Dwarves and Elves in Norse Myth
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 13 май 2024
- A look at the dwarves (dvergar) and elves (álfar) of Norse mythology, according to our primary sources preserved from the Middle Ages.
Dr. Jackson Crawford is Instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator at the University of Colorado Boulder (formerly UC Berkeley and UCLA). He is a historical linguist and an experienced teacher and translator of Old Norse, Modern Icelandic, and Norwegian.
Visit JacksonWCrawford.com (includes a linked list of all videos).
Latest FAQs: • Video (updated Nov. 2018).
Music © I See Hawks in L.A., courtesy of the artist. Visit www.iseehawks.com/
Logos by Elizabeth Porter (snowbringer at gmail).
Jackson Crawford’s Patreon page: / norsebysw
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: www.amazon.com/gp/product/162...
Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/The-Poetic...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: www.amazon.com/gp/product/162...
Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/The-Saga-o...
Outstanding! My grandmother had a small cave on her property and always told us to be respectful and kind to "the little ones". She was born about 100 km north of Oslo. When I got married I took several pieces of wedding cake to them. Made grandma happy and she often spoke of how happy the little ones had been. She credited all the good things in her life to these folks. She lived to 102 so there may have been something to it. We warned the people who bought her house but they bulldozed the cave and put in a pool. They had nothing but bad luck with the pool including machinery burning out, continuous leaking and 2 near drownings.
Always respect the little ones.
I’ve seen where people have destroyed some of the mounds here in Virginia and they have bad luck or even have an accident or die. A lot were destroyed during the building of a huge man made lake back in the 1960s. Before it could be completed fully two hurricanes came through and brought 2 100 year floods.
the dwarf name Eikinskjaldi, min 04:09 means Oakenshield, in Iceland the new generations dont really believe in elves/dwarfs/trolls but we respect the tradition and the areas that those beings are considered to live, these beings live in the rock and stone, and in the trees and mountains and even lakes and streams, and we call them Huldufolk, meaning hidden people. anyway my 2 cents greeting from Iceland
I think it's a great tradition
I love learning about different languages and traditions because if you told me these were from J.R.R Tolkien I would have believed you lol
If you look a bit close you can see most of the names from JRR's book in there ;)
That's because he was inspired by the myths and used the names of the dwarves
game of thrones stole some mythology as well(and the plots from every good fantasy movie.) lol
Every single named dwarf in Tolkien's lore comes from the Voluspa, and Gandalf too!
You even get Thorin and Oakenshield as separate names 😆
Tolkien was trying to reconstruct north European myths.
Video: "We're not sure why a lot of these names are inserted here."
Me: "What, you never padded out an assignment?"
I have two, possibly frivolous, observations. Firstly, you possess the perfect speaking voice for Old Norse; you should moonlight as a voice actor for fantasy films or video games. Secondly, the barn in the background of this video is the EXACT barn(replete with the appropriate amount of snow) that Bob Ross painted in every one of his works that included a barn. Third, and most importantly, thank you for a very interesting and informative video! You've gained a fan.
You can tell Tolkien was in the same line of worked and really enjoyed this stuff lol
Got to admit that I never thought that I would hear the Edda’s read by a cowboy in a Carhatt jacket.
Wow. So Tolkien took most of the names for his dwarves in "The Hobbit" from the list of names straight out of the Voluspa.
The folklore about elves reminds me of Celtic faerie lore. They're sometimes called "the good people of the mound" or "the good neighbors under the hill" (kind of like dark elves/dwarves). I've also heard "folk of the air". I like the ambiguity and opportunity for interpretation surrounding these figures, thanks for video!
@Brian Hensley maybe it's the proto indo European connection
They exist in a wide range of cultures and refer to similar things in similar ways. The confusion might stem at times from people getting stuck thinking of fantasy art.
In modern Swedish (to the extent that any modern Swede believes this, which I would say is near to none at all) this would be called either "Pyssling(-ar)" or "Tomte/Tomtar" (the latter word being synonymous with Santa Claus today, in the definitive case "Tomten"). I think "gnome" would be the closest counterpart in English, albeit not identical.
On the other hand, "älvor" och "alver" (female and male versions of "elf", respectively) have a different connotation to me entirely and allude to a much more ethereal being, and definitely connoted to light, haziness and mystery (at least to my current-day ears and mind).
