Karin Rita Gastreich
Scribe
Glittering, nearly-invincible creatures that ride by and, on the slightest whim, develop either a grudge or a fascination with a peasant and then drag him into who-knows-what? Even the concept of spending a night in Elfdom that's a century in real-time sounds a lot like how a villager-turned-palace-servant might feel on coming home and realizing how differently her old friends looked at the world, and now at her.
Just one more thing in the elven mix.
Interesting comparison.
Aren't fairies supposed to do kind of the same thing -- the dangers of getting caught in a fairy ring and not coming back out until after a century or two of wanton revelry?
I don't think Elves or Orcs are dead, but human cultures have a rich collection of magical creatures from which to draw for use in fantasy. Elves have yet to appear in my own stories, but I have something called Guendes, based on the Central American duende, which is something of a cross between a fairy and a gnome.
I've since learned that the Spaniards took their duendes all over the world, and they have evolved to be very different creatures depending on whether you meet them in Spain, Central America, South America, the Philippines, or Guam. . .
The most original treatment I've seen of Elves in recent fantasy fiction is Melissa Mickelsen's NIGHTINGALE. Here we have an elf woman who is also an assassin, and a very interesting world of constant warfare and conflict between human and elfin cultures. I really liked it, and did not have the sense at all that I was reading a recycled Tolkien trope. So yes, I think there is still much to be done with elves, orcs, and the like. All it takes is a fresh perspective and a little imagination.
Also -- just for the record -- not all girls like glitter.