Benjamin Radford has just put an Elf article on Live Science:

Elves have been a popular subject in fiction for centuries, ranging from William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the classic fantasy novels of J.R.R. Tolkien 300 years later. But it’s only recently that elves have been confined to plays, books, and fairy tales: In centuries past, belief in the existence of fairies and elves was common among both adults and children.