We all know of elves. The legends date
back many centuries. Tales of small elves helping Santa make his toys, and
stories such as "The Elves and the Shoemaker"
have all helped to shape the popular opinion of elves as
tiny people who are good at crafts. In the world of
fantasy novels and role-playing games, a new race
of elves have emerged,
popularised by J. R. R. Tolkien. These elves are tall,
beautiful, and live in forests. On this page, I shall
look at characteristics of both, though I shall
concentrate on fantasy elves. I shall discuss these
mainly in reference to the many role-playing games that
incorporate elves, with some mention of their inclusion
in novels. I have also included my own biological
explanation of how elves are theoretically possible.
{Small Elves} {Fantasy Elves} {Similarities in Fantasy Elves} {Biology and Elves}
{Differences
in Fantasy Elves}
Small Elves 
These small elves are what the stuff of legends and fairy tales are made of. From what I have been able to find out, they are much like their taller cousins, except that they are generally smaller than a human, or at least no larger. Like fantasy elves, they are beautiful, and often beguile human males, leaving them forever searching for a human female who can match the elven beauty.
There are many different legends concerning these small elves. For a description of them, check out my legends page.
These elves are the helpers and craftsmen of the elven world. Probably the most famous of the little elves is Santa's Helpers in the North pole. Another example are the elves portrayed in the fairy tale "The Elves and the Shoemaker", where some kindly elves take pity on a poor shoemaker, and make his shoes beautifully in the dead of night, allowing him to support his wife and children.
Fantasy Elves
Similarities:
Fantasy elves are many and varied
depending on which fantasy world you look at. Yet they
all share some basic factors in common. For example,
elves always have pointy ears.
Appearance: Elves are generally taller than most humans. They are always more beautiful than humans, possibly partly because of their slim build relative to their height, which is prized in today's culture. They usually have fine, long hair, straight or slightly wavy, very rarely curly. Their hair colour is nearly always light in colour, with occasional metallic colours. They often have almond shaped eyes in soft colours.
Life Span: Elves always live for a very long time, with lifespans being measured in hundreds to thousands of years. It is not uncommon to find immortal elves, though these can belong to a unique subset.
Character Traits: Elves are often seen as soft, and airy fairy, but this is a generalisation. They are generally slightly regal, and very proud of who they are. Depending on the fantasy world, they often look down on humans and other mortals
Culture: Elves
typically have their own nation, language, culture and
are ruled by the Queen (not usually by the King). The
typical home of elves is in the forests, where they excel
at archery. They also have a knowledge of, and strong
respect for nature. Elves are also seen as usually
musical, with a love of song and dance.
In most fantasy worlds there is also a dark side to the elvish race. Often known as the "dark elves", these elves are separate from the bulk of elven culture. They generally look the same, and can easily pass as a regular elf. They differ in that they are thoroughly evil in nature.
Biology and Elves
It all started with a discussion about elves lack of facial hair. This is another similarity about elves that I did not know and thus didn't include in my similarities description. But apparently, elves never have any facial hair. Why would this be? Aside from the idea that they were created to be "delicate" and "fairy like", and that beards and whiskers do not fit with this description, but I have come up with a biological explanation, that not only can explain their lack of facial hair, but many of their other characteristics. Less testosterone.
Testosterone is what causes the male characteristics of facial hair, larger build and has been linked to aggression. Less testosterone could also possibly account for the lower number of children elves have, as it would mean that male elves have a lower fertility than human males. There is also a chance it could account for their longer life spans, (though not the immortality, or even the normal fantasy lengths of thousands of years). For example, women, who have less testosterone, live longer than men. This longer life span would probably lead to later maturation and a later halt to growth, which would give them time to grow taller than the average human.
The only thing that could not conceivably be caused by a deficiency of testosterone, is their pointed ears. Therefore, isn't it possible, that somewhere, sometime back in history, before written history, there was a race of people, who because of their deficiency, had all the characteristics that fantasy ascribes to elves, and the pointy ears were just another racial difference, or were added to the legends later, because all fairy races had pointy ears. It is theoretically possible. It is also likely that the low fertility the elven males had, would mean that they were unable to compete with the faster reproduction of the humans. They also do not have the strength of the humans, and would often have lost fights to them for this reason. As the female 'elves' would not of had the lack of fertility of the males, they would have been able to freely breed with humans, thus breeding out the 'elven' characteristics, and causing their eventual extinction through merging with the human culture. (eg. Survival of the fittest.)
It is only an idea, a theory, but it is plausible. I am going to do some more research on the legends and the biology, and update this theory accordingly.
