That the king came to be called an "elf" should not be taken too literally. Vigfusson and Powell discusses Olaf's rite and other example under the topical heading of "Ancestor Worship" and notes that in these instances, "the dead were called 'Elves'". H. R. E. Davidson gives a more extensive summary under the chapter "The Cult of the Dead", and notes that as for the animated corpse that he had become inside his grave-mound, "the usual word for him is draugr".