Editing Elf (section)

===Tolkien===
Tolkien grew up fascinated by mythology, but thanks to most of the pre-Christian pre-Roman British culture being lost he always felt disappointed that his own people would never have the amazing mythology of the Norse or the Egyptians. As a result, he spent much of his youth creating his own, which became a lifetime project. Tolkien's non-fiction scholarly pursuits in the study of language and translation of various classical texts from early European history helped him greatly in his endeavors, allowing him to essentially reverse-engineer a semi-plausible fictional mythology. Tolkien himself was a very devout Catholic, and as a result his work shied away from being heavily pagan, taking a note instead from how the Norse mythology gradually changed (Odin becoming less warlike and wiser, Loki changing from clever trickster to villain, Baldur transitioning from unimportant victim in a story about arrogance to being a literal resurrected nice guy everyone loves after the end of the world). Tolkien's fiction borrows heavily from many feyfolk in European folklore which, as previously mentioned, basically can all be fairly called elves. The actual word "elves" was reserved for his [[Mary Sue|favorite]] beings in the setting.

A recurring theme in his work is the importance of music and passing on stories (because many of the pieces of ancient history we have today were exactly that, stories told by a storyteller or a song sung in celebration or remembrance, thus the appearance every dozen pages or so of verse which varies, shall we say, a great deal in quality.) Tolkien entrusted his many, many, ''many, many,'' '''many, many,''' '''''many''''' semi-organized (putting it politely) volumes of notes from a lifetime of work - including enough for many stories - to his own son Christopher, along with the control of the canon. Christopher Tolkien has spent most of HIS life trying to decode his father's intent, decipher scribbled notes, and try to figure out which of a hundred versions of one text is the final copy; to this end he published several volumes of collected stories, the last being Tolkien's most important work ''Beren & Luthien'' (which was already released in a very abridged form in ''The Silmarillion''.)

In the Tolkien setting, there is ''([[Tom Bombadil]], as well as)'' one omnipotent god called Eru Iluvatar who used aspects of his own personality to create lesser beings, mistakenly worshiped as gods by mortals, called Ainur. After creating the Ainur he conducted them to sing, the first sound that ever existed. One of the Ainur named Melkor refused to participate in Eru's melody and began singing his own tune, confusing others into harmonies and dissonances between the two conductions, although the vastly more clever Eru trolled Melkor; the second piece became a single greater song no matter how hard Melkor fought to create an independent one. That song not only created everything that ever was or ever will be, but its echo is literally destiny and the great plan of Eru for all his creations and their creations and so on. Eru gave the Ainur their own free will at this time and gave them the knowledge they needed to understand his plan (but not all of it, for nothing is omniscient other than himself.) He then fucked off to watch his plans unfold (which is basically all he does for the rest of time as far as anyone knows), while the Ainur sorted themselves into Valar (the strongest, and the rulers) and Maiar (the weaker ones which serve the Valar.) The Valar set themselves to finishing the world according to Eru's still-echoing song - with the exception of Melkor, who followed his own by fucking up the works of the others and  creating volcanoes and dark deep places, not knowing that Eru had planned for that shit during the singing of the great song.

[[File:Timeline Of Tolkien Elves.jpg|thumb|center|200px|This is your cheat sheet for the following section.]]

While the Ainur helped to create much of the world during the Music of the Ainur, Illuvatar alone created two special races using the secret fire; the firstborn were the Elves, who awoke before the creation of the Sun. The first to awaken were three married couples: Imin and Iminyë, Tata and Tatië, and Enel and Enelyë. As they traveled from the eastern region where they awoke towards the west, they found six other married couples of Elves, which Imin and wife claimed as their subjects; then nine couples which were claimed by Tata and wife; and finally twelve [[Waifu|wives were claimed]] by Enel and wife. The sixty total Elves followed the rivers on their journey to the west (not ''that'' one) and focused on poetry and music as they went, [[Derp|despite not yet having developed a language]]. They discovered eighteen more stargazing couples, whom Tata claimed, and another twenty-four singing pairs who joined Enel's group. At the end of Elf Genesis, there was a grand total of 144 Elves (so ''much'' less incest). Elf numerology as a result is based on two, three, six, twelve, and 144. Here, the Elves created the first spoken language and named themselves Quendi.

