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Posted By: thespartan Jul 04, 2003 - 11:12 pm

ya know, i've noticed that when tolkien created elves for his book he was doing something original. why don't ya just try something original and not use elves?

Posted By: Neurolanis Jul 05, 2003 - 07:29 am

Why call them Elves? Why not Hologrifts or Chermen or Gloats or something? Anyway, it might sound like a clique as I've said it many times, but IT ISN'T THE IDEA THAT MATTERS BUT HOW YOU USE IT! ELves...so what? I'm writing a story with EVERYTHING stolen from myths--HA! Oh well. As long as you write it well, the little ideas--like Elves--don't matter. But still, call them something else!

-Neurolanis

Posted By: Dreamer1206 Jul 05, 2003 - 01:44 pm

I read in a book somewhere (or an article or something) that calling a rabbit a gfornk (or some other different name) doesn't make it a different species. It still has the same characteristics (which makes perfect sense). So, think about what characteristics you like about elves - their connection with nature? Culture? Fighting skills? After deciding what you find so intriguing about them, start your OWN race based on that trait. Then you can be more original!

Posted By: thespartan Jul 06, 2003 - 10:28 am

hey! i read that SAME article!!!
lol
small world. you can find it somewhere at a website called writers-universe. well put the .com up there and it's the site.

Posted By: elfgirl Sep 10, 2003 - 03:01 pm

I have a question. In the dictionary the plural for elf is elves. However, the adjective is elfin. I don't like that spelling because it looks silly and reminds me of Santa Clause elves. Tolkien uses the adjective elven, so is it acceptable to use that spelling? My book involves characters from various cultures. One group is the stereotyped elves like Tolkein, with a few minor differences. They are woodland elves and are good. They are contrasted with a group of elves from another country that are concieted, self-serving, and resort to murder and magic (which is considered evil in this world). Any opinions?

Posted By: Bmat Sep 10, 2003 - 03:39 pm

My dictionary doesn't have elven, but it does have elvish as adjective.

Posted By: The Filmchick Sep 10, 2003 - 04:10 pm

Ariel, bad boy, bad fairy, bad peri, banshee, Befind, booger, brat, brownie, buffoon, bugger, cluricaune, Corrigan, cutup, devil, deviling, devilkin, diablotin, Dingbelle, dwarf, enfant terrible, erlking, fairy, fairy queen, fay, Fifinella, Finnbeara, funmaker, gamin, gnome, goblin, gremlin, Hob, Hobgoblin, holy terror, homunculus, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, imp, JD, joker, jokester, juvenile delinquent, knave, kobold, leprechaun, Lilliputian, little devil, little monkey, little rascal, Mab, manikin, midge, midget, minx, mischief, mischief-maker, Oberon, ouphe, peewee, peri, pip-squeak, pixie, poltergeist, pooka, practical joker, prankster, puca, Puck, punk, punk kid, pwca, pygmy, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, rowdy, ruffian, runt, scamp, scapegrace, shrimp, spoiled brat, sprite, sylph, sylphid, Titania, tokoloshe, Tom Thumb, urchin, wag, wart, whippersnapper, young devil

... there are so many more interesting possibilities there (Hyperdictionary's synonym list for elf) rather than just 'elf,' I humbly suggest using one of those. Not all are related to the mythical creature, but a lot of them are. That, and a lot of the legends behind a lot of the ethnic elvish variants will provide a lot of info for stories, if one was so inclined.

Posted By: archercaptain Sep 10, 2003 - 05:11 pm

I wouldn't just copy the idea of the Tolkien elf, and simply change the name. To me, it would still be copying whether anyone else noticed or not. To create an "elven" race that is truly mine, I would select several characteristics which I like best about them; such as long life and great wisdom. I would then combine these traits with others, which can be anything from human-like characteristics to vampiric. Work on these few sketchy guidelines and build a believable race of beings.

...But don't forget to make one or two flaws to your race as well--a mistake I often encounter in writing--because there is no such thing as a perfect individual or species. Tolkien elves often tired of their long life, which they were forced to endure for eternity. Humans, on the contrary, had exceedingly short lives and rushed about in a hasty manner, often overlooking life's better opportunities.

