elves: Indic counterpart?

[jkirk]

> From my German friend:

Well, according to this, the elves actually come from the germanic tradition
(old norse Alfar, anglo-saxon Aelf, Danish elve) in German first Alb (still
found in the word Albtraum, Alptraum, when you sleep and dream badly because
an elf is sitting on your chest and having his/her fun with you.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfen
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alb_%28Geist%29
Elves are related to dwarfs (indeed, the English word for dwarf comes from
dwartalf (black elf), though both cousins do not like each other much.

The idea of 3 inch mini-humans living in flowers is not Germanic--elves and
dwarfs are significantly smaller than average humans, but not toy-like.

Now I will be quiet :)
Joanna k.