Queen of Elphame

Queen of Elphame or "Elf-hame" (-hame stem only occurs in conjectural reconstructed orthography), in the folklore belief of Lowland Scotland and Northern England, designates the elfin queen of Faerie, mentioned in Scottish witch trials. She is equivalent to the Queen of Fairy who rules Faërie or Fairyland. The Queen, according to testimony, has a husband named "Christsonday".

Such a queen also appears in the legend of Thomas the Rhymer, but she is queen of a nameless world in the medieval verse romance. The name "Queen of Elfland" is mentioned for her only in a later ballad (version A). Thomas the Rhymer's abduction by the queen was not just familiar folklore, but described as a kindred experience by at least one witch (Andro Man). The "Queen of Fairies" in Tam Lin may be the queen of the same world, at least, she too is compelled deliver humans as "tithe to hell" every seven years.

In Scottish popular tradition the Fairy Queen was known as the Gyre-Carling or Nicnevin, In one metrical legend, "The Faeries of Fawdon Hill" is where the Fairy Court is held, presided by Queen Mab.

The actual text spelling is "Quene of Elfame" and other variants in the witch trial transcripts, and the supposition of a - stem, leading to the etymological meaning "Elf-home" in the Scots language), is speculative on the part of Robert Pitcairn, the modern editor. The Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue lists only the and spellings, both defined as "Fairyland". Other spellings include: "Quene of Elphane" and "Court of Elfane" (accused witch Alison Pearson), "Court of Elfame" (Bessie Dunlop), "Queen of Elphen" (Andro Man).

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