Melkor first discovered the Elves and sent minions to harass them, which took the form of great horsemen resembling the Valar Oromë. This was done so that when the real Oromë discovered them, some Elves hid or fled. These Elves were later collected by Melkor, and seeing the terrible influence he had on Elves, the Valar finally waged war in order to basically put the fucker in time-out. The Elves who didn't flee from Oromë sent three ambassadors to visit the Valar, and returned with tales of a literal Garden Of Eden that all Elves were invited to. Most Elves did leave, with the exception of the Avari who refused to leave Middle Earth; this came to be called the Sundering Of The Elves. During the Great Journey the Elves passed by Melkor's dark lands and grew afraid, returning to live with the Avari. 

The Elves who reached the western coast of Middle Earth were guided by Ulmo to the kingdom of Valinor, on a small continent called Aman where the Valar dwell while on the planet and not in Eru's realms. The last group to arrive was the Teleri, who were so curious about the wonders of the mortal world as they traveled that they stopped constantly.

Of the Elves that reached Aman, there were three groups ruled by the ambassadors who had been sent there by the Elves before the Sundering began: the Vanyar ruled by Ingwë, the Ñoldor ruled by Finwë, and the Teleri ruled by the brother of their ambassador named Olwë (because the real ambassador Elwë remained in Middle Earth among the Falathrim).

The "family" tree of elven ancestry so far is as follows:
* The '''Teleri''' are the ancestors of the Sindar, Falathrim, and Nandor/Laiquendi. They love the sea, and even during the Sundering many decided to island-hop and explore the watery parts of the world with the Maiar Ossë.
** '''Sindar''' are the Teleri who never reached Aman, but were given knowledge of the wonders of Aman by their king Elwë, who had been one of the elf ambassadors to Aman. Additionally, they were educated by Mélian the Maia, wife of Elwë, and thus received a partial measure of the gifts of Valinor. Elwë Singollo, or Elu Thingol in the Sindarin tongue, styled himself King of Beleriand, and all Telerin Elves acknowledged him as such. Thingol's realm of Doriath was the core of Sindarin power in the First Age, and something all future Sindarin lords such as Celeborn, Elrond, or Thranduil would seek to emulate in their own realms. They are called Grey Elves as they were more enlightened than their Avari cousins but still hadn’t received the full benefit of Aman’s blessings (or, more boringly, because of the name 'Thingol' (grey-cloak), or because the first Sindar the Ñoldor met were the tribe of Mithrim, or literally 'Grey-elves.' Did we mention Tolkien was a linguist?). They formed one of the more powerful elf kingdoms until it was destroyed, where the surviving Sindar decided to rule over the lesser Nandor, depart west to the Grey Havens, or linger in remaining Elven holdings such as Rivendell. Sindarin is the dominant elvish language used in Middle Earth.
** The '''Nandor''' are Telerin Elves who chose to remain when the rest of their kindred passed west of the Misty Mountains. They drop out of history until a group of them pass into Beleriand, led by an Elf king named Denethor (one of several characters of that name) when he heard Elves nearby had established a kingdom named Doriath. The Nandor settled the area of Ossiriand (later the Elven realm of Lindon, the only part of Beleriand left after the War of Wrath) until Denethor was later killed by Orcs, whereupon the Nandor became known as the Laiquendi, or Green Elves, and their kingdom absorbed into Doriath. The Nandor who did NOT relocate to Beleriand became known as Wood Elves, or Silvan Elves, and established their own kingdoms, which would later come under the dominion of High Elves such as Galadriel or Thranduil fleeing east. The average Tolkien moviegoer would know them as almost all of the non-speaking Elves seen in the Hobbit and LotR trilogies.
** '''Falathrim''' are simply Sindar who loved the sea so much they lived among the coasts of Beleriand, under the lordship of Cìrdan. After their realm was destroyed they established the Grey Havens, providing passage for Elves and a very select few Hobbits seeking to depart Middle-Earth for the Undying Lands.
* While it may seem that the '''Avari''' would be important later given they're given importance enough to mention, they aren't... for their own sake. They remain wild and feral, one of their number (Eol) is literally called a Dark Elf when he's namedropped later, though that might be due to his own [[Rape|evil actions]] rather than his race, as Tolkien never seemed to decide if he was Avari or Sindar. But the Avari (as such) are a dropped plot in canon Tolkien work. They may be evil or good, but their fate is 90% unknown.
** That 10% is a doozy. As strays from the path of Aman, many Avari fell prey to "the dark powers" - Melkor and his balrogs. Melkor twisted his captives into the first [[Orc]]s. Maybe. He might have changed his mind later. Thus exiting the scope of this article here.
* As you will see, the '''Ñoldor''' are something of the historical fuckups of the Elves. On one hand they are great warriors, great smiths, great artists, great lovers (in the non-sexual sense), and literally shaped most of the history of early Middle Earth. But on the other, they are the only group of Elves even slightly [[Fall of the Eldar|corruptible, due to their impulsive natures and desire to see and experience and learn.]] It's worth noting that according to Christopher Tolkien, the Ñoldor were originally supposed to be called the Gnomes, but Tolkien early on decided against it because he didn't figure people would be able to divorce the idea of the tiny jolly lawn ornaments from his elf Saxtons and used his skills with linguistics to create the more <strike>nerdy</strike> <strike>plz nerf number of words kthx</strike> respectable-sounding Ñoldor. 
* The '''Vanyar''', who all went to Aman, and never did anything interesting afterwards, except marry a bunch of Ñoldor princes and bear blonde-haired elf children.

