Elf Life
Encyclopedia
Alfheim, formerly known as Elf Life, is a fantasy webcomic
by Carson Fire (a pseudonym
of Eric Gustafson) that is hosted on Keenspot
. It debuted on June 14, 1999 and ran until December 21, 2004. Three spin-offs followed the original series: Elf Life: Babes in the Woods, Elf Life: Wedding Night, and Sprite Life. In December 2005, the author put all of his Elf Life universe strips on hiatus to work on Winger
, a comic with a political focus. The main Elf Life storyline, renamed Alfheim, resumed in late 2007.
Baughb and Filis . Some of the daily strips were occasionally replaced by prose chapters.
Baughb, short for Baughbberick Lindel, is well-meaning but infuriatingly eccentric. His mental confusion is compounded by the fact that he spent a long time traveling through time
and trying to get home, and when he finally succeeded it was several generations after his original time.
Filis' ambition is to be a warrior. Over the course of the story various people kidnap and threaten Baughb, including an evil corporate executive version of himself from the future, and Filis finds herself reluctantly trying to save him. Eventually they become lovers, but — in the grand tradition of comedy — that does nothing to stop them from fighting.
Other characters in the story include Airek, Baughb and Filis's half-ogre
friend, the multi-dimensional Sprite, the fairy
Glynhial (Glee), who alternates bursts of violent insanity with periods of sickening sentimentality, and the buxom mermaid
queen Leukothea.
The web site also incorporates "Biff Notes: Help for the lost, confused, and somewhat misguided", (a pun on CliffsNotes
), which help to explain what is going on in each day's strip and how it relates to the story as a whole.
Gustafson has been working on paper comics, with each issue containing approximately 20 comics from the archives.
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
by Carson Fire (a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Eric Gustafson) that is hosted on Keenspot
Keenspot
Keenspot is a webcomics portal founded in March 2000 by cartoonist Chris Crosby , Crosby's mother Teri, cartoonist Darren Bleuel , and Nathan Stone.-History:...
. It debuted on June 14, 1999 and ran until December 21, 2004. Three spin-offs followed the original series: Elf Life: Babes in the Woods, Elf Life: Wedding Night, and Sprite Life. In December 2005, the author put all of his Elf Life universe strips on hiatus to work on Winger
Winger (comic)
Winger is a webcomic by Carson Fire . It follows the relationship of Dab Winger, a conservative Christian, and Mineola Marlowe, a guilty liberal, in the bookstore where they work. The setup allows Fire, a conservative cartoonist, to explore political issues, and just as often the meta-political...
, a comic with a political focus. The main Elf Life storyline, renamed Alfheim, resumed in late 2007.
The original series
Drawn in an economical, stylized cartoon style, Elf Life involves the love-hate relationship between the elvesElf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
Baughb and Filis . Some of the daily strips were occasionally replaced by prose chapters.
Baughb, short for Baughbberick Lindel, is well-meaning but infuriatingly eccentric. His mental confusion is compounded by the fact that he spent a long time traveling through time
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
and trying to get home, and when he finally succeeded it was several generations after his original time.
Filis' ambition is to be a warrior. Over the course of the story various people kidnap and threaten Baughb, including an evil corporate executive version of himself from the future, and Filis finds herself reluctantly trying to save him. Eventually they become lovers, but — in the grand tradition of comedy — that does nothing to stop them from fighting.
Other characters in the story include Airek, Baughb and Filis's half-ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
friend, the multi-dimensional Sprite, the fairy
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
Glynhial (Glee), who alternates bursts of violent insanity with periods of sickening sentimentality, and the buxom mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
queen Leukothea.
The web site also incorporates "Biff Notes: Help for the lost, confused, and somewhat misguided", (a pun on CliffsNotes
CliffsNotes
CliffsNotes are a series of student study guides available primarily in the United States. The guides present and explain literary and other works in pamphlet form or online. Detractors of the study guides claim they let students bypass reading the assigned literature...
), which help to explain what is going on in each day's strip and how it relates to the story as a whole.
Elf Life: Babes in the Woods
Elf Life: Babes in the Woods is a full-color prequel to the original story. It began on February 5, 2005 after the original series had finished the previous December. Babes in the Woods follows Baughb's early adventures.Gustafson has been working on paper comics, with each issue containing approximately 20 comics from the archives.