Mysterious creatures. Parallel world of elves

IN certain time the border between worlds becomes permeable, allowing elves and others magical creatures, such as unicorns or Nac Mac Feegle pixies, invade someone else's world.

The elves of the Discworld are completely different from the usual “wonderful people” of most fantasy worlds. These are cruel, vain creatures who know neither compassion, nor pity, nor sympathy for anyone and are similar to dangerous and evil spirits German-Scandinavian folklore. They are humanoid, but absolutely “inhuman” and extremely selfish. They treat all other races purely as consumers, being interested only in the opportunity to use them for their own purposes. In the past, elves sometimes became related to humans, and there are still families on the Discworld that have elven blood in their veins. Such half-breeds, “pointy-eared, skinny types,” according to Granny Weatherwax, are not dangerous.

Elves do not know what conscience is. For them there is no concept of honor and duty - they lie and make empty promises just to get what they want. They love music and dancing, but their favorite pastime is torture; they love watching the victim suffer.

They live off robbery and robbery. In not so distant times, the pixie clans of the Nac Mac Feegle were engaged in robbery for the Queen of the Elves, but they quarreled with the Queen and left the Fairyland. Now the elves themselves are forced to raid neighboring dimensions.

Elves have no imagination, they are not capable of experiencing true emotions. They love music, but they themselves are completely incapable of creating, they cannot really sing. Elves don’t know how to do anything at all, and for these purposes they have to kidnap people. Their power is based on the magical ability to charm people, confuse them, blind them, making people believe that elves are beautiful and majestic. They also hypnotize people through singing, which in itself is not at all musical.

When Tiffany Aching (events of the book "Little Free Folk") fought the Elf Queen, she saw her true form - small and gray, like a monkey, with big head, huge eyes and a narrow, down-covered chest. The witch Magrat Chesnogk, Queen of Lancre also saw the real appearance of the elven queen through the spell when she entered into a duel with her (events of the book “Ladies and Gentlemen”).

Elves are able to read people's thoughts. When people start talking about elves or even just thinking about them, the barrier between the worlds weakens and the mere mention of the Elf Queen can attract her attention. Therefore, people try to talk about them allegorically, using such definitions as “wonderful people” or Ladies and Gentlemen.

Gnomes (Dwarves) and trolls are practically unaffected by elven glamor, which is explained by the lack of romanticism among these races, and in the case of dwarves also by their connection with iron. Rational thinking and the absence of prejudices help fight the hypnosis of elven glamor; elves talk about such people as having an iron head.

Elves ride huge horses, wild beasts that only iron can tame. They can also fly on yarrow stems, like witches with their brooms. The elves' favorite weapon is a bow and arrows, the tips of which are made of the so-called elven stone. These arrows put the victim into a state of half-sleep, in which she dreams of elves and their games.

The blood of elves does not contain hemoglobin, but hemocyanin, a respiratory protein containing copper atoms. Therefore, the blood of elves is colored blue-green.

They tolerate the presence of iron very poorly. Like pigeons, elves sense the magnetic field of the Disc and navigate in space. This gives them the ability to move with acrobatic ease and always know their location with absolute accuracy. Elves always know exactly what world they are in. Iron distorts magnetic fields, depriving the elves of their strength and causing them to panic. This explains the custom of hanging horseshoes over front door and the legendary power attributed to blacksmiths. For the same reason, Dancers were erected in Lancre - standing vertical pillars made of meteorite iron: their magnetic field creates a barrier between the Discworld and one of the exits from the elven world.

The social life of elves is similar to that of bees or wasps. They have a queen and a king, living separately and treating each other with icy contempt. Gender the rest of the elves are quite difficult to determine, and in each special case it seems to come down to personal preference. In the same way, it is quite difficult to talk about one individual elf, with the exception of royal family and some courtiers.

The world of the elves is divided into two parts. The entrance under Big Man leads to the habitat of the Elf King. The Elven King is huge and horned, and his part of the world is very hot and smoky.

The entrance near the Dancers leads to a part of the elven world where the queen rules. There is eternal winter there.

