aren't the images of elves, imps, sprites, and the like, descended from the images of the Greek god Pan and the Roman god Faunus -- both gods of the wild places and the forces of nature? They both, if I recall correctly were pictured with goats' ears...

Goats' ears (at least, those with stiff upright ears, not floppy like nubian goats) aren't exactly pointed, but they are more or less triagular in shape (a bit like a deer's ears) -- not the ears we associate with elves, in any case.

Many years ago, I bought a copy of A Field Guide to the Little People (the copyright date is 1977, but I don't remember if that was the year I got it). Structured like an ordinary field guide, it gives physical discriptions, habitat, and habits of 79 "species" of elf from all over Europe (using the broadest definition of elf as a supernatural being that is neither god nor demon who shares this world with us). Interestingly, there are hardly any pointed ears mentioned in the lists of identifying characteristics, but many poited-ish ears in the illustrations....