Of what you mentioned, "good people under the mound" and such fits the imagery of "tomtar" well, and "folk of the air" could very well be a description of "älvor"!
Interesting to hear about the similarities!
@@SwedenTheHedgehog And we have the first name Alf (not Alfonso etc.) and Alv.
The amount of knowledge gained in regards to norse mythology and runes that I've gathered from this one man is absolutely astounding.
This makes so much sense when you think about later scandinavian folk tales.
In more modern danish texts 'elverfolk' (elf-people), 'elver' (elf) or 'alf' (elf) will be used as a substitute for any supernatural being. That means that both a dwarf, a troll and a fairy would be considered an elf. Yet, there is also a creature on it's own called an elver (pretty humanoids, living in hills and seducing people)
So basically, we consider it both a supernatural creature and a group of various supernatural creatures.
I'd never heard of dwarves turning to stone in daylight I thought that was purely a troll thing; how neat! I wonder if this might be another of those cases where ancient concepts of mythic beings were too broad and ambiguous to fit the modern insistence on taxonomy.
modern gamer rpg taxonomy for sure
I enjoyed this so much, especially the list of Dwarf names - it's tantalising that we don't understand its purpose within the narrative of the Vǫluspá better, or the meanings of the names more fully. It reminds me of nothing so much as Miss Flite's list of the names of her birds from Dickens' Bleak House:
Hope, Joy, Youth, Peace, Rest, Life, Dust, Ashes, Waste, Want, Ruin, Despair, Madness, Death, Cunning, Folly, Words, Wigs, Rags, Sheepskin, Plunder, Precedent, Jargon, Gammon, and Spinach.
It's a moment of genius; breathtaking, bathetic, allusive. In that novel this list appears twice; the first time it seems light and funny, the second unbearably poignant, and it's haunted me since I first encountered it as a child. I can't help feeling a similar intention in the author of the Vǫluspá.
It's a shame that our society doesn't pay teachers what they're actually worth.
If everyone received what was actually deserved it would be a very different world....
Especially in universities which charge $400+ for textbooks.
And yet teachers make comparable salaries to police. $40,000-$60,000 per year.
@@bardika1 And yet, most teachers have to work _two jobs_ so they can feed their kids. Buzz off.
In the summer months yes I'm sure. Most teachers I know however live a better life than I do.
So my biggest takeaway from this is naming my high elf sorcerer in elder scrolls "gandelf" is actually historically accurate in a sense? 😂
The ambiguity of dwarves and elves is reminiscent of the Vedic and Buddhist yakṣa. The term can refer to a proper class of semidivine being, which are often short, portly figures who have jurisdiction over hidden treasures and magic. The word can also be used as an appellative for several gods, the image of the rabbit in the moon, and even the Buddha is poetically referred to as such.
You speak this while in the high mountains of Colorado- there could be a faery mine right under your feet.
Incredible! I love broadening my understanding of magical beings from the sagas, and separating them from modern representation! Thank you so much, you're a scholar and a gentleman!
I see so many similarities between dwarves and djinn spoken of in Islamic mythology
They’re a race that existed on or rather within the earth before humans, they can enchant things to give the owner or wearer advantages, they are known to shape shift into many things but most often animals, there’s different types of djinn but they’re described in their true form as being shorter than humans standing at waist level but some types of djinn are said to be gigantic with huge wings
They prefer to inhabit caves, are invisible unless they want to be seen and can travel vast distances in no time at all
Some can reanimate corpses, others feed off corpses. They can see the future, cure illneses or even cause them. Grant wishes for a price or sacrifice of some kind, some inhabit water
But generally they’re thought to live their lives as we do with families and leaders etc
So interesting
The modern zombie comes from the ghoul than the xidachane or Voodoo zombie. And the draugr was the inspiration for some fantasy novel zombies.
Informative as always! Thank you and greetings from Norway
Amerikaner som snakker flytende norrønt og har studert sagaene våre: rar fleks, men ok
A raven at the end of the video...how fitting!
It's so strange seeing so many non-scandinavians who are interested in Norse mythology lol. It's cool, but I'd never have thought people outside our countries would be this interested, let alone teach it at a university. :)
Utlending snakker flytende norrønt: Rar fleks, men ok
Keep in mind that there are many people of Scandinavian decent spread throughout the world who may even share ancestors with you.
