Santa's elves

The Modern Christmas elves were known originally as gnomes living in a house in a Scandinavian village, which have been present since the pagan times. These gnomes were both loved and hated by people as they were nice and helpful to some and nasty to those who were rude. However, during the 1800s some of the Scandinavian writers such as Rydberg decided to transform the image of the gnomes into Christmas elves that help Santa during the Christmas period and were fun to be around. They were soon loved by everyone and were seen as good helpers and friends of Father Christmas.

Originally it was believed that Santa lived with his 6 elves at North Pole but as it was evident there were no reindeers present there and therefore, due to the huge population of reindeers in Lapland, Finland, people started thinking that that’s where Santa and His 6 elves live. The rumour is that Father Christmas, his wife and the elves live in a small and secret village with a secret passage that nobody has yet found. The whereabouts of this village is only known by Father Christmas and the elves; however there are some people that believe that it is situated in the Korvatunturi Mountain in the quite Savukoski area of Lapland.

Although the majority of people believe that Santa has 6 elves, some people disagree and believe that there are 9 elves and some even think that there are as many as 13. These elves are the children of Gryla & Leppaludi and are known to be extremely clever. There job is to help Santa to design presents for the kids, which will be taken to their homes at Christmas. The names and duties of the six elves are believed to be:

1. The Inventor of the magic toy-making machine is - Bushy Evergreen
2. The Administrator of the long Naughty and Nice list is - Alabaster Snowball
3. The cofounder of the Lapland village & the oldest friend of Father Christmas is - Shinny Upatree
4. The guardian of the secret village is - Pepper Minstix
5. The designer of Santa’s sleigh and the one who takes care of the reindeer is - Wunorse Openslae
6. The Head of the Sweet Treats and she is also the one which helps Mrs Claus in the kitchen is - Sugarplum Mary and is also known as Mary Christmas.

Some of the other names of Santa’s elves that can be found are Laekjaraegir, Sledda, Bitahaengir, Baggalutur, Bjalmans Barnid. On the last day of Christmas (6th of Jan), the leves are believed to come down from their secret village and light up their torches to play and celebrate the completion of their Christmas duties.