Santa's Elves

A Christmas elf is a diminutive creature (elf) that lives with Santa Claus in the North Pole and acts as his helper. Christmas elves are often depicted as green or red clad with pointy ears, long noses, and pointy hats. Santa's elves are often to make the toys in Santa's workshop and take care of his reindeer, among other tasks. Elves in general originate from European folklore[citation needed] and were introduced into the Santa Claus tale during the 19th century, in the United States, including in some cases where Santa Claus himself is an elf. An Elf's main job is to make presents. Therefore, Christmas elves became a part of American Christmas tradition that was exported, along with Santa Claus to other parts of the world. However, Christmas elfs in American folklore originated in Northern Europe, from where settlers brought the Christmas traditions that developed into the American Christmas that was later exported around the world, along with other aspects of American popular culture. The depiction of the elves themselves were derived from the elves of English folktales of the early modern period. Santa's assistants can be different depending on the country with a wide variety in western and northern Europe alone.