I really don't know why you would consider that strange
@UCELkOHoAn9XsJz0ZaUYMWuw
The old Greeks used to have a word for a person who is fascinated by or loving a foreign culture. As a Norwegian my self when young I was wherry fascinated by Egyptian mythology, and then later east Asian cultures, but not before now as an adult I'v found more interest in Northern and eastern European mythologies.
I myself got into it cuz of my ancestry being Scandinavian German Scottish Irish Cherokee and Lakota
I haven't been studying nearly as long as Dr. Crawford, but I would like to throw in my own two cents. I believe that at the very least, Dwarves and Elves are two separate categories of the same type of being being, the same way the Aesir and Vanir are two different tribes of gods. Knowing the fact that Alvis in Alvissmol clearly talks about the two peoples as if they are distinct at least demonstrates to me that the terms Dwarf and Elf are not 100% synonymous with one another. I also feel that Elves may be further distinguished from the Dwarves in the fact that they are often mentioned with the gods in poetry, as if they have some sort of close relationship with them, while the dwarves are not. It should also be noted that the Elves supposedly had something to do with ancestors in the Viking Age, perhaps being the spirits of one's ancestors. Considering that the Norse people venerated their ancestors, I don't think this is outside the realm of possibility.
All that said, there does seem to be more overlap between Dwarves and Elves than we want there to be. However, it definitely can spark some interesting discussion and debate.
I love your videos. The incredible combination of your soothing voice, the epic vistas in the background, and these fascinating stories make for awesome and educating viewing material. Thank you!
I read somewhere that people had a ceremony called "Alfrblot", during which the norse didn't take hosts and didn't allow anyone in their homes as the alfrblot was secret and no one from outside the home was allowed. Maybe this is why elves are so vague, each household had their own myth of how their own elf worked, and as a result there's no consensus as to what an elf is even during the time they were worshiped.
There's some speculation that the alfr represent deceased ancestors. If so, it makes sense why each family would celebrate unique rites/rituals.
I have been waiting on a video like this one. Thank you very much Dr. Jackson. Love your videos.
I'm glad you finally made a follow-up to the last video about this topic, I was always curious if there was more to learn.
I am so thrilled to have stumbled on this channel. Thank you, Dr. Cowboy, for the time and effort you've put into offering this free and accessible content. I've been doing heavy research into Celtic myth, specifically the fae and it made me curious about the similarities between the fae and Norse and Germanic elves. This seems to be a treasure trove of a resource and I am massively appreciative. Though, as an equine academic, I am going to be very disappointed if you do not have any farm and pone content. On the matter of principle.
💖💖💖💖love this channel so much!
I really enjoy your videos; great commentary too. I really got into watching them after i went to Iceland.
Great episode!!!
Your videos are always great. I am very impressed by the consistent high quality of your video and grateful to have access to such high quality content about old norse language, culture and mythology.
I love how you manage to have what is seemingly an old norse accent when speaking english!
I’ve read Snorri’s Edda (in Swedish, not in English yet) and remember stumbling through this list of names…. Really well done!
wow as an avid LOTR fan i was surprised by all the names tolkien used!
You are a pinnacle of old Norse knowledge. Thank you.
Who do I ask at my university to have them ship you in for a guest lecture?
@@matthewlawton9241 lol
Love your channel.
I have been trying to understand exactly how these two overlap for WEEKS thank you so much!
Had to get The Saga of the Volsungs audio book after this. Maybe now after walking the dog I'll feel smarter :D Thank you for an awesome channel. It just feels right listening to you while doing the layout for an article in the journal Collegium Medievale on "The feared King" during Norway's "civil war" period, 1130-1240.
Such a fascinating topic.. Thank you for sharing. Hugs & sunshine☀️ N
Excellent and informative, thank you kindly from Álfheimr
Thanku so much for your wisdom in the stories .. u share so much meaning and insite into the old books
Thanks i have been into the old norse mythology and history since the early 90's and its nice to see it so popular now so im not such a nerd lol. So thanks again for all the knowledge you share I really appreciate the accuracy and quality of your work. Impressive and appreciated
I like how he vanishes at the end lol
Keep up your good work!
I loved it!! Thank you!
Great video 👍
I've been enjoying your Poetic Edda translation audiobook and the elves attending the Aesir's feast in the Lokasenna had confused me. Thank you for the clarification.
Great video. As someone who worldbuilds for fun I'm starting to do research on origins of fantasy races and this has been a huge help.
