What People Are Getting Wrong This Week: The Origin of Christmas Elves

Because it’s Christmas time, I’ve been digging into myths and misconceptions we have about the holiday: Yuletide misinformation is rampant, and I’m setting the record straight. Last week I dug into who Santa Claus really is, with side quests about St. Nicholas bringing children back from the dead and the religious war between Santa and Kris Kringle. One thing I didn't talk about? His elves.

Christmas elves feel like they’ve been around forever, and people have strangely consistent ideas of what they’re all about—they’re small...