The Queen has all apparent power, she is the one who organizes and plans the raids, and she is the one who has established absolute control in her universe. The king has withdrawn from business as much as possible and spends all his time at the other end of the dimension.

Once upon a time, the King and Queen ruled together, but it is assumed that there was a rift between them, similar to the quarrel between Titania and Oberon in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is possible that the elves have more than one King and one Queen, but for them all Kings and Queens are the same.

Elves appear in books

• "The Science of Discworld II: The Globe".

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• The Red Hot Chili Peppers (album)
• Ram Mohan Roy

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Numerous fairy tales speak of amazing elves who are distinguished by their fragile physique, short stature, long ears pointed shape. The main difference between elves is magical abilities. Did elves really exist? Who are they?

The chronicles of an ancient monastery say that in the 15th century, in the mountainous region of Scotland, people found a man who was dying of wounds. The man spoke in an unknown language. He was weak and thin. After the doctors were able to cure him, the man surprised with his dexterity in archery and fencing. The stranger made no mistakes! Soon he was able to learn the language. It was then that he said that he belonged to the people of the Elves, who lived very far away. It is important to note that the guy had pointed ears, like real Elves. However, people who lived in the Middle Ages were confident that this was a sign of belonging to those who serve the devil.

You can also study a family chronicle of Norway, which tells the story as in XVI century, a young girl became the wife of a tall and handsome guy, who was a representative of the elves. The young man showed amazing abilities in archery. The guy was persecuted out of envy. The man was able to become the father of two beautiful daughters, which also had pointed ears.

It is important to note that representatives of various nations have described elves almost identically over the centuries. If all the records were compiled correctly, then thanks to them you can find out what the elves really were like.

Most often, people encountered elves from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. Based on the information studied, two versions were put forward. According to the first hypothesis, elves are human beings with additional genes. Thanks to special genes, they are able to develop paranormal abilities. According to the second hypothesis, elves are creatures that can come from a parallel world to ours.

Approximately from the 7th-6th millennium BC. human memory preserved, at the same time as the giants, the elves - white and black.

In the Scandinavian “Elder Edda” it is noted that the gods first created miniatures - gnomes, and then elves: They met at a meeting, sat down on benches, all the high gods held council: someone should make dwarfs from the blood of Brimir from the bone of Blain; Motsognir was made and named the first among the Tsvergov people.

But here is the genealogy of Lovar's ancestors - the descendants of Dwalin, whose family appeared from the stone of the earth, came from the quagmire to the sandy earth...

Later, the Younger Edda added details about the country of the elves - Alfheim: “Creatures called light elves live there. But the dark ones live in the earth, they have a different appearance and a completely different nature. Light alvas are more beautiful in appearance than the sun, and dark ones are blacker than tar. “The first belong to the day, the second to the night; the first - through the air, the second - into the underground world.

Unlike black elves, white elves could change their height and appearance according to at will, become visible or invisible - you just had to take off or put on a cap with a silver bell.

In fairy tales, elves are most often portrayed as frivolous creatures who adore music, singing, dancing, noisy feasts and celebrations, and willingly join any procession or round dance. It is as if they never cause harm to people, and respond to insults only with good-natured tricks. They just don't like loud noise: bell ringing, thunder, piercing whistle.

Oxford University professor John Tolkien, author of the famous “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, strongly objected to such a simplified interpretation of the elven people. In his work “About magical stories“The scientist wrote: “... Babies fluttering through the flowers are a consequence of our “rationalization”: we explained the charms of the Elven Land with simple tricks, and invisibility - with the tiny size of fragile creatures that can hide in a primrose flower or behind a stalk of grass. ...Elves, fairies are a relatively new word. It first appeared in 1450 in a poem by the poet Gower:

His curls were combed. On them lay a Hoop with precious stones Or a green leaf

Which just fell from the branch:

And everything about it seemed fresh.

And he was looking for flesh.

How a hawk looks at a bird. Which I would like to grab.

He carried himself like that

It was like he was from Faerie.

...The description of the beautiful youth gives a better idea of ​​the inhabitants of the Elven Land, ... and for the peoples of Faerie do not always take (to our chagrin) their true appearance; they appear to us as proud and beautiful as we ourselves would very much like to be... Elves are no less real than us, and we, in turn, are no more real than elves. But our paths rarely cross, our destinies have long been divided.”

