Ah: who said Tolkien was the only Source Document?  I posit a much different creation than Tolkien does.  Likewise, I am far more interested in the psychological implication of immortality than he was, and the attendant sociological trends among a species that does not suffer generational 'churn'.

Hey Spike, I know we don't subscribe to thread ownership here much, but do you figure this is the place for other people's takes on Elves (and Orcs, Gnomes as per the thread) or do you just wanna discuss yours?

I'm pretty sure I invited other people to play around with the assumptions in several of the threads... so...

Go For It. You Can Do EET....

Quote from: SpikeAh: who said Tolkien was the only Source Document?  I posit a much different creation than Tolkien does.  Likewise, I am far more interested in the psychological implication of immortality than he was, and the attendant sociological trends among a species that does not suffer generational 'churn'.

Useful things can come out of that line of thought. However the Fantasy Genre isn't all about extrapolating from known starting points like Sci-Fi. For example one factor is the role that gods play in the realm. If a background has gods as a real presence then that will produce a different society than something like our earth or a world with magic as science. Plus the role of magic in the society in the first place. While Elves are hunter-gatherers the influence of magic is such that the forests inhabit are vastly more productive than mundane forests.

Your analysis is fine given the premises but it is devoid of any consideration of the effects of magic and divine. And both are heavily present in fantasy.

Estar: over in the Gnomish thread I just revealed my 'secrets' from the 'setting' I eventually turned these into, I guess I can do it again.

The 'Ur-Tribe' of the Elves, in fact, lives in a giant, semi-aware forest of extreme viciousness. The Elves THINK they understand something important about the metaphysics of the world (that the Gods are 'jumped up' mortals) and thus have little divine drive... they view their oldest, most powerful living Elves as semi-divine and the real gods as little better.  The true Gods, from an Elven perspective, are a bit harder for them to grasp, and aren't particularly inclined towards collecting worship. Unknown to the Siti elves (the decendents of the Ur-tribe) the very forest they call home is in fact the body and soul of one of those True Gods, the expression of all forests, and their long exposure to it has altered them, making them more savage and more a part of the forest itself.

In a way the Humans have an advantage here, as their worship of Smith, in various guises, shows a somewhat accidental grasp of their role in creation, but it is the Dwarves that could be considered the most spiritually 'advanced' as their Gods are generally expressions of the world itself, First Gods if you will... though the Gods that actually recieve their prayers are simply really ancient Gods of the World that may even predate the Great Engine...

Or, as I said elsewhere: my Necromancy is obviously not complete yet....