Elves in Anglo-Saxon England, though, were jerks. Old English medical texts attributed various diseases to elves. If you felt a sharp, unexplained pain, it was probably the result of an “ elfshot ”—an ...

A few years ago, Kurt Neesley of Redondo Beach, California, was brainstorming where to put his family’s Elf on the Shelf for his three kids to find the next morning. He decided to make it look like ...