ielfen
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Old English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Feminine of ielf, equivalent to ielf + -en. Cognate with or a parallel formation to Middle High German elbinne.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
ielfen f
- female elf
- manuscript early 9th century, Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit Voccius Lat. 4o 106, f. 10r
- Nimphae . aelfinni eadem . & muse | Nymphae: "female elves"; also musae.
- Oreades duun . aelfinni . | Oreades: "female mountain-elf."
- Driades . uudu . aelfinne | Dryades: "female wood-elf."
- Amadriades ua&er . aelfinñ | Hamadryades: "female water-elf."
- Maides feld . aelfinne | Maiades: "female field-elf."
- Naides sáe . aelfinne | Naiades: "female sea-elf."
- manuscript c. 930s, First Cleopatra Glossary
- Amadriades: feldælbinne ł elfenne; Maides: sæælfenne; Nymfæ: wæterælfenne; Naides: sæælfenne; Oreades: wuduælfenne
- Hamadryades: "female field-elves or [spelling variant]"; maides: "female sea elves"; nymphae: "female water-elves"; naiades: female sea-elves"; oreades: "female wood-elves."
- manuscript earlier eleventh century, Antwerp-London Glossary, f. 21r
- Oriades . muntælfen . Driades . wuduelfen . Moides . feldelfen . Amadriades . wylde elfen . Naides . sæelfen . Castalidas . dunelfen
- Oreades: "female mountain-elves"; dryades: "female wood-elves"; maides: "female field-elves"; hamadryades: "female water-elves"; naiades: "female sea elves"; Castalidas: "female mountain-elves." (Note that in this manuscript, the Latin terms are plural, while the Old English glosses are either singular[1] or have been transferred to the weak declension.[2])
- manuscript early 9th century, Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit Voccius Lat. 4o 106, f. 10r
Usage notes[edit]
- Ielfen is only attested in textually-related glosses to Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, I 8.11.97, where it answers Latin nympha. This does not imply ielfen meant "nymph," exactly, only that Old English had no precise word for nymphs, and the glossators thought female elves would make a useful approximation.
- This tradition of glossing nympha with ielfen appears to have originated in the seventh or eighth century, though the surviving manuscripts are later.
Declension[edit]
Declension of ielfen (strong ō-stem)
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Dictionary of Old English (Toronto: DOE project, 1986-), s.v. ælfen.
- ^ Alaric Hall, 'Glosses, Gaps and Gender: The Rise of Female Elves in Anglo-Saxon Culture', in Change in Meaning and the Meaning of Change: Studies in Semantics and Grammar from Old to Present-Day English, ed. by Matti Rissanen, Marianna Hintikka, Leena Kahlas-Tarkka and Rod McConchie, Mémoires de la Société Néophilologique de Helsinki, 72 (Helsinki: Société Néophilologique, 2007), pp. 139-70 (pp. 158-60).