High Elves

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In many fantasy settings, Elves come in a large number of varieties (a tendency often lampooned as "an elf for every occasion"). One of the more common varieties are High Elves, which are usually the setting's "default" elven race.

Lord of the Rings

The central elves of the series are known as the High Elves and also the Eldar, hence where Games Workshop got their own names for their own elves in fantasy and elves in space respectively. They are responsible for impacting on the personification of High Elves in many fantasy settings afterwards. They are long-lived if not immortal, unearthly beautiful and a wicked shot with a bow and a deadly strike with a sword. They are also quite detached usually from events happening in the wider world and kept mostly to themselves.

A little known fact is that the orcs in the setting are twisted elves bred by the power of the Dark Lord Melkor. Though that was later declared to be non-canon.

Warhammer Fantasy

See High Elves (Warhammer) for further details.

These elves took the idea of a dying race from Tolkien and took it a step further, adding the grimdark of the setting to concept. Now the Warhammer High Elves have no safe place to retreat to, their birth rate is declining and their people dying and their culture is under constant threat of destruction. So yes pretty grimdark indeed. Unlike Tolkien's elves, they're not at all passive about it and will go down fighting all the way.