alf

From Danish and Swedish alf, from Old Norse alfr; see also Dutch alf. Doublet of elf, awf, and oaf.

alf (plural alfs)

1. (Norse mythology) A supernatural being similar to an elf; one of the Dǫkkálfar or Ljósalfar.
   • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 248:

     As the Scandinavians were at that time still worshippers of Thor and Odin, the belief in Alfs and Dwarfs accompanied them to their new abodes, and there, as elsewhere, survived the introduction of Christianity.

   • 2023, Kveldulf Gundarsson, Elves, Wights & Trolls, The Three Little Sisters, page 83:

     [T]he charm suggests rather that the Ases had sunk to a level where they could be counted together with witches and lesser wights, than that the alfs were seen as godly beings at the time the charm was composed.

• fal, AFL, Fla., FAL, FLA, Fla, Fal, Flå, LFA

From Old Norse alfr, from Proto-Germanic *albiz.

alf c (singular definite alfen, plural indefinite alfer)

1. fairy
2. elf

• “alf” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Middle Dutch alf, from Old Dutch *alf, from Proto-Germanic *albiz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós. Doublet with Dutch elf (“elf”), a modern borrowing from English.

• IPA^(key): /ɑlf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: alf
• Rhymes: -ɑlf

alf m (plural alven, diminutive alfje n, feminine alve)

1. a type of folkloristic humanoid or spirit; an elf

• (mythical being): elf

• alvermannetje

From Old Dutch *alf, from Proto-Germanic *albiz.

alf m

1. elf, evil spirit

• Dutch: alf

• “alf”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “alf”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

alf

1. accusative singular of alfr

From Proto-Germanic *albiz.

alf m

1. elf

• Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch (5th edition 2014)

alf

1. eleven

From Old Norse alfr, from Proto-Germanic *albiz.

alf c

1. alternative spelling of alv (“elf”)

• The word alf (alfven, alfver) turned into alv (alven, alver) in the 1906 spelling reform. Somehow, the old form also lives on, but now with different inflected forms.

Obsolete:

• fal

• IPA^(key): /alf/

• Audio:

  (file)

ȧlf

1. eleven

alf

1. alternative form of alve