A Quest For Greatness

"A small elf traveled" is a popular children's song in Denmark, which was written in 1845 by Julius Gerson.

The lyrics are, in free translation:

A small elf traveled

by stagecoach from country to country,

his intention was to greet,

the world's greatest man.

He came to the Mughal Emperor

and where the giant cabbage grows,

but among all the giants,

no one seemed great to him.

Then he walked down to the sea,

and stared into the clear water,

he smiled, for now he had,

seen the greatest man.

The normal interpretation is that this is a tale of coming of age, if it is not just a silly children's song.

I.e. getting to know one-self.

The story of the traveling elf has nothing to do with the story "the elf on the shelf", which might have other fine qualities - which are not the topic for this small essay.

However there are several symbols and adjectives chosen in this short text, which makes for a little further interpretation.

The first one is "small". Why a small elf? This is either "small" literally or figuratively. An elf is small in itself, so it is not a far stretch to understand the adjective "small" figuratively as describing the way the elf views himself. 

Also this is reinforced by him wanting to greet the greatest man. Interpreted in the same way, the greatest man is then a gigant of accomplishment or experience. It might make sense to want to greet the greatest man in size, however it would make much more sense to just see him with your own eyes. However if it is greatest figuratively it would make much more sense to want to actually greet him.

He wants to go where the great cabbage grows, this could be interpreted as him wanting to go to a land of riches - i.e. a land where giants of success are generating a prosperous society.

The small elf is not without some success himself. He is travelling by stagecoach from country to country, presumably without working. So he has both means to travel and means to leisure.

With the introduction of steel springs in stagecoaches the average speed would increase to perhaps 10 miles per hour at a maximum. This would then lead to a road trip of about 4600 miles from Denmark (supposedly where a small danish elf would be departing from) and to the Mughal Emperor (Delhi, India as of 1845). So traveling for 10 hours per day this would equal 92 days of traveling alone for the return voyage. Factoring in at least a few days stay that could equal at least half a year to a full year's leisure time, which would require a rather well off situation for the small elf.

A trip might cost about 10 cents per mile in those days, i.e. a total of 920 USD in 1850 for the return ticket. As one dollar in 1850 equals about 33 dollar today the total trip would have cost the small elf 30.000 USD. So this does not show that the small elf was rich, however he had some means. Compared to a skilled carpenter with a day wage of 2 USD per day, the trip alone would cost him more than a years salary, and then spending an additional year without income. 

The small elf has a clear intent. He wants something from his journey - he wants to find the greatest man and greet him. 

So what is entailed in this? He clearly do not just want to find the greatest man, he also wants to greet him. So it is not enough to have a look at him, he wants to engage him - i.e. greet him. Supposedly to commence some kind of conversation, i.e. exchange views and ideas. 

So even though he is small, he still indirectly think that he has some value, so that the greatest man could potentially get something out of meeting him. In addition he is not content with just finding the greatest man, he wants to meet up with him. 

So in essence he actually wants to learn from the great man. 

In other words deducing, albeit on a thin surface, that he wants to find greatness in order to learn to be great himself.

So he travels away to achieve this goal. This must be indicative of the fact that greatness do not reside where he comes from. I.e. he is dissatisfied with his original home, and as a consequence with the people around him and the society created there.

In essence there are no great men at home, so he has to travel, in order to find greatness to gain experience and wisdom from.

With some haste (it is an exclusive rented stagecoach, from the danish wording) he travels from land to land. However he does not really find the greatness he is looking for. Perchance his expectations of the world and himself are far too high. It takes a certain level of greatness to identify greatness, and it might be that our small elf has to gain experience and wisdom through his travels before he can assess his own ability and the ability of others.

As he looks at himself he sees greatness. So he has become great himself.

Evidently he was not great before, when he ventured out on his voyage, as this can not be the first time he has looked at his own reflection. He has had plenty of time to look in the figurative mirror of his ability and to look at others too.

To some degree he must have been surrounded by able men in his own home country without being able to see this.

So how did he become great? He pursued greatness and through this journey he becomes great himself, gaining experience and skill from many different countries, cultures and many different people who he seeks to find out whether they are really great.

So this is indirectly a tale of career, drive and determination.

You have to move to build yourself - that both pertain to the situation in which you build character, and also professionally within a company, the move to the next company, and in one industry to another, and also from country to country, and culture to culture.

Moving and being exposed to different challenges and different versions of the same challenge is what builds experience and in the end greatness.

This is my overinterpretation of an old danish children's song. Obviously as the interpretation is mine, the conclusions and moral in the story, as it is explained, also pertain to my views.

Feel free to give your views or produce other far-fetched interpretations :)