Elves, fairies, dwarfs, do they exist in our world?

A book dealing with “German folk tales” (Magnus Verlag, Vienna o. J) mentions in the chapter titled “The Elves”: “In the lakes and rivers of the North Sea coast, around Friesland and between the mouth of the river Elbe and Helgoland, one often encounters floating egg shells. These are used by elves to move around. They are small, delicate elementary spirits, some are of a positive and some are of a negative type. They live in the water and they often come to the surface in bubbles in ponds devoid of fish, but they also live in small hillocks. These hillocks are called Alvinen hills in Brabant, as the old word of Alf, Elf has changed into Alfin, ergo Alvinne. As small as elves might appear, their power on the other hand is considerable. This is indicated by the great, powerful stream in whose delta they live and that carries their name, namely Elbe. Therein lies a deeper meaning, whereby the mightiness of the nature spirit expresses the ancient mystical wisdom inherent in runic magic in the German language.” German fairytales usually depict dwarfs as helpful creatures (See brownies). The fairytales of the Brothers Grimm for instance mention the gnomes of a poor shoemaker who was able to observe the gnomes completing his jobs during the night, jobs he started during the day. The wife of the shoemaker made tiny little clothes for these creatures to thank them for their help and she laid them our for them in the evening as a reward. The hereto naked gnomes gladly wore these items of clothing and the fairy-tale goes on the say: “They jumped and danced, leapt over chairs and benches. They eventually dance right out the door and they never came back. The shoemaker however fared well for the rest of his life and he succeeded with everything that he undertook.” Historical bits of truth can often be found in legends and fairytales even though they have been fabulously embellished in folk tales. Is this also the case with elves and dwarfs? One often encounters people that assert that they have seen or observed small, non-terrestrial beings once or some of them even numerous times in their life. Some say for instance that they have taken up lodgings in their garden. I know a few of them, particularly three, that are psychically highly gifted and can not only observe such elementary beings but also visually perceive deceased people at certain times. In one case, elfish-looking beings could actually be photographed. And this happened as follows: An Englishman by the name of Edward L. Gardner , parapsychologically experienced and also interested in paranormal photography, received two photos in the mail from a friend (3, P. 15). These showed images of elves (Image 1 and 2). In an accompanying letter, his friend asked for Gardner’s opinion. This friend had mentioned elves at a presentation and a woman approach him after and asked him whether he really thought that elves existed. This woman said that if he assumed this, the two photographs that her daughter had taken could possibly be genuine, even though she and her husband had not believed that they were. These photos didn’t initially seem very believable to Gardner and he answered that it would be impossible to verify their genuineness without the negatives. Gardner held the opinion that he would never hear anything more about this case. A few days later, he received two plate negatives from a Mrs. Wright from Cottingley, near Bradford, with the explanation that her daughter Elsie had taken these photos in a ravine near their home. This letter didn’t contain any further information.