>>96498559
Because elves, gnomes, goblins, dwarfs, bugbears, boggarts, brownies, and many other fantastical creature that you and I consider distinct now were synonyms less than a hundred years ago. And really still are if you outside of modern fantasy.
Look at Henson's Labrinth as example. The Goblin King is way closer to some kind of malevolent elf but he's a goblin. That's because those terms are one and the same in that context.

>>96498239
While Hylians are certainly elfy the actual elfs of that setting are the Zora.