Elves in fantasy fiction and games

In many works of modern fantasy, elves are a race of semi-divine humanoid beings. Fantasy elves differ in many ways from the traditional elves found in northern European folklore and Victorian era literature; although in particular, the álfar of Norse mythology has influenced the concept of elves in fantasy. Early pioneers in the genre such as Lord Dunsany in The King of Elfland's Daughter and Poul Anderson in The Broken Sword featured Norse style elves. However, the Elves (capitalized, since they are considered a nationality of sorts) found in the works of the twentieth-century philologist and fantasy writer J. R. R. Tolkien have formed the view of elves in modern fantasy like no other singular source.

The Elves of Tolkien

Tolkien had little use for the diminutive elven prettiness and whimsy found in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and in various Victorian fairy tales. He conceived a race of beings similar to humans but fairer and wiser, with greater spiritual powers, keener senses, and a closer empathy with nature. They are great smiths and fierce warriors on the side of good. Tolkien's Elves of Middle-earth should be seen as a representation of what human beings might have become, had they not committed the original sin, and they are very much human, if unfallen and immortal; and although they can be killed by injury, and they do age, according to Tolkien's Letters, a slain elf simply returns to life after an indefinite period of time.

Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954-1958) became astoundingly popular and was much imitated. In the 1960s and afterwards, elves similar to those in Tolkien's novels became staple non-human characters in high fantasy works and in fantasy role-playing games (RPGs). Tolkien's elves were enemies of goblins (orcs) and had a longstanding quarrel with the dwarves -- these motifs also often reappear in Tolkien-inspired works. Tolkien is also responsible for reviving the older and less-used terms elven and elvish rather than Edmund Spenser's invented elfin and elfish. He probably preferred the word elf over fairy because elf is of Anglo-Saxon origin while fairy entered English from French.

Elves in role-playing games

Post-Tolkien fantasy elves (popularized by the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game) tend to be beautiful, fair, slender, and close in size to humans. A hallmark of fantasy elves is also their long and pointed ears. In gaming, and to some extent fantasy literature, elves as a rule have a greater depth of knowledge (especially regarding magic) than their human counterparts, due to a racial inclination as well as their extreme age. Typically, they are also capable warriors, especially skilled in archery, following Legolas, arguably Tolkien's most well-known elf. The canonical role-playing style elf is represented by Deedlit, a major character of the anime series Record of Lodoss War.

As in the Norse lore, elven-human unions and offspring were possible in Tolkien's saga (a notable example being Elrond, the lord of Rivendell), and in many RPG's, half-elven is a possible race for player characters. Fantasy elves frequently divide up into subraces, such as the High Elves, Wood Elves and Dark Elves found in the Warhammer Fantasy game setting. Especially dark elves (popularized by TSR as drow) are a common theme in many other fantasy games and to some extent literature. Apart from malice, drow or dark elves tend to be characterized by a dark or blue skin color, and by an underground abode.

In the modern treatment of elves in Dungeons & Dragons, they are divided up into subraces that include Aquatic Elves, Gray Elves, High Elves, Wood Elves, and drow. The Forgotten Realms campaign setting's elves (or Tel'Quessir as they call themselves) differ still, replacing the High Elves and Gray Elves with Moon or Silver Elves and Sun or Gold Elves, and adding Wild or Green Elves, Star or Mithral Elves and avariel (Winged Elves) to the Aquatic (Sea) Elves, Wood (Copper) Elves, and Drow (Dark Elves).

In the Warhammer Fantasy game setting, the first civilized people of the world were the High Elves from the Atlantis-like (though unsunken) island realm of Ulthuan. Early on, the High Elves colonized large parts of the Warhammer world, but following the rise of the Druchii (called Dark Elves by others than themselves), a fascistoid movement of corsairs and slavers, the High Elves were plunged into civil war and their power greatly faded. The elves who decided to stay in the colonies were forced to hide in the deep forests, and with time became known as Wood Elves.

