I was sitting, minding my own business while doing a crossword when the following clue flew out and struck me square on the nose. Pixie. I looked at the grid. The answer had three letters. Surely it couldn’t be? Could it? I worked out the answers around it. And Yes. The answer was Elf. But surely, it couldn’t be??? Elves are not Pixies and Pixies are not elves! I am sure somewhere in the elvish community there is an uprising, and mutiny is being threatened in Pixie households across the world. How could one ignorant crossword producer commit such a heinous crime??!
So I did a little investigation, and yes, there is a difference between pixies and elves. First of all, they come from different countries – Elves are Norwegian and thought to be race of divine or semi-divine beings. Pixies are English and thought to be Celtic in nature. So perhaps there is a link there… but very tenacious.
Elves are classified as Mythical beings, Pixies are fairies or sprites (although they have been linked to Mythical beings as well)
Pixies are distinctly English, whereas Elves have been used in Scandinavia, the US and Germany.
Elves are linked to Christmas – Pixies are linked to naughtiness and mischief. They are such different creatures, it seemed a crime against mythical creatures to try and lump them together!
The moral of my rambling story? Doing some basic research could save an international and intermythical incident of large proportions.
There’s a story in there.
I know, but Eoin Colfer may have already cornered this market!
Well, in denmark, elves are linked to naughtiness and mischief and to christmas as well… but maybe that is just because we are an uninspired land that can’t handle too many mythical creatures…
I wouldn’t say uninspired – you have elves! What could be more inspiring than that?
NZ has Taniwha – monsters of Maori origin, which are quite interesting. They tend to be mean creatures rather than naughty, mischievous or even helpful and kind.
Early Christmas’ for me happened in the 1960s. Pixies on the mantels, shelves and other unexpected places added to the mystery and magic of Christmas. Elves were those who were busy in Santa’s workshop; pixies watched to see if you “naughty or nice”.
[...] as the Pixies who visited Isabel and Genevieve. Including losing their magic if touched. Elves, I read elsewhere, were of a Norwegian descent made popular in the United States in the late 1870’s. The Pixie is [...]