In Denmark and Sweden, the elves appear as beings distinct from the vetter, even though the border between them is diffuse.

The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine or semi-divine beings (wights, vættir) endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind. In pre-Christian mythology, they appear to have been divided into light elves and dark elves, difficult to delineate from the Æsir (gods) on one hand and the dvergar (dwarves) on the other.

The name elf is from Old English ælf

List of wars 1500–1799

Hitler’s Change of Plan The Russians were doing exactly what the German generals had wanted, sacrificing enormous numbers of troops and weapons to defend Moscow. Hitler, however, was not satisfied, and over the generals’ protests, he ordered Army Group Center to divert the bulk of its armor to the north and south to help the other two army groups, thereby stopping the advance toward Moscow. On September 8 Army Group North cut Leningrad’s land connections and, together with the Finnish army on the north, brought the city under siege. On September 16 Army Group South closed a gigantic encirclement east of Kyiv that brought in 665,000 prisoners. Hitler then decided to resume the advance toward Moscow and ordered the armor be returned to Army Group Center.

Although the human cost of the war was tremendous, casualty figures cannot always be obtained and often vary widely. Most experts estimate the military and civilian losses of Allied forces at 44 million and those of the Axis at 11 million. The total number of civilian losses includes the 5.6 million to 5.9 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Of all the nations that participated in World War II, the human cost of the war fell heaviest on the USSR, for which the official total, military and civilian, is given as more than 20 million killed. The United States, which had no significant civilian losses, sustained more than 400,000 deaths.

The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980 following a long history of border disputes and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution. Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of revolutionary chaos in Iran and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and within several months were repelled by the Iranians who regained virtually all lost territory by June, 1982. For the next six years, Iran was on the offensive.

Today, more than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed and is gone forever.

Animals of the rain forests are provided with a variety of habitats in the different layers of the forest trees. Some live at the top of the tallest trees while others live in the lower zones. Some animals, live on the ground level or even below the surface and so we have this vast and complex pattern of plant and animal life which has been evolving steadily for millions of years.

Animals of the rain forests are provided with a variety of habitats in the different layers of the forest trees. Some live at the top of the tallest trees while others live in the lower zones. Some animals, live on the ground level or even below the surface and so we have this vast and complex pattern of plant and animal life which has been evolving steadily for millions of years.

A coin is heavier than a hummingbird!

A mosquito has 47 teeth.

A garden caterpillar has 248 muscles in its head.

Presently there are 38 known species of mammals that are extinct.

There are over 1,000 animal species that are endangered at varied levels, across the world.

An ostrich is the fastest bird and can run up to 70 km/h.

Mammals are the only creatures that have flaps around their ears.

birds live in the canopy (upper leaves of the trees) and in the emergents (the tops of the tallest trees). Large animals (like jaguars) generally live on the forest floor, but others (like howler monkeys and sloths) are arboreal (living in trees). Insects are found almost everywhere.

Some animals try to convince predators that they are bigger and more fierce than they really are. For example, the larva of the lobster moth (Stauropus fagi), whose larva looks like a scorpion, but is in fact completely defenseless. Many butterflies have large "eye" designs on their wings. This makes them look like the head of a very large animal instead of a harmless butterfly, and scares many predators away.

The rain forest is home to over 50% of all the animals in the world. There are millions of different species of animals in the world's rain forests.

Mammals are the only animals with flaps around the ears.

Fish and insects do not have eyelids - their eyes are protected by a hardened lens.

The pig is rated the fourth most intelligent animal

The sloth's fur is an entire ecosystem of its own: one study found more than 950 beetles on a single sloth, living off the algae growing in its fur.

Orangutans occupy the mid-strata of the forest canopy where they feed on leaves, fruits, and young shoots, and occasionally may take a bird egg or two. Orangutans are not social animals, but solitary creatures that do not form lasting pairs.

Three-toed sloths feed almost exclusively on cecropia leaves,

Reptiles have been around for 300 million years, and during the age of the dinosaurs, they ruled the Earth. Those days are long gone, and those giants have vanished, but some 6,500 species of reptiles still thrive today. Crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and turtles are all reptiles. Most reptiles live on land, and most lay eggs. They are vertebrates, and, unlike any other animals, are covered in scales. They are cold-blooded, and regulate their body temperature by seeking or avoiding the sun's heat.

Most of the animal species found in the rainforest are insects. About one quarter of all animal species that have been named and described by scientists are beetles. Nearly 500,000 kinds of beetles are known to exist.