Posted By: The Filmchick Sep 10, 2003 - 05:16 pm

I wasn't suggesting taking a High Elf a la Tolkien and calling it a pooka, when a pooka is a profoundly different mythological creature. I was trying to broaden folks' viewpoints more - ie, if there was a name there they particularly liked, maybe they could commit a 5-second Google search on it, and if that led to something else... voila.

Posted By: elfgirl Sep 10, 2003 - 05:30 pm

That was a good point archercaptain. I always try to give flaws to all my characters. I can't stand reading books with perfect characters. They're unrealistic. Even my "good" elves have problems with pride, patience, prejudice, and lack of faith. One thing that sets my elves apart from Tolkein is even though they don't age, they can die just like anyone else and they can't go to some undying land like in LOTR.

Posted By: gypsychic Sep 12, 2003 - 06:44 am

Umm...Tolkien didn't invent elves. That was taken from Norse mythology and adapted. That's also where the concept of elves and dwarves not getting along origated as well. I agree with previously mentioned article - call a spade a spade.

Posted By: Aldan Sep 13, 2003 - 05:53 pm

One writer that used elves (and created them) in a unique way was David Weber in his books Oath of Swords and The War God's Own. In those, the elves appear as do the "standard" elves, but they were a CREATED RACE... created by a powerful wizard king and queen. The royalty had just created some rules for the use of magic, but there was a certain type of mage that wouldn't "fit in" the rules, because of the type of magic they had access to. So, the royalty offered these people the option to be able to remain young adults forever if they would be willing to exchange their magic abilities for it. They did, and thus were created the elves. However, the elves have ended up regretting their choice. You'll have to read the books for the rest of it...

Posted By: AdriannaLeham Sep 13, 2003 - 08:07 pm

With elves I like to give them their own characteristics (nothing like what Tolkien created) because to me if you use works from others then you may not get the possible outcome, emotions, etc... They just won't seem real enough. I like to add a personality to my elves and with that personality a twist of surprise. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt. Depends on where and even when you would add the twist of surprise to the personality to the character. i hope this makes sense

Posted By: Holyoak Sep 17, 2003 - 12:24 am

Thomas Malory created the elf.

Posted By: RongFo Sep 17, 2003 - 01:30 am

Holyoak: I seriously hope you're joking--even if you mean he was the first to write about elves in books.

Thomas Malory (whoever he was--there is some debate) wrote during the 1460s.

The Eddas were already ancient oral stories when first written down between 1000-1300 AD--chock full of both "light" and "dark" elves. And I'm sure the Norse weren't even the first to use them in oral stories.

Posted By: Perpetual Misery Oct 04, 2003 - 09:30 am

Copying an idea and giving it a different name is called shmeerping, or something (I can't remember how it's spelled or grammared). But I think the rules of writing are somewhat arbitrary. Art has no bounds, although entertainment (Novels are both) does.

But either way, I hate elves, and I would die before I included them in a story. (Especially a sci-fi story. . .brr. Several people actually include elves and gnomes and the like in military science fiction). All of my characters are either humans, animals, or mutant humans. Or at least something close. Elves. . .Brr. . .

Posted By: Aldan Oct 04, 2003 - 11:37 am

Are you a DWARF-LOVER???
I've got a friend who just loves the idea of guys who have huge beards and are short enough to stand upright and still be able to reach... well, you get the idea, I think... with their mouths (which are surrounded by their bushy beards).
AND, he's NOT my boyfriend. He can't stand elves, either. I personally don't understand why. Are you short and kinda stocky? My friend is (not dwarf-short though). Maybe it has something to do with height and/or weight.
Also, I think that it has to do with how people portray the idea of elves. I do my portrayals more than a little differently than do most of the genero-fantasy-novelists out there...

Posted By: thegreentick Oct 04, 2003 - 04:02 pm

My elves are dark skinned and violent.

Posted By: Aldan Oct 06, 2003 - 09:26 am

Oh, the dork elves, aka the drew...
They are, like, so, like last week, y'know?

Posted By: thegreentick Oct 07, 2003 - 09:00 am

No no no no.

My elves live in a world of light and the reason they have dark skin is because it is deeply tanned from all the time in the sun. They are not "drow"

The are quite different.