Differences:
Middle Earth (By J. R. R. Tolkein)
Shadowrun (By FASA)
Earthdawn (By FASA)
Middle Earth:
Compiled By Michael
The elves (Quendi) of Middle Earth are a noble and graceful race of immortal beings who resemble men in many ways. Although similar to men there are several subtle, but important differences between the two races. Elves are taller than men, but are uniformly slender with noticeably less body hair. Elven men cannot grow beards. Fine features combined with fair, unmarred skin and a strange ease of movement give the elves a graceful quality. It is often said that they seem to possess an enchanted aura
As elves are immortal, they commonly die form only two causes: through violence, or because of a weariness of the world. In the second instance an elf is simply overcome with grief and loses the will to live. All elves who die in this manner are gathered in the Halls of Mandos (the Place of Awaiting) in the far west of Valinor (Aman).
The elves of Middle Earth are divided into three main groups:
1) The Noldor
Elves
2) The Sindar Elves
3) The Silvan Elves
Information gathered from J. R. R. Tolkein's 'The Lord of the Rings', 'The Hobbit', 'The Silmarillion' and ICE's Middle Earth Role Playing Game.
Shadowrun:
Shadowrun is a world where magic and technology mix. People have learned to interface directly with computers and vehicles. Man has also crossed the boundary between man and machine, with artificial enhancements and replacements making them stronger, faster and smarter. Magic has also returned to the world, allowing mages, shamans and physical adepts to cast spells, summon spirits, and increase their abilities. Elves, trolls, orks and dwarves share this world of 2058 with humans and Dragons.
Elves in the
Shadowrun world do not conform to many of the stereotypes
of how they should behave. They live in the modern world,
and have a personality to fit with their upbringing and
life experience much as any other meta-human in 2058.
They are no more inclined to liking singing, dancing and
living in the forest to any other meta-human.
The elf to the left is everyone's favourite, Harlequin, a enigmatic immortal elf.
Shadowrun elves do have their own nation, or rather, nations. Tir Taingire and Tir Na Nog. In Tir Na Nog, which takes up what is now Ireland, the elves are ruled by their Queen (an immortal elf), Lady Brane Deigh. Tir Taingire is ruled by a council of elders (mostly immortal elves, though there is a Dragon on the board as well). Tir Taingire is made up of the faction that split from the 'True Elven Culture' in Earthdawn times. This is similar to the typical split in elven legends between Dark Elves and normal elves, though in this case, the ones most similar to the Dark Elves are the ones that have maintained their heritage (ie the elves from Tir Na Nog). The elven language in Shadowrun has been around since ancient times, and is known as Sperethiel.
Elves in shadowrun have been given the classification of Homo Sapiens Nobilis. The typical Shadowrun elf is 1.9 metres tall and weighs 72 kilograms. Elves have extra rod structures in their eyes that allow them to see in darkness better than cats. They have estimated life spans of hundreds of years and carry their children for close to a year before giving birth. The can subsist without meat, though the suffer no problems digesting it. Unlike most fantasy elves, Shadowrun elves have facial hair, though their body hair is lighter than humans.
Earthdawn:
Earthdawn is set in Shadowrun's past, in a time before the magic subsided. Heroes in Earthdawn fight horrors with swords, knives and bows as well as magic.
Earthdawn elves are closer to the elven stereotype than those of Shadowrun. They have a great appreciation of nature, and prefer to live in forested areas, and are renowned for their singing, dancing, music and fine art..
They really only have one nation (and
culture), that of Wyrm Wood. This is where the Elven
Queen (Alachia) resides. Earthdawn elves have the schism
in their society that is typical of most eleven legends,
however their's differs in many important ways. In
Earthdawn, the elves of Wyrm Wood survived a terrible
time of uncontrollable magic terrible creatures called
horrors who fed off pain and fear, by causing thorns to
grow from their skin , thus putting themselves in
constant pain. (See the picture of a Blood Elf, to the
right.) This was a permanent condition, and when the
magic subsided, the elves that did not 
reside in their capital found
themselves in a situation where the centre of their
culture had been perverted and twisted beyond all
recognition. This schism differs from typical 'Dark Elf'
scenarios in that the perverted twisted elves are the
elves that stand at the centre of elven culture.
Being the same
race as Shadowrun elves, Earthdawn elves have the same
physical characteristics as Shadowrun elves. Like
Shadowrun elves, they speak the elvish language
Sperethiel.
{Small Elves} {Fantasy Elves} {Similarities in Fantasy Elves} {Biology and Elves}
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