The big problem with elves is when they are just taken on face value with the “they’re literally just better than you”, which happens surprisingly often. I started learning about elves from the old folklore stuff before I went into fantasy, the kind of folklore where everything supernatural is some kind of elf, including dwarves, goblins, trolls etc.
In order to heal the divide I propose we retvrn to calling everything that isn’t human some kind of elf, that will sap it of it’s sheen and make elves more tolerable.
how can you hate these guys?
Elfo!?
Elves rock actually, those dwarves on the other hand…
On a more serious note, I’ve been a fantasy nerd since I was a pre-teens and I always loved elves. Now there are so many different takes on them that it’s impossible to say something definite about all of them, but I like the wish fullfilment the Tolkien-esque elves represent. People living in harmony with nature rather than at the expense of it, free from worries of mortality or aging, and able to spend their lives creating beautiful things and focusing on arts and poetry. I definitely get how the video draws a connection to celebrities and ultra-rich people from that, but I like the kind of sadness it implies for a couple reasons. One is that this type of excistence will always be impossible for us (no matter how rich you get), so elves represent something unobtainable we want, and the other is that despite this, elves are still unable to free themselves from human vices like bigotry, jealousy and pride.
Also, to be a little more explicitly positive about elves, one thing outside the scope of this video is gender coding. While fantasy today is a pretty diverse genre, you don’t have to go that far back in time before it gets very male-dominated. Elves represent ideals that in our society are heavily connected to feminity. They’re elegant, graceful and beautiful, with strong ties to creative arts and spirituality, no matter their gender. In a genre where the common ideals used to be stoic, though warrior-kings and stuff, I think that’s cool as hell actually.
Isn’t it true to that Tolkien Elves never truly die? When they’re mortally wounded their soul returns to some place where they are among other fallen elves and can eventually be returned to the land of the Valar or some shit? There are some elves who envy the kind of nonexistence Humans are granted by death to my understanding.
I imagine it must be exhausting to some degree.
If he means eldar then I cosign. Especially the dark eldar
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