After some time Melkor pretended to have reformed, but immediately set to work stirring up trouble again, starting by corrupting his caged Elves into [[Orcs]]. The Vanyar were uninterested in him or his promises of power and gain, the Teleri were useless in his eyes given they had little potential for warfare or interest in his non-ocean gifts, but the Ñoldor were corruptible in their unending desire for knowledge. It should be noted that Ñoldor do NOT learn to achieve power, but to understand; this ties into Tolkien's explanation of power and its role in determining good and evil. Tolkein literally stated in a letter once that anytime the word "power" is used and it isn't in deference or servitude to the divine creator Eru's plan (like Gandalf's power is) it is a sign of villainy, particularly if used for its own sake; this  rather reflects the philosophical perspective that learning is a type of prayer to better understand the divine creator's work (compare to Einstein's desire to understand the mysteries of the universe and his apprehension and regret for being a part of the creation of the atomic bomb). The Ñoldor simply took it way too far in their ambition, and Melkor thus gave them exactly what they wanted: [[Tzeentch|knowledge of all things he knew, but peppered with more than a few of his "suggestions" once they had come to trust him]]. One of the greatest revelations was that sometime in the future, the human race would be created, with the implications that mankind was the replacement for the Elves and Aman was a metaphorical kennel to imprison them in while mankind enjoyed Middle Earth.

In particular, he convinced the most hot-headed of the Elves, Feanor, that his half-brother Fingolfin wanted his royal birthright, and the two nearly came to blows. To stir things up even more, he destroyed the Two Trees - Earth's only source of light at the time other than stars, mere fragments of which became the moon and sun - murdered Feanor's father Finwë, and stole the Silmarils, gems that Feanor had created using essence from the trees (which were now impossible to replicate). Feanor was so pissed that he swore revenge, no matter who stood in his way, including his own kin and the Valar. Well, oaths are a pretty serious deal in Middle-Earth, and Feanor did end up committing the first Elf-on-Elf murder; due to the Teleri refusing to provide him with ships, he took them by force in order to reach Melkor faster, and as a result his people were exiled from Aman in his quest for revenge - only for Feanor himself to get killed by Melkor before he had the chance to exact it.

Pretty much all of the worst Elves died in the wars against Melkor, so the ones that survived to the end of the Third Age were much wiser and mellower, though they also experienced intense sorrow since immortality means outliving everyone you knew. On top of that, whereas elves can't die of old age, they can whither away into wraiths unless they return to the undying lands, which nearly all have by the end of the LOTR trilogy. Many elves are actually envious of humans' mortality, calling it "the gift of men," since Illuvatar has a special fate for them that none but him knows of, whereas elvish souls are bound to Middle-Earth until the end of time.

