One day, some years after Adam and Eve had been cast out of Paradise, the Lord God came to visit them in the cool of the evening.
By now, Adam and Eve had lots of children, too many to look after properly. Some of them hadn’t been washed, and Eve was ashamed of them. “Hide,” she told the dirty ones. “You aren’t fit to be seen by God. Keep out of His sight.”
“Are these all the children you have?” asked God, looking at the scuffling parade of clean children lined up before Him.
“Yes,” said Eve.
“Then what you have hidden from Me shall be hidden from everyone,” said God.
The dirty children became invisible to human eyes, and from then on they were outcasts, forced to hide in hills, caves and rocks.
This was the beginning of the elves.