The Origin of Elves is difficult to pinpoint, though most suggest Elves to have originated in Celtic or Germanic Folklore, though elements of Greek and Roman mythology. Our modern concept of Elves however is frequently traced back to Tolkeins Legendarium and was expanded by such franchises as Dungeons and Dragons.

Most modern Elves are typically long lived if not immortal, beautiful by human standards, powerfully magical, and highly intelligent. They have a strong affinity for the seas and have very keen senses. Elves have also been broken down into various sub-types the most common of which are:

High Elves

Wood Elves

Dark Elves

One thing to be noted is the growth and evolution of Elves throughout fiction.

Typical High Fantasy elves tend to be protrayed as haughty, arrogant, better than you and they know it. In some cases they are made into annoying Hippies or Elitests. In more recent fantasy such as the Witcher or Dragon Age, Elves have had the shit kicked out of them and are often victimized and abused while others hid out n the woods clinging to what little they can preserve of their identity as a people. Elves also tend to be at least partly responsible for some dire threat facing the setting.

Some have suggested that this new trend may be due to years of former D&D players who hate the beautiful Elves who are just taking a pass at punching the Elves into the dirt. Some of this is to differentiate them from Tolkien's Elves.

The irony is that Tolkien's elves are far from perfect. They can be just as stupid, selfish, arrogant, vain, or greedy as any human if not more so. Reading the Silmarillion or even the Hobbit there are a lot of moments where the elves fuck up in a very Human way. The reason why they are so polite (if perhaps condescending), skilled, and intelligent in the Lord Of the Rings is because they have had have had hundreds if not thousands of years of experince making mistakes and practicing to draw upon. Also all of the really stupid or asshole elves already got themselves killed and the rest remember fairly well what happened because they were there.

So what are your favorite Elven races or factions? Why do you love them or hate them? Discuss below.

Lets rock our Eldar and our Avari. How about our Noldor, Vanyar and Teleri?