So at the end of the canon stories, we have a pretty good structure of why Elves are the way they are, and it is 100% the setting they are in and the values of the beings who created them and raised their culture (Eru, Valar, Maiar). 
* Elves are the most aware of Eru's plan compared to any non-Eagle non-Ainur race. They know the basics of where their race will go and end up. So when humans start talking about destiny and fate, or choice in a conflict, the Elves know that they themselves are playing with a different set of rules than mankind, something very few humans know and less really understand. 
* Elves are not greedy or ambitious for power. Like a Hobbit, babbling brooks or really tall trees contain as much beauty to them as the finest gold and diamond crown, and with less literal appetite than a Hobbit the Elf has even less need for gold. Elves are also aware of the Tolkien rule that non-god power is evil. The only Elves with a hook to play to their baser natures are the aforementioned Ñoldor, who were hot-headed and knowledge-lusting - but the descendants of Fëanor's people have learned their lessons, and great leaders such as Thranduil and Elrond feel it's better to spend centuries in inaction than jump rashly into a fight. Elves such as Vanyar and Teleri have no desire to fight at all, to the point that regardless of stakes they cannot be drawn into war.
* Elves look at the achievements and failings of mankind, and their reactions are "yeah, we've been there". Particularly in the Ñoldor terms just above, Elves have already made every major mistake you can possibly make, and know in the case of Fëanor that assholes gonna asshole, and as a result are hesitant to involve themselves in anything shortsighted no matter how seemingly righteous. Contrast with Dwarves, a race who seemingly continues to repeat the same mistakes for stupid reasons (from an Elf perspective) and wonder why Elves never want to get involved. 
* Elves are generally extremely rigid in their psychology. They develop certain personality qualities, mindsets and obsessions which get set into stone. At most an Elf can be broken by tragedy or torture, leaving the permanently damaged being. This is part of why Elvish/Human relationships are problematic - total heartbreak for one party is an inevitability.  This does nothing to stop human-elf relationships, though.  Indeed, the elven songs seem to most commonly be about how great such a relationship is or how awesomely badass a half-human half-elf hero was.  If anything will preen your man feathers, it’s how the Mary Sue elves recognize and look up to man’s heroic and noble spirit.
* Elves are literally part of nature. Their afterlife is to continue to faff about while many reincarnate back into the world as mortal Elves, and no matter what happens, they can always uproot and fuck off back to Valinor. This means they are connected to the fate of the world as a whole and thus have high stakes to defeat world conquerors, while they are simultaneously disconnected from the smaller localized events such as the fate of kingdoms, including their own. Elves are intrinsically connected to the goodness of the world, and the mucking about of Sauron or random Orcs means little in the long term. Separating themselves from this natural world saps their strength, and in time would degrade them into what Orcs are today (I.E hobbit-sized sun-fearing cowardly humanoids that can only be whipped into a warrior culture by a powerful evil). 
* Elves value things that other races have mild appreciation to outright disdain for. The Falathrim prefer sailing around the coast to a literal Garden Of Eden. Laiquendi disregard the promise of gold, and instead would accept gossip, songs, and jokes as payment for services and lodging. While ideal friends of Hobbits and decent allies to many humans, Dwarves and ambitious men find Elves to act like mentally handicapped assholes. Exceptions exist, such as the warmth Gimli has towards Elves coming from his humble appreciation of beauty without the need to possess it, but in general greed and pride make you a poor bedfellow for an Elf (Beren/Luthien joke not intended, but true). 
* The race of Elves were planned by Eru as the first to dwell in the world, and teach the second race (humans) the ways they discovered, much like the first part of a song setting the tune and chorus that is echoed later in a different key. Elves view their own history like the way a person ages, their first era being childhood innocence but also being inferior to benevolent teachers while fearing powerful evils that would do them harm. In the second era their history reaches adulthood, being the primary force which shepherds their dependents (humans, to a lesser extent Dwarves) while being the main defenders standing up to the darkness. By the third era, the one where mankind is starting to take responsibility for the world and looking to stand alongside their former protectors as equals, the Elves are in their elderly years and preparing to leave the world; this causes them to fall somewhere between benevolent gift-giving grandparent and irritable veteran/teacher/“GET OFF MY LAWN”. By the fourth age their race is mostly gone from the world, leaving humans as inheritors with Legolas hanging out with Aragorn until his death and then taking Gimli across the sea as well.