What Language The Elves Speak
Jessica Cortez The adorable little elves are back in The Christmas Chronicles 2, and so is their distinct language used to communicate with Santa Claus.
The adorable little elves are back in The Christmas Chronicles 2, and so is their distinct language used to communicate with Santa Claus. The sequel, directed by Chris Columbus, arrived two years after Netflix dropped The Christmas Chronicles, which served as a mega-hit for the streaming giant. Kurt Russell reprised his role as Saint Nick, but this time around, his real-life partner, Goldie Hawn, co-stars as Mrs. Claus. While the two are surrounded by a few returning characters, the elves also get more time in the spotlight.
The tiny elves made their first major appearance in The Christmas Chronicles when young Kate sought help following Santa's arrest. After crawling in Santa's bag, she was transported to the North Pole where she encountered the small creatures. Like most Christmas legends, the elves carried out most of the operations throughout the village. Despite the language barrier, the elves figured out Kate needed help in freeing Santa. They helped her save the day, allowing Santa, Kate, and Teddy to in turn save Christmas before the kids return to their home in Massachusetts.
Seeing as Kate returned to the North Pole with newcomer Jack, the elves had more time to shine in The Christmas Chronicles 2. Based on her past encounter, Kate was able to speak their language. She also explained to Jack that the elves spoke "Elvish," the specific language featured in the movie franchise. Though many of them were able to speak broken English, Elvish sounded like a mix of Nordic languages. This would make sense considering the most popular Santa lore stems from the Nordic regions. Not only did the sequel build their own Santa backstory, but it added the myth of Belsnickel. Both Santa and Belsnickel were shown to well-versed in English and Elvish, and while it had ties to other languages, it was strictly created for movie series.
The Christmas Chronicles Elf Language Has Connections To Game Of Thrones
Elvish was developed by David J. Peterson, a renowned language creator in the world of TV and film. His most notable work was creating Dothraki and High Valyrian for the hit HBO series, Game of Thrones. Peterson also made languages featured in The 100, Penny Dreadful, The Witcher, and Lovecraft Country in addition to movies like Thor: The Dark World, Doctor Strange, and Bright. Peterson's expert language creation skills will soon be on display in Denis Villeneuve's Dune, set to release in 2021.
Despite the fact that The Christmas Chronicles classified the language as "Elvish," Peterson considered it to be "Yulish." He invented it to be the official language spoken by Santa Claus and the large number of Christmas elves that resided in the North Pole. Yulish purposely used a nonpast tense and the main stress in the pronunciation featured a dip in the pitch. The elves, of course, had higher-pitched voices based on their size. If The Christmas Chronicles 2 hits the same level of popularity as the original movie, the elves will certainly be back for another installment.
