Where do House Elves come from?

[Steve]

---  "bdclark0423" <bdclark0423 at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> Where do House Elves come from?
> 

bboyminn:

Well, of course, the answer is, they come from the fertile 
inspired imaginations of men (and women). And the exact nature
of their beginning varies with the particular authors 
imagination.

If you mean the historical origins of these creatures in the
real world, then the answer is the same. They come for 
Fairytale and Mythology, which in turn springs from the 
imagination.

Keep in mind that there is not one single race or model for
elves. The more ancient and mythological elves are tiny
wood sprites of various types, very similar to the Potter-
world fairies which create the fairy lights. Sometimes they
are mischievous, sometimes they are mischievously cunning,
and sometimes they are mischievous but not really all that
smart. 

In other cases, they are larger, yet still small, as in
leprechaun, which are also a race of elves. 

I suspect that in the Potter world, JKR's goblins are an 
evolutionary blend of the dwarf race and the elf race, though
the dwarf race as a magical race is not really mentioned in 
the books. 

House-elves are a unique race of elves related to but 
different than Leprechauns, which are not mentioned but surely
exist in the Potter world. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_Elf

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechauns )

House-elves are a literary offshoot of the Brownie or helper 
elf, which in turn while it is found in British mythology, is 
probably of Scandinavian origin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomte

But is also found in Roman and Slavic mythology.

Domovoi (Slavic)-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domovoi

Lares (Roman house god)-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lares_%28Roman_deities%29 

The Brownie elf, which is closest to the Potter House-Elf, is
also related to the Helper-Elves found in the tales of the 
Shoemaker, and the Tailor, which are essential the same tale.

The elves mischievously sneak into the struggling Shoemaker (or
Tailors) shop and make the most wonderful products imaginable.
The Shoemaker (or Tailor) then become very rich and successful,
and while they appreciate their good luck, they are determined
to find out the source of these goods. So, they stay up late
and hide, and see the elves, and realize that they are indeed
magical creatures. Ultimately, they try to reward the Elves
which annoys and offends the elves to no end, and they, the
Elves, pack up and leave. The End.

But those elves are a very different race from the Tolkien 
Elves. These are incredibly intelligent, long lived, and 
magical beings who usually are great warriors as well as 
great thinkers and artists. 

Elves, in general, are part of Germanic Mythology, where elves
were extremely tiny forest creatures associated with fertility.
Though again the earliest references to general Elves comes
from Nordic Mythology where they are called "álfar" or "álfr".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf

Elves would generally be considered a subset of the Fairy race,
which in turn, in the minds of some, is a further subset of the
greater race of Sprites, which in turn is a subset of the 
greater realm of overall magical creatures.

WikiPedia is your friend.

See also-

Sprites-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_%28creature%29

Fairies-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy

Legendary Creatures-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legendary_creature

Lists of Fictional Species-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_species

Lists of Legendary Creatures-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures

List of various Mythological Gods-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lithuanian_household_gods

and so on and so forth.

Your elves are what you make them, they can be large, medium,
small, or tiny. They can be smart or dim. They can be fierce
warriors and/or brilliant intellects, artist, and musicians.

That's the beauty of magical creatures, they can be anything
you want them to be.

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn