elves: Indic counterpart?

[Ashok Aklujkar]

I would suggest that "elf" should be translated as "ilva". Such a
translation will not be only an imitation in sound, It would be digestible
to Thai. It will agree with Tolkien's spirit of creating new names and
identitiies. Most importantly, it *may* be a historical relative of "elf".
Note the associations found in the complex formed by the following words:

> From expanded Apte:
ilavilaa 'name of the wife of Vi;sravas and mother of Kubera',

ailavila 'Kubera (who, as a yak.sa, is benevolent as well as malevolent and
is, I think, depicted as having a large belly); ;Si;supaala-vadha 13.18

eka(ka) 'ram'

> From MW:

iliibi;sa 'name of a demon conquered by Indra (.Rgveda 1.33.12),

ilvala 'name of a daitya (the brother of Vaataapi' (Mahabhaarata,
Hari-va.m;sa, Vaayu Puraa.na),

iviilaka 'name of a son of Lambodara (= an epithet of Ga.ne'sa, who is a
dwarf and has a protruding belly)

Further, ilvakaa 'name of the five stars in the head of Orion
(M.rga-;siras)' may be based on a myth lost to us.

I also wonder if iliibi;sa mentioned above may have, through metathesis,  a
connection with "iblis,' Arabic for 'devil'.

ashok aklujkar