I'll be sure to check out your other videos as well.
I gotta wonder if the norse stories of dwarves and trolls were some kind of ancestral memory of other hominid species but passed down and distorted over time.
I am in love with this man... seriously wow
Good afternoon, please try to speak a little louder, i watch your vídeos most of the time in the way back home in a bus, and i can't hear some phrases, but thanks for all the good material u give us! Love your videos.
You're always interesting. Just a note, Google automatically transcribed you as an "old nurse specialist". You are indeed multitalented!
Love your videos Dr. Crawford. As a linguist myself, I've wished that more of us would take the time to dedicate channels on RUclips to properly teaching language the way you do. Unfortunately, it seems that native speakers of a language are preferred as teachers of a language here in the U.S. despite having little to no true understanding of the linguistic structure of that language or how to go about teaching it to others. I hope other language and linguistic Professors are taking notes from you!
What languages do you specialize in from most to least?
As someone who is fluent in multiple languages, i'll take a native speaker over a foreigner who has a better understanding of grammar any day of the week.
Super content and also a Colorado resident. 👍
JRR Tolkien really knew old Northern dialects.
What can I say? Your a trouper!! Thanks soooo much for all your videos.
The crow cawing at the end. Some one is watching you with interest
Wonderful ! Takk skal du ha ! 💜🧚♀
Fascinating
The list of names of Dwarves is interesting, the four corners of the earth or as we now know them, the four main points of compass, and several geological names like different ores. There is also one name that is particularly interesting to me: Jari. I was not aware that I have a dwarven name. 😁
I could
Listen to you all day! Le sigh😌
Brilliant classic video. Thanks. What about the four stags' names in yggdrasil that seem to be dwarf names?
The shape changing nature sorta reminds me of some yokai in Japanese mythology, and generally trickster figures across the world. Not always good or bad, but sort of nature spirits?
Thanks!
The names of the dwarves seems like a magical incantation in its own right.....powerful Thank You
Curious idea: In my research, I've noticed that most ancient writing systems were considered "gifts from God." In Hebrew, the YHWM is reflective of Phoenician influence with an omission of vowel sounds in writing (as implied), but the vowels themselves were sacred. In Norse, the Runes come from the "sacrifice of Woeden to himself." Etc.
Is it possible that the alliteration we see is indicative that poetry itself was more important than the stories the poems told? Obviously, the stories become important with meaning and tradition, but I believe the true magic was the artwork of wordplay. We see this in the very first line of the Hebrew Book of Genesis, where grammar is discarded for wordplay.
I think tens of thousands of years of advanced story telling around fires gave our ancients a better sense of words and meanings than many people today. Perhaps, Elves and Gods and Vanir and Aesir are only as important as their ability to be poetic (like the Gods) rather than accurate (like modern man). Ancient people weren't interested in facts. I believe they wanted magic.
The name Scirvir here jumped out at me, being a long-time Demon's Souls fan. I also learned from your videos the significance of the name Oscar the Fateless, which is used for the name of the first character you meet in Dark Souls.
What do each of those characters represent and do? What do they represent for you if anything?
I am native NM and lived in Nord Trøndelag on an old farm and was amazed at the similarities in the beliefs of little people. Very interesting
Thank you this is very educational. I didn't know half of this. I am using this information in some fictional writings. More the Irish and Scottish versions of this, but they are inter connected.
Seems like the stories of dwarves can be a fairytale about the basics of geology. All their names are basically the different ores and elements that all have different functions when crafted for tools. Yet again, humans give humanistic qualities to things they don't quite understand... or at least how they tell the stories of the creation of the world in ways even children can understand.
No. You are assuming it's purely alegory but it's usually not true. They belived in literal existence. You can just look at any other pagan tradition.
Thank You So Much for This. Definitely Having an Under the Mountain. Lord of the Rings Moment 😊
10:04 So Gimli WASN'T joking...
The dwarves seem like methodology on how to get things done.
Norse Jerry Seinfeld: "What is up with Alfar anyway?"
I think I may have to buy that forthcoming book....
Hey from a Dane here, quick disclaimer I am no professor in anything related to the norse gods, I only know what I was told by my father and grandfather and other hearsay. But in terms of the Dwarves and their powers, they seem to have been quite limitless from turning into animals to craft magical items. And they were also known to be quite vicious and vindictive creatures. Best not to invoke their wroth.
