Elves, sir!

[matt_doyle]

Obligatory bit:  wordcount still satisfactory, and my first draft of Chapter Eleven is done.  It's short, but Twelve will make up for that.  One editing pass before I post it, as always, so expect it Friday.  New due-date for Twelve (and the interlude between parts one and two, which is only a snippet of a scene that I couldn't bear to cut and couldn't fit elsewhere) is April 15th.

INTERESTING PART OF THE POST BEGINS HERE

A tangent* in last week's post about fantastical history got me talking about and thinking about longer-lived races in fantasy, specifically elves, and how they're portrayed.  Their long (sometimes, as in Tolkien, immortal) lifespans mean they are depicted as wise, stable, technical masters of their crafts (sometimes lacking in innovation and creativity compared to humans, sometimes far surpassing it), aesthetic perfectionists who can always afford to take the long view, sometimes to their detriment.

They are also often shown as passionate, merry, even flighty -- mercurial and fey, the elves of fairy-stories rather than the elves of epics. These two depictions of elves are contradictory, but there's a lot of interesting space in the interplay between them.  And most fantasy treatments of them today descend from or are a reaction to Tolkien's elves, from depicting them as high-handed and arrogant, to playing up their beauty to ridiculous extremes, to showing them as live-in-the-moment primitivists devoted to the id.  There's a tension in 'elves' that any author interested in them has to find a way to address.  "How are your elves different?"  is a question I have heard repeated many times, not just directed at me, but anyone who writes fantasy or runs roleplaying games.

I have my own answers, of course, and my own thoughts, but I'm much more interested (as usual) in hearing what other people think about it.  Are elves in fantasy overdone?  What depictions have influenced you most, whether because they got it right or got it horribly wrong (the second is often more influential)?    How are your elves different?



*"Longer lifespans lead to a more entrenched conservative tradition, and an easier way to explain a slower pace of change in a culture, as the old and powerful who value the status quo have more time to express their views and build a system to support them. But it could also lead to a greater polarization within a culture, where the disconnect between the young and the old makes for almost two separate cultures, viewpoints separated by more time and experience -- which could also, in turn, make change more volatile when it does happen. What younger elves think of older elves is rarely dealt with."**



**How is this lazy footnoting thing working for people, by the way?

Comments

[ailelie]

If I did elves-- I suppose I'd divide them by age. Young elves grow up with the eldest of their kind. At the age of maturity they pass into spring (while the elder ones die). At certain ages or signs of maturity they pass into each season. Each season resides separately. The winter elves are the most reclusive (hence the myth of elves passing into a new land rather than dying and extreme lack of elf children). The other seasons act and govern separately. Spring is more reclusive. This is the time of art and music and renaissance. Summer is when they start interacting more with other races and innovating. Autumn finds them pulling back more to advisory roles and returning to studies of their own race. Then winter when they raise the next generation of elves (or see their own children). The passing from season to season is partially tradition and partially biological. While some may pass into the next season earlier or later than others, none go backward.(Children are often born during spring or autumn and are always sent to winter's safety to be raised). Each season for the elves is about 60-100 years. Therefore, in a culture without a strong culture of written history, the cycle would be lost and there would seem to be types of elves (those that travel, those that reside in their cities, etc) rather than one group of elves all at different ages of maturity. Also, if the various seasons settle far from each other (entirely possible) it would seem like elves are aging and leaving the world behind. Meanwhile, despite how separately each season of elves operates, the elves would have a strong sense of family that would keep some coherency to the Year that would, again, not be apparent to humans.

Hm... that's just off the top of my head. I'll think of something else later.

[matt_doyle]

I like it a lot!!

[ailelie]

Another possibility would be a race where children were identical to one of their grandparents. Rather than being very long-lived, elves are a race of con-men who had convinced humanity of their longevity using a genetic quirk. That would account for both the long life and capricious reputation.

[matt_doyle]

Hahaha, I can't help but feel there's excellent story fodder in that one.

[ailelie]

Ooh, or what about post 'Twilight of the Elves'? The Elves have always looked forward to the day they'd go beyond the sea. Instead, their sea voyage only takes them to another land much like the one they just left, or back to the other coast. If the former, their arrival would spark the growth of trade routes between the two continents. Imagine, growing up always knowing that one day the twilight would come and you'd go away (or your children or great-grandchildren, etc) to a new land and leave the world of humans behind. As human tech increases, this moment seems closer and closer, then all the foretold signs occur, except there's no twilighting. The sacred texts were wrong. Increased tension between generations. Decreased relevance in the world (if remain unchanging). Scrambling for re-definition or blindly clinging to the past and/or rechecking the texts, translations, etc. Anything to find the mistake. I imagine some Elves likely gave away fortunes or treasured positions to humans or other races, those unfortunate enough to remain in the world. That would be an interesting world to operate in.

[ailelie]

I can stop, by the way. I just like brainstorming.

[matt_doyle]

Fully agreed. Now I really want to see stories based on these ideas...

[matt_doyle]

Hey, I'm having fun, so if you are too, go ahead!

Reminds me a little of the good old days on FictionAlley...