Santa's Elves

One of the most well-known fairies of the season are of courses Santa's elves. There have been many different versions of elves over the years in as presented in movies and other media.

Most of what we know about elves we know because of movies or books. Here are some of the more popular films that have created what we know about Santa's little helpers.

Elf- The story of a human who was raised by elves.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town- The elves take in Kris Kringle.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- Hermes the elf doesn't conform to 'regular elf behaviour' and wants to be a dentist. (So we see a little bit about what elf behaviour is by seeing what it isn't)



The Santa Clause- elves don't really play a large role in the film, but are essential in creating the mood of the north pole. They are also presented as children instead of little old men as others have done in the past.

There's also a song by the Barenaked Ladies about how elves aren't so happy doing what they do called Elf's Lament. The whole album is pretty fun, it's called Barenaked for the Holidays. here's the band's page on the album http://barenakedladies.com/music/barenaked-holidays

I recently discovered this book at a bookstore that comes with a little doll called Elf on the Shelf. The idea behind it is you put up the doll on the fireplace mantle or somewhere visible and the elf watches the children's behaviour to tell Santa whether or not they've been naughty or nice. This seems just slightly creepy to me, and I have a feeling that I would have been more frightened of the doll than enchanted. It also seems like a cheap way to make your child behave by causing psychological trauma, but that might just be me. The doll also looks rather creepy. It comes with a book.  http://www.elfontheshelf.com/#/home