In accordance with his own understanding of the nature of the Elves, Tolkien described their birth in the epic The Silmarillion:

“...At that very hour the Children of the Earth, the First Born, awoke, ...they woke up from sleep: and while they - still in silence - lived with Kuivianen, their eyes saw the stars, and star Light became dearest to them... They lived for a long time in their first house under the stars and wandered the Earth in surprise: and they began to speak and give names to everything they saw. They called themselves Quendi - “those who speak,” because they had not yet met other creatures with the gift of speech or singing. And it happened that Orome, while hunting, drove to the east and, looking at the elves, was filled with amazement, as if they were strange, wondrous and unexpected creatures... Initially, the Elder Children were stronger and taller than they became now: but no more beautiful..."

Elves are not only known from the Scandinavian epics and the works of Tolkien. The Celts called them Sids, the Poles and Vends called them Ludki and Ludsha (little people). The Russians distinguished the “white-eyed chud” - skilled underground farriers and volunteer helpers: Little Thumb, Little Peasant. The Romans in the time of Nero believed that elves (they were called incubo) would willingly reveal the location of treasures in exchange for their lost cap. The Scots and Irish guessed the presence of these creatures from the column of dust on the road and bowed respectfully to it, welcoming the invisible crowd of elves marching to their new home. In more late times the Bavarian spirit Ekerken galloped along country roads in the form of an oak root, overturning carts and stopping carriages while galloping. In the antics of this spirit it is easy to recognize the pranks of the elves.

So, are elves just a figment of popular imagination?

Perhaps Tolkien answered this doubt best: “Everything said is true even when we call Faeris a creation of our imagination; in this case, we have before us another way for a person to comprehend the Truth of the World.” Indeed, the Truth of the World, about which the English scientist, mythologist and creator of a new direction in literature writes, “ fabulous fantasy", in the diversity of forms of intelligence on Earth. We must learn to understand dissident, differently-feeling and different-looking brothers in this life. In this, perhaps, main lesson our existence.

Despite the fact that many of Tolkien’s works are perceived exclusively as fairy tales, it was he who, in his books of the Lord of the Rings series, was able to convey to our civilization the greatness of these creatures. Today, no one can say with certainty whether elves lived among people or were guests from other worlds. However, it should be remembered that all mythical creatures, described in the legends of one nationality or another, were often found in other countries, even if we are talking about the opposite part of planet Earth.

Many complain that the film adaptation of books leaves much to be desired, since at this point the screenwriters omit many details and facts presented by the author. However, the history of the elven people as brave, intelligent and sophisticated creatures in the best possible way demonstrated in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Legolas, who fought bravely for his people. The king of the elves, who right time decided not to stand aside and fight evil. A fragile dark-haired princess who was ready to sacrifice herself for the love of Aragorn. All these characters are imbued with valor, honor, and loyalty, because this is exactly how Tolkien saw this amazing people.

Based on the information given in Scandinavian legends, it is almost impossible. They are considered more like spirits - elves, than real earthly inhabitants. The gods and goddesses of the Tribe of the goddess Danu turned into the same spirits - Sids and Elves - after the defeat from the Goidels - the Sons of Mil. This happened between 1700-700. BC. Apsaras were at times considered the same spirits - elves, although from Indian mythology it is difficult to establish when the transformation into apsaras and gandharvas - spirits (elves) apsaras and gandharvas - real earthly inhabitants took place.
Based on the above, we can talk about two possible periods of life in Scandinavia for Valkyries - elves (elves). 1) They lived there even before the flood and the time of their life coincided with the later events described in Indian epic, which found an echo in Scandinavian legends about warrior maidens moving through the air on winged horses (more likely).
2) Valkyries - elves lived in Scandinavia at about the same time as the Tribe of the Goddess Danu - Tuatha de Danann - elves in Ireland, that is, from approximately IV to II or I millennium BC It is even possible that they settled twice in Scandinavia, like the Tribe of the goddess Danu in Ireland, and were forced to leave there for several thousand years immediately after the flood.

