Question

The Old High German word for the mandrake plant literally meant “secret” of these beings. A Norse expression for urinating literally meant “to drive away [these beings],” since they could not tolerate uncleanness. The Poetic Edda calls Wayland the Smith the “prince of” these beings. A boar is sacrificed to these beings on Yule, who appear in an alternate name of that festival. These beings are called (*) huldufolk, or “hidden people” in (-5[1])Iceland. (10[1]-5[1])Freyr’s home in Asgard has a name meaning (10[1])“world of” these beings, (10[1])supporting the idea that the distinction between the Vanir and these beings was once blurry. The Prose Edda distinguishes between “dark” and “light” (10[1])varieties of these beings. For 10 points, name these powerful magical humanoids in Norse myth, (10[2])often depicted with pointy ears in popular (10[1])fiction. ■END■

ANSWER: elves [or elf; accept elf-shot; accept Álfar; accept light elves or dark elves or Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar] (The expression is ganga álfreka.)
<Taylor Harvey, Mythology>
= Average correct buzz position

Back to tossups

Buzzes

PlayerTeamOpponentBuzz PositionValue
Jack RadoColumbia BRutgers71-5
Nathan ZhangCornell BCornell A72-5
Owen MimnoNYUJHU A7210
Munir SiddiquiUMD BPitt8010
Jerry VinokurovJohn Jay ASwarthmore8410
Andy YuUMD AColumbia A10710
Raymond WangCornell ACornell B12210
Jeevika SetzerJHU BRIT12210
Lexi TermanRutgersColumbia B12910

Summary

2023 Penn Bowl (Mainsite)10/21/2023Y7100%0%29%102.29
2023 Penn Bowl (Harvard)10/21/2023Y3100%0%67%111.33
2023 Penn Bowl @ UNC10/28/2023Y3100%0%33%110.33
2023 Penn Bowl @ Waterloo10/28/2023Y4100%0%75%119.75
2023 Penn Bowl (South Central)10/28/2023Y3100%33%33%94.00
2023 Penn Bowl (UK)10/28/2023Y5100%60%40%75.40
2023 Penn Bowl @ FSU10/28/2023Y2100%0%0%95.50