandinavisk Museum for 1803. [97] Thorlacius, _ut supra_, says the thundering Thor was regarded as particularly inimical to the Skovtrolds, against whom he continually employed his mighty weapon. He thinks that the _Bidental_ of the Romans, and the rites connected with it, seem to suppose a similar superstition, and that in the well-known passage of Horace, Tu parum castis inimica mittes Fulmina lucis,