My take on Elves....Cool or Cliche???

[WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade]

I have elves in my book. But I've worked hardish to try and make them different from your usual elf; immortal, ethereal grace and beatify, immortal.

I would love feedback on whether this works or not.

Appearance; there are two types; the normal elves, who are golden-skinned, have strange marks on their skin, like leaves or vines of different colours wrapping around their bodies. They are different for each elf; one might have red oak leaves, another might have green pine needles.

They have slightly slanted eyes, high and prominent cheekbones, and aren't especially tall or slender.

The second type of elf are somewhat taller, have silvery skin and iron coloured hair. They lack the leaf markings. They have "Wings" which appear and disappear at will, but it is hard for them to fly very far; it is exhausting. The wings are usually falcon like; I.E long and tapered.

The Golden Skinned Elves live in caravans, and are a lot like drunk gypsies. The silvery ones are the same, apart from the fact that they live in upland villages, not caravans.

They aren't immortal; they live for a hundred and fifty/sixty years at the most.

They are very carefree and happy people, welcoming and not massively inclined towards political games and power mongering.

And they have pointed ears

 

[Mythopoet]

I guess my question is, why are they Elves? Is it just the pointed ears?

I think if you're going to have something called "Elves" in your fantasy they should have some connection to one of the mythological or folkloric beings known as Elves among various cultures. I don't think creating a type of being that is not really Elf-like, calling them Elves and then saying "look how unique my Elves are" is very interesting.

 

[KC Trae Becker]

I enjoyed the mental images your physical descriptions created for me. Your elves sound like they look pretty cool.

I'm not sure what a group of drunk gypsies would act like. Could you elaborate on that part?

 

[WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade]

Kc; Drunk Gypsies. Well, I was half-asleep when I posted this earlier, so you've got to bear with my odd descriptions. What I was trying to get at is where as your normal elves are singing in trees, very calm, very composed, almost alien in their remoteness, my elves are very much live for the moment, always laugh, always smile, hard drinking, fast living people. Ohhh, and they live in caravans and travel about for the joy of it, so there we go. Drunk Gypsies.
And Mythopoet. TO answer your question, I'm going to use a terrible metaphor. Elves are like shoes. There are many types of shoe; high heeled, willies, and those hide moccasins that native Americans used to wear. They all look very different to each other, but they are all shoes.

Most elves in fantasy look the same, mine look different, and are different ( I hope), but they do some of the same things, live in a big Parkey type place, they are good at archery, they are good at riding, and breed some of the best horses around.

And If I kept them in, under a different name, people would go, why call them (made up name) when they are obviously elves. And I think of them as elves, so they are (as I type this I realise I sound VERY arrogant )

And only humans call the elves elves, they call themselves Fae, which isn't much better, I know, but I just love the word Fae.

 

[kirai]

Since you've described the physical difference of your elves/fae, what of their cultural differences? A stationary culture will have some huge differences in comparison to a migratory one. Is there a stigma with the gypsy elves as there is with gypsies/Romani of the real world?

Also, more of a question for my curiosity, what about the silver elves' wings? When they appear, do they tear through the skin like a were-transformation? Or are they more incorporeal and poof! they're there? Just wondering.

 

[skip.knox]

I think your elves are just fine as described, but they won't come alive until you put them into a story. Do you have one in development?

 

[WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade]

Skip.Knox; Indeed I have got a story with the elves in; I'm at a part where they feature heavily, which is why I wanted to post this thread to see what people thought of them.

And I'm having great fun writing about them; its nice to write a nice long set of scenes where my character is just kicking back, playing cards and drinking, rather than having him killing things, being chased, or worrying about his lack of a conscience. And it is nice to write about elves.

I think everybody likes elves, deep down.

 

[Scribble]

Their visual descriptions are certainly attractive, as elves should be. Be wary - if you have elves, you might just want to call them elves. If they are "elves with a different name" that is quite obvious to the reader. If they are significantly different from elves (no immortality, no nature affiliation, etc...) then call them something else.

Question - are there humans in the world? If not, maybe just call them "the people", and let the visual descriptions tell the reader they aren't from Kansas.

I am curious what the markings upon the skin are and also about the history of why these elves are so different. Any divergent population was once a single population - why the split? What makes the wanderers shun the villages? Do the silver elves shun the freer, wilder, golden elves? Do they have the same kind of prejudice about them that many people had about human gypsies - xenophobia? Fear of corruption of their lifestyle?

The differences and prejudices that might exist between them can stir a lot of dramatic tension.