elle-maid

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “I think the first element is Danish, but the term does not occur in Wiktionary”)

Noun[edit]

elle-maid (plural elle-maids)

  1. (mythology) A type of female elf of Scandinavian folklore.
    • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 33:
      The Wilde Frauen or Wild-women of Germany bear a very strong resemblance to the Elle-maids of Scandinavia. Like them they are beautiful, have fine flowing hair, live within hills, and only appear singly or in the society of each other.