Warhammer is also unique in the aspect that Warhammer 40,000, the science fantasy version of the game, feature space faring elves under the name of Eldar (a term borrowed from Tolkien) -- ancient rulers of the galaxy who vigorously oppose their fallen kindred, the Dark Eldar.

Azeroth, the fantasy world of the Warcraft computer game series originally featured elves similar to the Warhammer High or Wood Elves. Starting with Warcraft III, the elves (now re-dubbed High Elves) face the destruction of their kingdom and its capital Quel'Thalas, and the survivors are thereafter known as Blood Elves. The series instead introduces the naturalistic purple-skinned Night Elves as the main elven element.

The Elder Scrolls game series has a rather different look at Elves, referred to as Mer, with several different races, all of which are distinctively physically different. The High Elves (Altmer) are tall, proud (almost arrogant) golden-skinned people, the wood-elves (Bosmer) are wily and cunning short elves with slightly brownish coloured skin. Dark Elves (Dunmer, featured prominently in Morrowind) are a very spiritual, untrusting blue-skinned race whose average height close to that of the game's humans. The term 'dark elf' is a reference to their coloured skin, not as a reference to being 'evil'.

In Dark Age of Camelot elves are featured as Sidhe. The sídhe (Gaelic: daoine sídhe-pronounced 'deenie shee', sing. sióg), are a supernatural race in Irish and Scottish mythology, related to the fay and elves of other traditions. They are the remnants of the underground kingdom given to the Tuatha Dé Danann after they were defeated by the Milesians. According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of Invasions), the Tuatha Dé Danann, the “People of the Goddess Danu” were defeated in battle by the mortal Sons of Míl Espáine. As part of the surrender terms the Túatha Dé Danann agreed to dwell underground in the síde (singular síd), the hills or mounds that dot the Irish landscape. Each member of the Tuatha De Danaan was given one mound. Later, due to a corruption of the meaning, both the mounds and the supernatural entities (i.e. sprites) became known as the síd, modern Irish sídhe. While DAoC holds to this defenition of Sidhe, they playable characters are now considered from "Beyond the Veil" and as such do not maintain many of the mystical properties that legend would lead you to believe, although the Sidhe do make the best handlers of Arcane Magic.

The Gathering includes elves in its creature library. However, some are humanoid, and others are shorter and green.

The game Final Fantasy XI even adds another addition to elves. Elvaan are the tall, long-lived elves of the game. They are adept to strong fighting skills but not magic.

In the popular game, The Legend Of Zelda, Princess Zelda is an elf-like being. In The Wind Waker, Ganondorf wants to kidnap "blonde, pointy eared girls." Link is often mistaked as an elf because of his blonde hair and pointed ears, but this is incorrect, seeing as Link is a human(or Hylian, an elf-like race) from Hyrule.

And of course, there is Questor the Elf--the speedy, elven archer made famous for his dungeon-scouring adventures in the legendary Gauntlet arcade/video games. Elves are also playable races in games such as Dungeon Explorer, the earlier Ultima games, the Everquest games, and officially-licensed D&D games (for the personal computer and video game console), such as Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights.

In the RPG series Phantasy Star, Newmen, an artificial race created by humans as an attempt to create a superior race have pointed ears similar to elves. They are physically not as strong as humans but are better than humans in many other areas.

Elves in fantasy literature

The Elves of Tolkien also inspired a rich literature on elves in fantasy.

Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy focuses heavily on a long-lived, fair-skinned, magical race known as the Sithi, which are described as elves in all but name.

Christopher Paolini's Eragon also features elves of a Nordic persuasion.

Wendy and Richard Pini's long-running comic books Elfquest attempts to avoid the usual Tolkienesque elven clichés by placing their elves in a setting inspired by Native American rather than European mythology. It later turns out that the elves are actually the descendants of a shape-shifting alien race rather than mythological beings.

