Final answer:
The Wife of Bath from Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' argues that fewer elves and fairies exist because they have been driven away by the expanding presence of religious figures like friars.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Wife of Bath, a character in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, suggests that there aren't more elves and fairies because the land has been overtaken by friars and other religious figures who have effectively driven them away. This explanation is given in the context of a prologue to her tale in which she remarks on the decline of such magical creatures. The Wife of Bath's narrative essentially implies that the elves and fairies have been pushed out of their habitats by the increasing presence and dominance of the Church and its emissaries in medieval society.