Willow's End - Jera Skyspear
Elvish words/phrases linked to Glossary OR hover mouse to see translation.
Here's what happens when people play with powerful toys... like... Imagination. :)

This is not a treatise on elves. If someone claims to have definitive information on elves, they surely don't read much. Everyone's perception of elves varies. I am simply registering my own opinions as borrowed, gleaned, mutated and merged from what's out there. And then, you know, in some places, I stepped a little further "out there." I think faster in html these days than I can write on paper, so, here are my notes.

Other than Santa's toymaking variety, my understanding of elves started with JRR Tolkien in The Ring trilogy. I mostly stick with that for as much as is described there. However, I may draw in elements from other creative storytellers and gamers who have added to the rich tapestry of Elf Lore. One of these is a writer and friend of mine who is writing the Blackthorn Chronicles and with whom I have the pleasure of writing and roleplaying my main elven character, Jera.

The basic concept of elves is as old as folklore itself, though not always by that name. They showed up in writings long before Tolkien, but the particulars varied greatly from region to region, culture to culture, and sometimes from storyteller to storyteller. Elves have been described as ugly and beautiful, malevolent and beneficent, short and tall, dark and light. Yet for my purposes, the Tolkien elves and minor variations are the most pleasing for their rich potential in creative fiction.

In my world of imagination, I agree that elves are divided into sub-races, from the tall lithe beautiful beings (High elves) to their dark ugly and generally evildoing cousins (Drow). The details in between are abundant, so there's enough diversity here to populate a whole world of elves only, if one were so inclined. They run the gamut from the best to the worst, with all the strengths and weaknesses of humans and then some. How non-coincidental that is and how wonderful for writing.

What I've gathered here is a scant reference for me concerning elves, at least the versions I like to use as a guideline. I've also used this space to keep character notes since this is a departure from many of my other fictional characters. It's a completely foreign language and culture in which to write, much more so because it's all 'constructed', and so I need to keep my research and chosen details handy.

The crucial thing is that elves are not just elven. They are individuals. As fiction characters, they need to have depth of personality and history, like all other characters. If they are done superficially with an emphasis only on their elvishness, then they'll be little more than caricatures, flat two-dimensional, hollow. This is not the way to write any being, much less such highly evolved beings. I endeavor to provide all my characters with full lives, even if only a glimpse is relayed within their stories.

Of course, that means all my characters live in my head a whole lot and they're not always quiet either! Hey! Keep it down up there! Can't you see I'm trying to think?!     :)
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