It's so interesting that Tolkien used Gandalf correctly so long ago. Fascinating. Of course, he was at Oxford so somehow he was able to research this. Just so happy to have found your channel. Total Anglophile here, but the Danes, ya know. So interested. Thanks.
Researching the history of the northern European languages was Tolkien's job. He was a philologist.
Hwæt wē gar-*dene* ...
"A hundred years is but a mere blink in the life of an elf, I am patient, I'll wait"
- Thranduil
Trying to learn about Elves outside of Tolkien, and the fantasy that based themselves on him, is really hard and most of it is negative.
What we see from folklore is that Elves are disease bringers and sexual threats to women and especially men where they try to lure them into the elf-world and casts diseases if they don’t comply.
Norse Mythology isn’t much help as to what the Elves were like. The most we can gather is that they were beautiful, lived in their own world and were sacrificed to for protection. But it is kinda hard to know what they were like.
Like, what did they do? What was their behaviour like? If they were helpful, how were they helpful and what did they do to help?
Lots of questions but not many answers
I think it's interesting how one of the old Norwegian petty kingdoms was called Álfheimr (now Bohuslän in Sweden) and how they were considered more beautiful than other peoples. The kings of this realm also had names with 'Elf' in them, like Álfgeir, Gandálfr, Álfr, Álfarinn, Álfar.
Many of the kings of these places are legendary, though, and we don't have actual sources from the time they lived. This goes the same for the names of the places.
A king of Wessex was called Alf-read, indicating one who gives counsel to elves.
I have "Dvergar" here at home. Two little girls 2nd and 3rd grade. They make the coolest stuff for me. It's all over Frig, in my room on the walls, macaroni, popsicle sticks, clay, dazzle ahwww you name they can make it! LOL 😂 very nice lesson Dr. Jackson! Takk!
The way you described it is the same way I've thought about it
at 9:28 it reminded me of snow white.
Is really interesting that Gandalf was the name of a dwarf.
Magic-Staff-Elf the dwarf, lol.
So the name of one of those characters you mentioned is cognate to that of Weylund, the smith?
This video cleared up Norse mythology and Lord of the Rings lore in one fell swoop. Litteraly magic
It would certainly be interesting to see a take on 'dwarves' that included a bit of the maggot angle. Would fit right in with a dark fantasy setting.
I would say the birth of the Uruk-hai scenes in LotR films look like they might reference that. They looked like maggots in the flesh of the earth.
@@evanmorris1178 True!
There is one thing that Tolkein got right about elves and that is the size. They are depicted as the same size as humans whereas in fairy tales they are depicted as small, possibly a confusion with the common or garden fairy folk.
Are the dark elves those that we call goblins or hobgoblins in recent times, the latter being more belligerent to humans and also be conected to the jötnar?
In Scandinavia we do not have fairies, so when other cultures talk about them we think they are talking about elves...
@@jonaseggen2230
Fairies have entered the vocabularly more though. The idea that elves are small come from England where they in the later middle-ages started to become smaller.
However, originally elves were the same size as humans and that is pretty clear from things like humans being able to have sex with elves and their offspring would be normal sized but more beautiful. Even in folklore, elves are not always small creatures exactly because it is possible to have children with elves.
If look at Tolkien, I think he was inspired by the idea of light and dark elves and it fitted his Catholic views of the world. He probably made the light-elves into the elves we know and the dark-elves into the corrupted form of elves, that is orcs and goblins.
Tolkien’s Catholic worldview was that evil cannot create but only corrupt what God has already made. The Elves are made by the God in the LOTR world (Eru Illuvatar) and God made them through singing the world and creation into being, while Melkor (a valar that rebelled kinda like Satan) wanted to create his own beings apart from God’s songs but could only corrupt the songs and not make his own. Thus, the Goblins and orcs were made from the elves.
For Tolkien, the Notion of light- and dark-elves meant he could create a race of good elves and make all the evil notions of elves be left on the goblins and orcs, which would be the corrupted form of elves. I think that is why elves are portrayed in a kinder light in LOTR than they are in folklore
@@sirnilsolav6646 Hello Sir and thanks for input. Makes me think of mythologies where what abilities certan gods have, their family relations etc, can change rather much throughout the ages.
The elves you describe here as potential marriage material, makes me think of similar stories about the Hulder, or Huldra, even though they are plural..
And also small elves seems to be similar to gnomes.
