Waiving After Santa Elves

It is believed that there is a secret village with a secret passage, somewhere in Lapland, where Santa, his wife and his team of elves live.

The secret of its location is known only to Father Christmas and the elves but still people believe that it is somewhere in Korvatunturi mountain in the Savukoski county of Lapland on the Finnish-Russian border. Some people believe that Santa employs six elves, while others think that he has nine elf assistants. Others think that there are as many as 13 elves living with Santa to help him.

Elves are the children of Gryla and Leppaludi and are very clever. They help Santa to design toys and process requests of children that are sent to them through snail mail or emails. The popular Western names of the Christmas elves helping Santa Claus and their duties are as follows:
1. Alabaster Snowball - Administrator of the Naughty & Nice list.
2. Bushy Evergreen - Inventor of the magic toy-making machine.
3. Pepper Minstix - Guardian of the secret of where Father Christmas's village is located.
4. Shinny Upatree - The oldest friend of Santa and the co-founder of the secret village in Lapland.
5. Sugarplum Mary - Head of the Sweat Treats, she is also known as Mary Christmas. She is an assistant to Mrs Claus and helps her in the kitchen.
6. Wunorse Openslae - Designer of Father Christmas's sleigh and responsible for its maintenance. He also looks after the reindeers and it is believed that his reindeers reach speeds faster than Christmas tree lights.

Modern Christmas elves find their origin in the house gnomes of the Scandinavia present since the pagan times. It was believed that these gnomes guarded homes against evil and were benevolent and helpful to good people. However, they could be quite nasty to people who were rude to them or had been naughty and then, they are even depicted as trolls and cannibals. Thus, for centuries, they were both loved and loathed. In the mid-1800s, Scandinavian writers such as Thile, Toplius, Rydberg transformed the image of these gnomes to Christmas elves that were almost like mischievous fairies but were good at heart.