Encountering "elf" in yourself

One of the key characters in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings is Gandalf. He is a wise and erudite wizard, playing a leading role in an adventure of Hobbits throughout the series. This bearded old man played by Ian McKellen also leaves a huge impression on us.

J. R. R. Tolkien, a creator of this Middle-earth sagas, loved stories from Old Norse and got so much influence and inspiration from such ancient mythology and tales. This tells that Gandalf was far from being a fictional figure out of Tolkien's wild imagination: the name was actually recorded in medieval Scandinavian manuscript, showing historical presence of such kind of entity.

“Gandalf” is the word combined with Old Norse (one of the Germanic languages) “gandr” (meaning “wand, staff, cane”) and “alfr” (meaning “elf”), literally meaning “wand elf.” Although they do not belong to any creature on Middle-earth such as elf, dwarf, man, or orc, his name indicates his connection with the elvish race! “Elvish” elements loom so large in the Germanic mythology, and, come to think of it, “alf” is often in the first component of personal names, such as Alfric and Alfred.

Then I embark on finding other hidden presences in daily life.

For example, you often bump into “elves” when you read books: they are on the “shelf.”

Then I realized I have an “elf” much closer to me.

That is “myself.”

I was overjoyed to have met them within me!

There are so many “elves” in a daily landscape. Though the last ones are a mere “pun”, (so the fake etymology), it can suggest that rational creatures (defined based on our modern thinking) are not able to live without the creature of what we usually deem as being "fantastic."