***

Thus, the life of the elves on Earth, like other white gods, of which they were included, was incredibly long and lasted from the end of the Mesozoic era or the beginning of the Paleogene (65.5 million years ago) to II or I millennium BC What happened to them later is stated in my works “The Exodus of the White Gods. From Hyperborea to Easter Island” and “Emancipated Women’s Societies: A View from the Depth of Ages.”

Now, after studying North American, Central American, South American, Egyptian, Sumerian-Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and other legends, it became clear to me where the elves went (they are also the Tribe of the goddess Danu, Tuatha de Danann, Tuatha de Anu, Gandharvas , apsaras, valkyries). Some of the elves (apparently, mostly male gods), probably, together with other white gods Adityas, sailed on ships to North America, marched in the form of “white gods”, led by “Quetzalcoatl”, “Kukulkan”, “Bocica” , "Vira Cochey", across North, Central and South America, outlined the Nazca desert (apparently, preserving one or more aircraft, whose existence is noted in the legends of the Indians of North and South America), then sailed to Easter Island and other islands of Polynesia and were subsequently killed there. Today, the power of the Tuatha de Danann is evidenced only by past legends, North American mounds and drawings of the Nazca desert. The lifetime portraits of the Gandharvas-Tuatha-elves, left on Easter Island, tell us what the representatives of this divine people looked like.
Another part of the elves, mostly goddesses - elves, created settlements and states of the Amazons in the Black Sea region, Asia Minor, Africa and South America(probably having reached there with male elves) and died during numerous battles and skirmishes with local residents.

© A.V. Koltypin, 2009(additions and corrections 2012)

Many fairy tales and legends tell about elves, humanoid creatures that are practically no different from us, except for their fragile physique, elongated ears, and they have magical abilities.

The monastic chronicles mention that in the 15th century, in the mountains of Scotland, a man speaking an unknown language was found, who was seriously wounded. He looked very fragile. Having come to his senses a little, the stranger surprised everyone with archery and fencing agility. He never missed!

After some time, having mastered the Scottish language, he said that he belonged to the Elwe people. According to him, these people live very, very far away. U young man there was one peculiarity: he had pointy ears! It is known that pointed ears are a sign of belonging to the tribe of Satan. And the poor man would have burned at the stake of the Inquisition, but what saved him was that they managed to carry him, wounded, to the church. And since nothing happened to him (the devil would have died immediately within the holy walls), no one touched him. Unfortunately, nothing more is known about the mysterious stranger.

Similar stories about the existence of elves can be found in other countries. For example, in the chronicles of Norway there is a mention that in the 14th century one girl married a handsome and tall foreigner who was an unsurpassed archer. But he was accused of witchcraft and, in modern terms, repressed. During his married life, he had two daughters, distinguished extraordinary beauty. In addition to beauty, the daughters inherited pointed ears from their father, which made their further existence difficult. The stranger always called himself Helwe.

You can find other evidence if you dig deep into the chronicles. It is interesting that different peoples, different storytellers over the course of many centuries describe the mysterious elve and helve almost identically. This suggests that the image of the average elf was actually copied from life.

Where did these same elves come from and do they exist now? Researchers put forward several hypotheses. First: elves are the same people, only they have an extra gene that allows them to pass on magical abilities by inheritance. Perhaps these are the descendants of the ancient Atlanteans or a “branch of development” that separated from people in the 11th century and retained their communities only in inaccessible places. Another hypothesis is quite fantastic and is based on possible theory that elves are aliens from another world. This theory explains, for example, the eternal youth of elves. After all, in parallel worlds, time can flow completely differently, here - years, there - minutes.

Are there any representatives of the Yelwe people today? In principle, this is possible. But even if this mysterious race completely disappeared from the face of the earth, the “gene pool” remained. There are still children with pointed ears in the world, and some people have “elven” abilities.