@@jonaseggen2230
In Scandinavia, what you would call gnomes are what we call nisse or tomte. They are perhaps the kindest of the folk lore creatures.
My theory is that the huldra replaced elves in Norwegian folk lore. If you compare elves in mythology in Scandinavia and in England you see that a lot of the things elves do in England, like the changeling thing, huldra does in Norway. Huldra also just means ‘’hidden’’ and on Iceland, huldra means elves.
So I believe that the huldra in Norway gradually replaced elves and though some belief in elves did remain, it was not as wide spread as in Sweden and Denmark, probably because the belief in a huldra people was wider in Norway. Elves technically were ‘’hidden’’.
Sweden on the other hand did not have the belief in a hulder people. Huldra, yes, but not as a whole people and instead believed in the tufte people. This meant elves still could have a wide destinct function, while in Norway their function of luring men into their world was taken over by the huldra people.
Still, there was a phenomina of ‘’elf-rings’’ which were rings in grass often consisting of mushrooms which were believed to be created from ‘’elf dances’’. Other than that, the belief in elves in Norway mostly consisted in them bringing diseases on humans.
Dr. Crawford, I am actually wanting to have my vows be in old Norse. Is there a website or something you recommend so I can translate the English? Thank you in advance.
I now have even more reasons to love the works of Tolkien.
Regarding the caption at 8:11, I believe this meme that dwarfs were originally conceived as being as tall as humans and were shrunk under Christian influence arose from the fact that the surviving panels from the Hylestad stave church are decorated with scenes showing Sigurðr and Reginn as the same height. I remember the Wikipedia page circa 2009, before somebody cleaned it up to remove unsourced material, had this speculation.
Dude you’ve gave me so much information. I deal with eves during mushroom trips. I’ve heard this rumor of elves living in stones. Not rocks but stones. Dried mushrooms looks just like a stone. Some species of fungi produce visuals that you would say look exactly like elves. I’ve always said bring me the culture psychedelic drug of choice I’ll learn everything about them.
Okay I know this is an old video so I don’t know if you’ll see my comment, but awhile back I came up with a theory an dwarves and would like to know what you think. I’m kind of inclined to believe that dwarves were legends passed down through the germanic tribes of their interactions with Neanderthals. What do you think? I think the timeline coincides with the extinction/last known holdouts of the Neanderthals
So dwarves may be a subset of elves? That could make an interesting angle in a novel.
Exists in some fantasy worlds already like the elder scrolls games, where "deep elves" is another name for dwarves
@@Metaphix Cool. I don't play videogames so I didn't know about those.
I often think that myths and legends, including their pantheons, bestiaries, etc., are much more akin to comics than like sets of ideas that were set in stone and shared. Think superhero comics, with their pervasive "retconning" (a writer taking over a title and re-writing the history set by the previous writers - so sometimes a superhero's milieu and powers will change entirely, or they'll turn into a supervillain, etc.).
Some religions have "dogma" which is relatively set in stone and largely shared by a given group, but I think most of the time for most humans, their fantastic tales and their sense of the wider cosmos has been pretty fast and loose, varying a lot by region, locale, etc., with only a few themes, words, names, etc., threading through, which have meant slightly different things to different people.
Actually, I'd guess that the drift in mythology somewhat tracks the drift in language itself from geographical area to geographical area. IOW, the kinds of tales that enthralled people around campfires, or in their homes or their halls, will drift alongside genetic, linguistic, psychological and cultural drift, shifting subtly from region to region to region, ending up with major mutations from one end of a continent to another.
I think they are even more loose and free than comics.
Elves also overlap with huldrefolk and even undead. I think there's a story of a guy who turned elf after death. They are sometimes bringers of disease if you piss them off. I think they are general spirits and "hidden folk" as you say, but less than the gods.
I wish there more of this out there and less of Tolkien. I would love to know more about Motsognir. Thank you for this.
it could be a rectangle-square kind of distinction. where a square might be considered a kind of rectangle, but if you just say “rectangle” that implies it to not have 4 equal sides, because otherwise you would have been more specific and have just said square. So we tend to mentally distinguish the two even if one might be a subcategory of the other. like how dwarves might be elves, that is to say a lesser supernatural entity, but most times you would just call them dwarves straight up, giving the mental impression of them distinguishing two things.
A brilliant volley of dwarf names can be heard in the oratorio Skopun heimsins, The Creation of the World.