A deadly elven maiden adept with a crossbow, named Kore, is one of the four adventurers in the 2004 novel Paths Of Evil, by Richard C. White, who based his story on the legendary video game/arcade franchise.

Arguably the most "popular" elf of recent fantasy literature is Drizzt Do'Urden, the Drow Elf hero of R. A. Salvatore's acclaimed D&D/Forgotten Realms-based fantasy novels.

Countering the Tolkien tradition

Conversely, elves of the Tolkien mold have become standardized staple characters of modern fantasy to such an extent that breaking the norms for how an elf is supposed to be and behave has become an end in itself.

An early example of this would possibly be the Krynnish elves of the Dragonlance series. Although superficially similar to Tolkien's elves, these elves were much more morally ambiguous and less consistently sympathetic, and were prone to blaming humans for any calamities which occurred in the world, as well as engaging in periodic bouts of genocidal conflict.

The parodical Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett feature extradimensional creatures called elves, that go back to the old myths of cradle-robbing fairies. The Discworld elves have no imagination or real emotions, and therefore such things as children, artists and musicians fascinate them. They also have copper based blood and are extremely vulnerable to iron, and therefore use stone-headed elf-shot for their arrows. Though actually only vaguely humanoid in appearance, they bewitch humans with their "glamour", making themselves seem incomprably fair and godlike, and worthy of our worship. Eventually, they subdue us through sheer charisma, and only strength of mind and avoiding superstition (which they feed on) can keep them at bay. Elves in Pratchett's world represent the dangers of submitting oneself uncritically to the supernatural. The books Lords and Ladies and The Wee Free Men are about an encounter with "the fair folk".

The Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling features house-elves that resemble brownies or goblins more than modern high fantasy elves. Rather like the elves (actually Heinzelmännchen) in The Shoemaker & the Elves, Rowling's house-elves are released from servitude when they are given clothes.

Radiata Stories features beings called Light Elves which have an appearance more like a fairy or pixie than of a traditional elf.

Elves in the best-selling Artemis Fowl series are portrayed quite differently from those in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". Being only about three feet in height, elves have pointed ears and are at least fifty years ahead of human technology. They have guns and are quite different from the normal fairy tale elf. They are intelligent and have a strong sense of what is right and what isn't. They love flying both in crafts and with mechanical wings. The main elves in the Artemis Fowl series are Captain Holly Short and Commander Julius Root.

The webcomic character Elftor is neither very peaceful, nor very wise, nor very close to nature, and honestly looks most like a gnome. Still, he insists on being an elf.

In Robert Heinlein's The Puppet Masters - not fantasy, but hardcore Science Fiction - a race of methane-breathing elf-like beings inhabit Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. There elves are described as being a bit smaller than humans and having "a little rosebud mouth, which seems always smiling". They fall victim to terrifying slug-like parasites, capable of attaching themselves to any living being and completely controlling him, her or it. The parasites, riding on elves' shoulders, then try to do the same on Earth but are repulsed after much fighting, and at the end of the book humans head for Titan to settle accounts with the parasites and try to save the elves.

In Mercedes Lackey's SERRAted edge universe elves are tied to humans. Neither race can live without the other, unlike Tolkien's aloof and separate elves. Also the elves in her universe work on and race cars professionally, not something usually seen in high fantasy.

Elves on the Big Screen

Crow the elf is arguably the most memorable character in the 1980 swords and sorcery film Hawk the Slayer, with his "rapid-fire/machine-gun-action" archery skills.

In the 1986 fantasy film Legend, a young lad is aided in his quest to save a unicorn by a band of wood elves, most notably their leader, Honeythorn Gump.

And as mentioned earlier in this article, Orlando Bloom portrayed a live-action version of the Elven prince, Legolas Greenleaf, in Peter Jackson's critically-acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy of films.

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Elves in fantasy fiction and games

The Elves of Tolkien

Elves in role-playing games

Elves in fantasy literature

Countering the Tolkien tradition

Elves on the Big Screen

See also