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Submitted: February 12, 2012
Image Size: 193 KB
Resolution: 898×700
Submitted with: Sta.sh

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Elf Peopleby *humon

Traditional Art / Drawings / Fantasy

By popular demand, here's the Elf People from Nordic mythology. I only drew the actual elves because there are a TON of creatures who belong in this group, yet are not elves.

First of, forget all you've learned about elves from fantasy books. Actual elves from Nordic mythology are nothing like that. They don't have pointy ears, they do get old, and they get uglier and uglier with age.

One thing that define elves of all kinds is that they have holes in their backs, that either look like rotten meat filled with maggots, fresh bloody meat, or a rotten tree stump filled with insects.
In modern times people tend to leave out the hole in their backs because it makes them less sexy, but that's exactly the point. When you see an elf from the front you're supposed to go "Niiiice!" and then you see them from the back and go, "JESUSFUCKINGCHRISTWHATTHEHELL!!?!" so it saddens me when people take away the hole because the elves lose a lot of the intended mystery/horror. (So I'm not happy with the Norwegian movie Thale. And yes, I've seen Troll Hunter)
The elves wouldn't mind though because they don't like when humans see the hole, so if you catch a glimse of it you're as good as dead.
(I have to admit that one of the reasons why I like to keep the holes is also because I dislike perfect looking creatures. The tails alone just make them look cute.
It's the same reason why I never cared for fantasy elves or modern vampires.)

The misty elf girls can be seen dancing in the early morning. They often invite people to join, and will then dance the person to death.

The special branch of elves called huldras also have a tail (either fox or cow) or are hairy from that waist and down. It is said that the ones with cow tails can become human if you cut the tail off, and there are stories about them only wanting to marry a human so they can become human themselves.

Elves love nothing more than to kidnap people and hold them as, well let's be hones here, sex slaves. Why they do it is everybody's guess because there's both female and male elves, though there seem to be an overpopulation of females, so that might be a reason. Anyone who get captured by an elf will go insane and might be found years later wandering around, not remembering what happened to them.

Though most stories have elves as evil, they can also be nice, because all Nordic creatures will either be good or evil depending on how you treat them. But only a fool will trust elves too much...

~~sad 0 0~~

~DyingMarshmallows Apr 30, 2013

Is there a reason to having holes in their backs? Do they use them for anything?

~HarryWatson Apr 28, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

a hole in the back? how creepy is that? xD

~Kabetchett Apr 12, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

I'm totally going to be a Huldra for Halloween... Let the guys check me out as I'm starting to walk by and then when they see my back, they'll just see what looks like rotting flesh. >

I might add a fox tail to it though.

~Aldhissla-mon Apr 3, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

I did not know the Elf Maiden also had a hole in her back...

~yuumi-moto Mar 21, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

Really?
im from the north, and i have never heard of this?
Yes, its true they get old and uglier in the years, but not the thing with the back

~HellaLuvGlorfy Mar 17, 2013 Student General Artist

faved for the "JESUSFUCKINGCHRISTWHATTHEHELL!!?!" -reaction. and that's a really nice idea. a house may come with a pretty facade and a hollow backside.

~Kevemperor Jan 28, 2013

In some of the myths it isn't meat, it's more like a hollowed log.

~ghearradh Jan 27, 2013 Student Writer

_{I personally think that anyone should be able to put their own twist on elves or fantasy in general, but do like how you go back to the roots of elves. Nicely done.}

~ClampMe Jan 15, 2013

I know the feeling.
I am a big folk geek, and I don't think hollywood was that far off on the looks, It just took out all the icky parts it didn't like (the constante risk of death, the bipolar tendencies, their habits of kidnapping/sex slave, human eating ,...), you know all the good stuff that made them hot as hell and only kept the shiny exterior.

They are old, wise and magnificiant beings (most off the time) that should be admired, but they can also be the biggest b*stards in the universe, that will kill you for sneezing to loud

As for their represantation it really depends of what part of the world your from. it can range from beautiful as fuck, to ugly as sin!! or both at the same time (shapeshiffters and so on)

marvelously done none the less

~RadiantStar4 Jan 3, 2013 Student Digital Artist

I love the original elves a bit more than the modern ones. But I prefer to keep the hole much smaller for my own reasons XD
Nevertheless, I am thankful that you made this. It is best that most people know the truth about history points, even in fantasy.

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