Hob

Hob, or hobthrust, is the general name for a hobgoblin, a kindly but mischievous type of fey. The brownie is a kind of hob. Usually found in the North Country or northern Midlands of England, hobs can be more sinister. One tale related by William Henderson in Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties says there was one called Hob Headless haunting the road between Hurworth and Neasham. 

However, more often than not, hobs appear to be benevolent, as in the case of one attached to Sturfit Hall in Yorkshire; he churned milk, stoked fires, and performed other brownie-type tasks until he was offered clothing, and vanished. The reason hobs disappear when offered clothing varies on the tale. The hob attached to Sturfit Hall seemed to have been so satisfied with this payment that he decided he need work no more; however, another hob, who worked at a farm in Danby, was insulted by the quality of the clothes he was given. Of course, if the regular payment of food was ever forgotten, the hob would also leave. 

Bibliography: An Encyclopedia of Fairies, by Katharine Briggs. Image courtesy of Google Images: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=600&q=hobgoblin&oq=hobgoblin&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1577.3776.0.4880.9.4.0.5.5.0.88.304.4.4.0....0...1ac.1.25.img..0.9.327.D8Vb_1UOxo4#bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=e8cc0832f633dba3&hl=en&q=robin+goodfellow&sa=1&tbm=isch&imgdii=_.  

Hobgoblins

According to Katharine Briggs' An Encyclopedia of Fairies, hobgoblins are friendly folk related to brownies. From the Puritans on, the word was used to refer to wicked goblins, but in Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' Puck is referred to as a hobgoblin and does not protest. 

One type of hobgoblin is the Will O' the Wisp. Briggs says that hobgoblins are generally good-humoured, though they do love practical jokes, and must not be crossed. Wikipedia says they're small, hairy men who do small, odd jobs round the house just as a brownie would. In return, they expect food; but offer them clothing, and they will depart. They can, if Puck is to be believed, shape shift. 

In JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit, the Uruks or Uruk-hai were originally written as hobgoblins, back before Tolkien realised hobgoblins were of small stature. Perhaps following this mistake, the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) uses hobgoblins as a larger, more menacing type of goblin. Other role-playing games have also followed suit. 

For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobgoblin.

Image from Google Images: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=600&q=hobgoblin&oq=hobgoblin&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1577.3776.0.4880.9.4.0.5.5.0.88.304.4.4.0....0...1ac.1.25.img..0.9.327.D8Vb_1UOxo4#bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=d750b992d784f8&hl=en&q=Puck&sa=1&tbm=isch&facrc=0%3Bpuck%20midsummer%20night's%20dream%20drawing&imgdii=_&imgrc=_.

Elves

Elves were sometimes thought to be male faeries -- in England, this especially applied to small faery boys. In general, the term 'elf' in England referred to the smaller trooping faeries, although in Scotland, elves were human sized, and Faeryland was called 'Elfame.' 

In Scandanavia, faeries were also called elves, and were either light elves or dark elves, similar to the Scottish Seelie and Unseelie Courts. The light elves were like England's trooping faeries, and in Christian times, Scandanavian elves (or huldre folk) destroyed cattle, stole humans away, and avenged any injuries done to them in the same way that the Scottish faeries did. Huldre maidens dressed in grey with white veils, and were beautiful but had long cows' tails. If a man was dancing with a huldre girl and noticed her tail, he must not betray her, but instead tactfully mention that she was losing her garter. He would then be rewarded by perpetual prosperity. 

Danish elves loved to steal human food, such as dough. Though beautiful from the front, Danish elves or ellewomen were hollow from behind. 

Publications such as Goedys' Lady's Book, published by Louis A Goedy, popularised the idea of the Christmas elf in the nineteenth century, and JRR Tolkien's famous The Hobbit brought elves into high fantasy in the twentieth century. 

Bibliography: An Encyclopedia of Fairies, by Katharine Briggs.

Webography: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elves.

Picture courtesy of Google Images: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=600&q=elf&oq=elf&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1727.1949.0.2324.3.3.0.0.0.0.112.264.2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.24.img..0.3.264.r2OyC5CcxgE.