[Morthoron]

I think of it as rather like the story of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving or Karl Katz by the Brothers Grimm (or even Ossian the warrior bard's last dialogue with St. Patrick). When mortals come in contact with Faerie, there is a time-space alteration. Time does not flow the same in Lorien as in the outside world (and this was noticed by Frodo and the others). What seems like a day could be a week, could be a year, could be a century. Those who enter without leave and managed to return to the outside world (if any) are irrevocably altered, aged beyond recognition.

This would only have to happen a few times before superstitions arose, stories of dread concerning the Elf Witch and her haunted forest abode. Similar stories from both Rohan and Gondor give credence to the germ of truth lost in time years before. The Elves, who obviously did not want mortal interlopers nosing around, would certainly foster the superstition, A very effective piece of propaganda, I must say.