For example, Kenneth O'Hara, an American resident, picked up a bow for the first time and realized that he was able to hit the target every time, never missing. He was examined by doctors and then consulted with psychics. It was found that during the shot, O’Hara “splashes out” a large stream of mental energy. Is this harmful to his health? No one could say for sure, but just in case, by decision of the sports commission he was prohibited from participating in competitions. Having heard about the elves, O'Hara spent a lot of energy studying his ancestry and reached the 15th century in his research. According to surviving sources, it was possible to find out that one of his ancestors took a girl from the Helwe people as his wife. No matter how incredible it may seem, elven genes showed themselves after 5 centuries. How else can one explain O’Hara’s amazing gift?

Two families of different types of elves (spring and winter) got along well with each other. Over another joint walk and drinking alstroemeria nectar, the parents of the two families decided that their heirs should get married as soon as the heiress from the winter elves turns sixteen. Until then, let them get to know each other better and love each other: you cannot marry your children against their will.
After a long time of communication, this is what happened: the heart of the young man was won by a beautiful maiden. The boy, Andrian, knew how to draw exquisitely: elves develop any skills from birth, they do not need to learn. He drew the girl, Yenisaveta, many pictures: an unfamiliar bird would fly in, and the flowers would bloom in the flowerbed. I drew everything just for her, to express love, and as a memory of my youth.
But when the children were twelve or thirteen years old, a war broke out between two types of elves who had previously lived in perfect harmony. Because of this, it was decided to protect the children from each other, because their wedding was now considered illegal.
At the age of fifteen, Yenisaveta secretly went to her lover - she could not forget him - and watched how he changed. He matured, grew up, but became too cruel: either because of his beloved, with whom he could not be, or because of the war, which brought up cruelty in him.
One day an elf approached him and gently laid her hand on his shoulder, forcing him to pay attention to her. She hoped that Andrian would recognize her, hug her, kiss her, but imagine her surprise when he pulled back his shoulder and roughly pushed the girl away from him.

Winter elves have nothing to do here! Get out, you scumbag! - these words greatly hurt the elf, but did not stop her.

The girl noticed that her lover had stopped drawing; His current hobby was bullying elves who were not strong enough, those who were younger and weaker than Andrian himself.
This caused Yenisaveta to be indignant, and the girl, having collected all the drawings that the guy had once dedicated to her, at night, so that no one would know about their meeting, confidently returned to the elf and shoved the sheets of paper into his chest.

Look! You drew this drawing for the first time, and you were very surprised at how well it turned out,” the elf began, looking at which sheet the guy was looking through. - And you drew this one while watching the sunset with me. It was already quite dark, but you really wanted to capture this moment.

This went on until last drawing. The guy's hands were shaking more and more as he scrolled through his own creations. As soon as the last of them was viewed, the elf, throwing them, hugged the girl tightly and began to kiss her tender face, asking for forgiveness. Yenisaveta, of course, forgave her future husband, but promised him that he would be punished.
Two lovers came to the old sage asking the question: “How to end the war and reunite the people?”

“You are the key to this reunion,” the sage began. - Your endless love for each other will show the people and elders that there is a world where we are united, and not apart. Everything depends only on the two of you.

With these words, he weakly struck the tree with his staff, and the large hollow that opened in front of the couple when they appeared closed, hiding the slightest hint that it was in this tree that the sage lived.
Andrian and Yenisaveta thought for a long time about how they could bring together peoples of two types. And then the guy and the girl decided to organize a concert, gathering for it their friends who were involved in theatrical art or playing on some musical instruments. They called all the people who were there. The enemies, seeing each other, wanted to start the battle again, but the children did not allow them. After the whole performance, the elf and elf came out, hugging. People definitely didn’t expect this: different types, so also together! This is simply unthinkable! The audience began shouting: “Traitors!”, “How dare you break the law?” Everyone was screaming, interrupting each other, and it was simply impossible to make out everything.
The elders of the two species stood silently next to each other, lost in their thoughts, and then simultaneously looked at each other and asked:

Why did the war suddenly start?

The elder of the winter elves shook his head, and the elder of the spring elves only smiled softly and rose to the pair, motioning with his hands so that the people would listen to him, and spoke:

These two showed us that we can live in peace, love each other, work as a team, and it doesn’t matter at all what kind of us we are: winter or spring elves, - then the elder of the winter elves stood up to him. - From now on, once and for all, we declare that our world is one, and there will be no wars in it, everyone will live in a world of harmony and love!