elves: Indic counterpart?

[jkirk]

I'm revisiting this question--wasn't it prompted by a query on the
translation of elf into Hindi for exhibiting the Lord of the Rings movie in
India?  Seems the translators could have used the word vaaman -- dwarf. A
dwarf in folklore is close to an elf, after all.
Joanna K.
============
> aspects of yak.sa-lore seem relevant, too, particularly
> associations with vegetation and wealth,
> though they have a malevolent side which would
> not do for Tolkein's elves (though perhaps accords
> with the mythology more generally).
> On this, of course, see Coomaraswamy.
>
> And what of the vidyaadharas and siddhas, as known
> in the epics? Elvish longevity and command of wonders
> might incline one to favor the vidyaadharas here.
>
> MK
>