Elves in Fantasy Fiction and Games - Countering The Tolkien Tradition

Countering The Tolkien Tradition

Conversely, elves of the Tolkien mould 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.

• Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest comics (and novels) have elves descended from a shapechanging spacefaring race, adapted to the world where they were stranded first by magic, then in part by a shapechanger crossbreeding with wolves, and breeding that bloodline with some of the original elves. The resulting wolfrider elves are diminutive in stature and have a neolithic culture (trading few metal items with other races).

• An early example of this would possibly be the Krynnish elves of the Dragonlance series. Although superficially similar to standard fantasy 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 (as it disrupts their finely tuned magnetism-based senses), 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 incomparably 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 or to the superficially attractive (which would probably include a substantial amount of modern obsessions). The books Lords and Ladies and The Wee Free Men are about an encounter with "the fair folk". Pratchett describes them like this: Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
  Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
  Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
  Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
  Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
  Elves are terrific. They beget terror". —Lords and Ladies

• The best-selling Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling features elves who are slaves that resemble brownies or goblins more than modern high fantasy elves. Rather like the elves ("Wichtelmänner" in the German tale) in The Shoemaker and the Elves, Rowling's house-elves are released from servitude when they are given clothes. They also speak in the third person.

• 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 The Lord of the Rings. Being only about a metre in height, Elves have pointed ears, skin that is brown rather than Tolkien's fair or the black attributed to Dark Elves in other influential works, reddish hair, and are one of the several species that make up the technologically advanced Fairy society. The Fairies are long-lived but not ageless, and are all subterranean and nocturnal, with sunlight having deleterious effects on their magic. Their magic is usually shown as being used for invisibility, healing and hypnotism, though a subset known as warlocks can use more substantial magic; until the fifth book all warlocks are said to be Elfin. Nearly all Elfin characters who appear in the series are in the Fairy military police, and therefore usually in possession of laser guns. It's stated that the species loves flying, both in crafts and with mechanical wings. The main Elfin characters in the Artemis Fowl series are Captain Holly Short and Commander Julius Root.

• In Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction novel The Puppet Masters, 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.

• In Elizabeth Moon's trilogy The Deed of Paksenarrion features, as well as elves of the Tolkien type, another kind called the iynisin or the unsingers. Where the elves believe the singer made the world so they sing to make things, the iynisin try to unsing creation, corrupt and destroy.

• In the comic book series Poison Elves, writer/artist Drew Hayes depicted elves as rogues, thieves, and killers rather than the peace loving forest dwellers depicted by Tolkien. His central character, Lusiphur is a trench coat wearing, urban creature more apt to sulk in a tavern than frolic and sing in the woods. An assassin, Lusiphur is prone to fits of violence — often slaughtering hordes for the slightest insult or minor inconvenience. His weapons alternate between knives and swords and a magic pistol with an unlimited supply of ammunition (rather than the longbow associated with characters such as Tolkien's Legolas).

• In the Warcraft series, the High Elves, a Tolkien-modeled society, experience a fall from grace when their homeland is overrun by the undead Scourge. Their seeming perfection is revealed to be full of holes, as a latent addiction to magical forces begins to corrupt the few surviving members of their race. Eventually, they become the Blood Elves, taking on a vengeful mindset and gradually becoming dependent on demonic magic to sate their addiction. Most telling about the change in their character is that they have apparently enslaved a being of pure Light in order to gain powers normally reserved for the good-hearted Paladins. Likewise, the night elves — who are on the opposing faction to the blood elves — appear to be inspired by the traditionally evil drow of Dungeons & Dragons, but given a more noble twist. Although not explicitly good, they are very dedicated to eradicating the Burning Legion, one of the main antagonistic forces in the Warcraft universe.

• In the Magic: The Gathering universe, the elves trade in their divinity and immortality for a greater affinity with nature. they are often shown shunning all manner of artifice and metal, instead favoring weapons made of wood and trained animals. Their knowledge of magic shifts from the classic arcane spellcasting and focuses on nature aligned spells such as blending in, animating wood, controlling animals, and entering predatory rages. A notable exception is the Lorwyn elves, whose obsessions with beauty occlude everything else.

• In the Korean video game Mabinogi, the elves are portrayed as a tribal, desert-dwelling race that is cursed to wither away into a monster, and as a consequence die young. They generally fit the Tolkien archetype in other ways, however, being focused towards speed over durability and skilled in archery.

• In the Dragon Age universe, elves are split into the nominal factions of the Dalish--forest-dwelling nomads more akin to Tolkien's own elves—and "city" or" alienage elves." City elves are second-class "low men" with stunted lifespans compared to the marginally longer-lived Dalish. Likewise, city elves are forced into filthy slums in human cities rather than exotic or elegant elven cities.

• In the Shadowrun universe, the video games and novels feature human children who begin to be born as elves, dwarves, and other exotic creatures. Shadowrun combines the genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime.

• Jess C Scott's Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy features elves that are Tolkien-esque in terms of stature. The elves exist in a setting that blends urban fantasy with some of the technological and social developments associated with cyberpunk science fiction.