Jakob Grimm thought that whiteness implied positive moral connotations, and, noting Snorri Sturlusons ljslfar, suggested that elves were divinities of light. This is not necessarily the case, however. For example, Alaric Hall, noting that the cognates suggest matt white or soft white, has instead tentatively suggested that later evidence associating both elves and whiteness with beauty may indicate that it was this beauty that gave elves their name. A completely different etymology, making elf cognate with the Rbhus, semi divine craftsmen in Indian mythology, was also suggested by Kuhn, in 1. In this case, li z connotes the meaning, skillful, inventive, clever, and is cognate with Latin labor, in the sense of creative work. While often mentioned, this etymology is not widely accepted. Elves in names. Throughout the medieval Germanic languages, elf was one of the nouns that was used in personal names, almost invariably as a first element. These names may have been influenced by Celtic names beginning in Albio such as Albiorix. Alden Valley, Lancashire, possibly a place once associated with elves. Personal names provide the only evidence for elf in Gothic, which must have had the word lbs plural lbeis. The most famous such name is Alboin. Old English names in elf include the cognate of Alboinlfwine literally elf friend, m., lfric elf powerful, m., lfweard elf guardian, m. A widespread survivor of these in modern English is Alfred Old English lfrd, elf advice. Also surviving are the English surname Elgar lfgar, elf spear and the name of St Alpheges church lfhah, elf high. German examples are Alberich, Alphart and Alphere father of Walter of Aquitaine1. Icelandic examples include lfhildur. It is generally agreed that these names indicate that elves were positively regarded in early Germanic culture. Other words for supernatural beings in personal names almost all denote pagan gods, suggesting that elves were in a similar category of beings. In later Old Icelandic, alfr elf and the personal name which in Common Germanic had been alwulfaz both coincidentally became lfrlfr. This seems to have led people to associate legendary heroes called lfr with elves. Elves appear in some place names, though it is hard to be sure how many as a variety of other words, including personal names, can appear similar to elf. The clearest English example is Elveden elves hill, Suffolk other examples may be Eldon Hill Elves hill, Derbyshire and Alden Valley elves valley, Lancashire. These seem to associate elves fairly consistently with woods and valleys. Relationship to Christian cosmologies. Almost all surviving textual sources about elves were produced by Christianswhether Anglo Saxon monks, medieval Icelandic poets, early modern ballad singers, nineteenth century folklore collectors, or even early twentieth century fantasy authors. As with the Irish Aos S, beliefs in elves have, therefore, been a part of Christian cultures throughout their recorded history and there is a complex relationship between ideas about elves and mainstream Christian thought. Historically, people have taken three main approaches to integrating elves into Christian cosmology though of course there are no rigid distinctions between these Identifying elves with the demons of Judaeo Christian Mediterranean tradition. For example. Viewing elves as being more or less like people, and more or less outside Christian cosmology. The people who copied the Poetic Edda do not seem to have attempted to integrate elves into Christian thought. Likewise, the early modern Scottish people who, when prosecuted as witches, confessed to encountering elves seem not to have thought of themselves as having dealings with the Devil.