English edit

Etymology edit

elf +‎ -dom

Noun edit

elfdom (uncountable)

  1. The world or realm of elves.
    • 1859, The Christian Examiner, volume 67, page 395:
      So much semblance of the unfanciful truth of things and enforcement from actual humanity these fanciful stories of elfdom have, to give real pleasure and profit, and to bear out the pious conclusion of the Preface...
    • 1969 June, Mary Calhoun, “Tracking Down Elves in Folklore”, in The Horn Book Magazine, volume XLV, number 3, page 278:
      When I set out to plan a series of picture books about European elves, the first task was to sort out the strands of their individual characteristics. In studying folklore collected in the nineteenth century, I found a whole sociology of elfdom emerging from people’s beliefs.