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In later Old Icelandic, {{lang|non|alfr}} ("elf") and the personal name which in Common Germanic had been *{{lang|gem|Aþa(l)wulfaz}} both coincidentally became {{lang|non|álfr~Álfr}}.<ref name=devreis/>
In later Old Icelandic, {{lang|non|alfr}} ("elf") and the personal name which in Common Germanic had been *{{lang|gem|Aþa(l)wulfaz}} both coincidentally became {{lang|non|álfr~Álfr}}.<ref name=devreis/>


Elves appear in some place names, though it is difficult to be sure how many of other words, including personal names, can appear similar to ''elf'', because of confounding prefixes such as -al meaning "old". The clearest English examples are ''[[Elveden]]'' ("elves' hill", Suffolk) and ''[[Elvendon]]'' ("elves' valley", Oxfordshire);<ref name>Ann Cole, 'Two Chiltern Place-names Reconsidered: Elvendon and Misbourne', ''Journal of the English Place-name Society'', 50 (2018), 65-74 (p. 67).</ref> other examples may be ''[[Eldon Hill]]'' ("Elves' hill", Derbyshire); and ''[[Alden Valley]]'' ("elves' valley", Lancashire). These seem to associate elves fairly consistently with woods and valleys.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=64–66}}
Elves appear in some place names, though it is difficult to be sure how many of other words, including personal names, can appear similar to ''elf'', because of confounding