Middle English Dictionary Entry
elve(n n.
Entry Info
| Forms | elve(n n. Also alve(n, ulve(n. Forms: sg. elve(n, WM alve(n; pl. elven(e, helven, WM alven(e. |
| Etymology | OE -elfen, -ælfen. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. elf n.
1.
An elf or fairy (of either sex).
Associated quotations
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)19255 : Sone swa he [Arthur] com an eorðe, aluen [Otho: aluene] hine iuengen.
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)19268 : Þis þe alue [Otho: alfe] him ȝef.
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)21747 : Nikeres þer badieð inne; þer is æluene ploȝe [read: pleȝe] in atteliche pole.
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)21998 : An lutel wiht mære..alfene [Otho: aluene] hine dulfen.
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)28613 : Ich [Arthur] wulle uaren to Aualun, to uairest alre maidene, to Argante þere quene, Aluen swiðe sceone.
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)28639 : Bruttes ileueð ȝete þat he..wunnien in Aualun mid fairest alre aluen.
- c1300 SLeg.Mich.(LdMisc 108)255 : Ofte in fourme of wommane In many derne weye grete compaygnie men i-seoth of heom [fallen angels] boþe hoppie and pleiȝe, þat Eluene beoth i-cleopede, and ofte heo comiez to toune, And bi daye muche in wodes heo beoth and bi niȝte ope heiȝe dounes.
- c1325(c1300) Glo.Chron.A (Clg A.11)2754 : Þer beþ in þe eyr an hey..As a maner gostes.. & me may ȝem ofte an erþe in wilde studes yse, & ofte in mannes forme wommen hii comeþ to, & ofte in wimmen fourme hii comeþ to men al so, Þat men clupeþ eluene [B: elues].
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)138 : Elfe, spryte: Lamia.
- c1450(?a1400) Wars Alex.(Ashm 44)5258 : Scho was so faire & so fresche, as faucon hire semed, An elfe out of an-othire erde, or ellis an Aungell.
- c1450 Capgr.St.Kath.(Arun 396)5.1629 : Leue Þat crysten company, forsake þat elue, Ihesu of nazareth he dede neuere man good.
- c1450 Med.Bk.(2) (Add 33996)155 : For þe eluene. Take þe rote of gladene, & make pouder þer of, & gyue þe seke.
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)40b : An Elfe: hec lamia, hec Evmenis.
- a1500(a1460) Towneley Pl.(Hnt HM 1)136/616 : He was takyn with an elfe..When the clok stroke twelf was he forshapyn.
2.
(a) elven(e land, elfen land, the land of the elves or fairies, the otherworld; (b) ?elve kechel, an enlargement of the spleen (cp. elf cake).
Associated quotations
a
- c1330(?c1300) Guy(1) (Auch)3862 : He gert him wiþ a brond Þat was y-made in eluene lond.
- a1425 Siege Troy(1) (LinI 150)508 : In þat forest weore gangand ffoure ladies of eluene land [Suth: Elfen land; Arun: eluen londe].
b
- ?c1450 Stockh.PRecipes (Stockh 10.90)89/11 : Oyle benoyt..is good for þepostem in þe mylte, þat men clepyn vluekecche [read:?-kecchel].
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1500 MS Gri.15 in Wenzel ME Lexicon (Gri 15)472 : 'Item iuxta Sippwye': filius cuiusdam viri qui infirmabatur, quem pater duxit ad quemdam clericum in patria, qui habebat librum qui vocabatur an heluenbok, ut per eius benediccionem recuperaret sanitatem.
Note: New compound: ~ bok.
Note: Evidently a book of charms, or otherwise possessed of the power to heal.
Note: Quot. belongs to sense 2.
Note: Source: Treatise on the Decalog (Bloomfield, Incipits of Latin Works on the Virtues and Vices, no. 3266.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Med., etc. (sense 2.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. elf kechel [?].