This topic is broad and large, but we’re starting small. Eventually there will be many pages about different kinds of elves, faires, dwarves, merfolk, etc. found all over Northwestern Europe and connected with certain sites, legends, etc. But there is much to unravel. We’ll be getting there slowly…

Note that the many sources that try to put elves and fairies in all sorts of boxes do not do them justice. I make myself guilty of the same…it is however very hard to define what elves and fairies really are; are they nature spirits, echoes of ancient gods, our ancestors or other spirits of the dead? They are all of these, more or less, depending on the situation and the fairy you encounter…Keep this in mind when you read about the different elves and fairies below.

Aardmannen

Iron Age grave sites were associated with aardmannen. Their name litterally means ‘earth men’ – they can be compared to kobolds, goblins or dwarves. In Flanders they’re also known as alvermanneke or auvermanneke, linking them to alves. Generally they are linked to earth spirits who live in human houses – but they are less bound to these homes. Note the aforementioned connection to grave sites and other hilly areas where they live, often under the rule of a king. They are also connected to underground tunnels and even rabbit holes, especially in Limburg.

Aardmannen are considered to be lucky creatures as long as one stays on their good side. This can be done by giving them offerings of food and drink. They are helpful and help around the house in their own mysterious manners. In Flanders they wash the linen at night, in Limburg they polish the copper ware.

Around Hasselt people would put pots and pans at the ready, and leave a small bag of tobacco with them. Apparently aardmannen loved to smoke, since many aardmanspijpjes (small earth men pipes) have been found in the ground. These small, thick limestone pipes are also known as feeënpijpjes (small fairy pipes). The pipes are also found in other areas of Northwest Europe.

Aardmannen may be helpful, but they do have a dark side. Don’t anger them, because then your luck will be gone. Aardmannen also may leave a changeling in the place of a human baby.

Do you want to get rid of aardmannen, for whatever reason? They will leave if you bully them. They also detest the ringing bells of a clock. Another popular means (since many of these stories have been written down) is giving the aardman something strange to eat, or doing something else they consider very strange. A young man in Roermond (Limburg, Netherlands) had given the earth men old soles in his porridge. The oldest earth man said:

Ik ben zo oud / als het Echter Woud / Driemaal gesnoeid / Driemaal geveld / En weer gewassen / Tot molenassen / Maar ik heb van mijn leven / Nooit schoenlappen in de brij gekregen!

I am as old / as the Echter Woods / thrice pruned / thrice cut / Ans waxed again / Into the axles of mills / But in all my life / I have never gotten soles in the porridge!

Dwelling lights

‘Dwaallichten’ is the Dutch word for Will-o’-the-whips or foxfires, those eerie lights that can sometimes be found in the dark outside with no discernible source. We now have several factual, biological reasons where these lights come from. In folklore there were also several theories, usually concerning fairies and/or the dead. The following text about dwelling lights is based on the information in Volksverhalen, legenden, toverijen en spookverschijningen by Marten Douwes Teenstra (1843):

Dwelling lights or ignis fatuus usually show in places where a crime such as murder or rape, was committed, so that the spirit of the victim could get no rest. They also dwell in places where the devil has buried a treasure and now needs light to find it back again. But also in older times people already realised that these light were natural phenomena.

People also see the pale light on graves of dead people who are restless, because of some unfulfilled promise or payment. Local lights are also known such as in Rotheme in the Betuwe (centrsl Netherlands), in the former ‘red tower’. At some nights, a knight in full armour would haunt this place an blue flames play on the grounds of the now demolished castle.

Other known lights are the fire at the red cliff near Stavoren, the rijpsterlicht at the Waldijk in the province of Groningen and the Faanbrand in Oost-Langewold on a place where up until 1823 there was a torture/whipping post. In this last place, at some nights, people imagine they can see blue flames, moving lights and columns of smoke at midnight at a place where on24 September 1731 22 people were burned while innocent, being accused of sodomy.

Kobolds

A kobold with the name Hans Joppen lived under a grave near Oss (Noord-Brabant, Netherlands). This place is known as the Joppenberg. Hans Joppen guided hikers who might otherwise get lost. There are also stories going around about this place, in which this grave is haunted by the ghost of a king.

Nikkers, nixen

‘Nikker’ is considered male, ‘nix’ female. Their name may refer to their dark skin. These water spirits live in sweet waters, such as creeks, moors and ponds. They are considered dangerous and will drown humans if they are not careful. As is often the case with fairies, they are associatied with the devil. The nikkers can sometimes be heard wailing, which is a sign of a coming storm or of a drowned body soon washing up.

Witte Wieven

These apparations speak to the imagination of many people. Some say that they are ancient goddesses or the spirits of the dead. Based on what is known about them and what people tell about them, I think they will fit best on this page about elves. Most of what I write about them in these paragraphs come from Teenstra (see sources below).

Witte wieven live in small hills and can appear as if they are made of mist. They are mostly seen in the northern and eastern provinces of the Netherlands – as solitary figures, but also regularly in pairs or groups of three. They have also sometimes been seen wandering around with ghostly dogs.

According to some accounts, the witte wieven were seen dancing around a tree. In one of these accounts, taking place in Warffum (in the Dutch province of Groningen) they were carrying white, bloody kerchiefs. In Baflo (also Groningen) three witte wieven could be found, their hair wild and loose, making gestures of despair and rage, going widdershins around a hill.

The witte wieven can be good or evil. In modern Dutch their name means ‘white women’ but a better translation goes back to old Dutch for ‘wise or knowing women’. They are sometimes thought to be the ghosts of women who have been wronged in life, who now wander the earth for revenge or to teach people lessons. Some of the places where witte wieven have been spotted, are called after witches, such as heksenlaan (‘witches’ lane’). Indeed, some people think that the witte wieven, the knowing women, may the spirits of ancient witches or seerresses. Then again, they have definite marks of ancient goddesses about them. The mystery surrounding these beings makes them all the more alluring.

Sources

Clerinx, Herman. Kelten en de Lage Landen. Leuven: Davidsfonds. 2005. (Second print.)

K. ter Laan. Folklore en Volkswijsheden in Nederland en Vlaanderen. Utrecht: Het Spectrum. 2005 (Third print).

Teenstra, Marten Douwes. Verscheidenheden betrekkelijk booze kunden en wetenschappen door eene phantastische wereld geschapen en wel inzonderheid die der tooverijen en waarzeggerijen. Zijnde eene rapsodie van sprookjes van vroegere en latere dagen, uit onderscheiden schrijvers en mondelingen mededeelingen verzameld…Kampen: K. van Hulst. 1846 (Republished 1973).