I was pondering elven society in my current WIP. Elves are immortal and that they don't die of old age even if they can be killed. Elven females are fertile when they are between two hundred and eight hundred years old - when males are fertile (is that the correct word) I haven't spent much time thinking about.
Six hundred years is a long time and forever is an even longer time. Love is a strong power when it comes to binding people together, but I imagine that over time even immortals will change. Old flames die and new fires are kindled. Elves of both sexes are likely to have multiple/several partners throughout their lives.
Bearing this in mind, the importance of relationships between elves may not be very significant, they're likely to be temporary after all. However, no matter how many partners you have you will only have one father and one mother, making this relation much stronger than the one between partners. I also believe that the relation between the mother and the child is stronger than that between the father and the child. I imagine that most elves will know their father, but they may not necessarily know their grandfather or their great grandfather or their greater grandfathers. Because of this I imagine it will be easier for elves to trace their lineage through their mothers and grandmothers.
I think that from the above it's not a big step towards imagining that the female elves are the main authority of the species. It's through them the lineage is traced and they're the ones raising new elves into the world.
When I started writing this I had just a vague idea of what I wanted to say, but as I tried explaining it a lot of questions arose. Some of these questions had answers, others didn't. In the end, the question is short and simple: is it believable/plausible that among immortals it is the women who are the rulers?
I believe it is - but I'd be happy to see you poking the plot holes or asking the questions I've not answered or even thought of.
Six hundred years is a long time and forever is an even longer time. Love is a strong power when it comes to binding people together, but I imagine that over time even immortals will change. Old flames die and new fires are kindled. Elves of both sexes are likely to have multiple/several partners throughout their lives.
Bearing this in mind, the importance of relationships between elves may not be very significant, they're likely to be temporary after all. However, no matter how many partners you have you will only have one father and one mother, making this relation much stronger than the one between partners. I also believe that the relation between the mother and the child is stronger than that between the father and the child. I imagine that most elves will know their father, but they may not necessarily know their grandfather or their great grandfather or their greater grandfathers. Because of this I imagine it will be easier for elves to trace their lineage through their mothers and grandmothers.
I think that from the above it's not a big step towards imagining that the female elves are the main authority of the species. It's through them the lineage is traced and they're the ones raising new elves into the world.
When I started writing this I had just a vague idea of what I wanted to say, but as I tried explaining it a lot of questions arose. Some of these questions had answers, others didn't. In the end, the question is short and simple: is it believable/plausible that among immortals it is the women who are the rulers?
I believe it is - but I'd be happy to see you poking the plot holes or asking the questions I've not answered or even thought of.