ELVES - PART 1

[this post was started a while back, hence the dated nature of items in the post]

With the recent unveiling of the trailer for The Hobbit, an article in the new Fight On! by Walt Jillson titled "Elves as Green Men" + this thread on the OD&D boards, I knew it was time to figure some elf out.

Though I've never seen the Rankin/Bass production of The Hobbit, I owned the 2 LP boxed set w/ booklet & enjoyed it as a young lad. I still have it & here's a picture of it:

The booklet follows along w/ the LPs & contains illustrations from the film. My first visual knowledge of elves was from this booklet: elves are grey, w/ green eyes; the more civilized elves (like Elrond), have green hair & look more human (what later in post would be regarded as "high elves"). Keep in mind, Rivendell is not located deep in a forest, but fairly close to other civilized lands (following image is from my copy of Tolkien's The Hobbit).

 Click to see Rivendell & Elrond over in the West + note Mirkwood

Elrond in Rivendell

 

"Wood elves", on the other hand, will be those elves found in Mirkwood. They have orange (or white) hair & have a more, well, Yoda-esque quality:

Jillson's article in Fight On! #13 is in regard to elves as Green Men & there is a sketch of the wood elf chieftain from Rankin/Bass (fused w/ a bit of Lord of the Flies?).

Jillson points out how the Rankin/Bass production of The Hobbit uses the "Green Man trope" for the elves of Mirkwood, whereas Tolkien himself never distinguished between elves in his books appearance-wise.

This is totally interesting.

So I decided to follow the trail of elves in D&D. 

First, I looked @ Chainmail, then Men & Magic (OD&D Book 1). There is nothing in either specific to elf "types", differences, or appearances; however, one will note that they are in the same class as Fairies.

Next I looked through Monsters & Treasure (OD&D Book 2) & came upon this:

"Elves: Elves are of two general sorts, those who make their homes in woodlands & those who seek the remote meadowlands."

After that the Greyhawk & Blackmoor supplements (OD&D Supplements I & II), respectively:

"Elves: Elves are five or more feet in height, slim of build, weigh about 120 pounds, have tan to fair skin, & are also of various types (wood, high elves, meadow elves)... wood elves being the darkest."

"...akin to mermen as land elves are to men."

Next up was the AD&D Players Handbook:

"There are many sorts of elves, & descriptions of the differing types are found in AD&D, MONSTER MANUAL. Elven player characters are always considered to be high elves, the most common sort of elf."

NOTE: THE MONSTER MANUAL WAS THE FIRST AD&D BOOK TO BE PUBLISHED IN DEC 1977, HENCE THE REFERENCE ---------------- THE RANKIN/BASS HOBBIT AIRED 2 MONTHS PREV OVER NBC FOR FIRST TIME NOV 1977]

MONSTER MANUAL [it would be interesting to see what a first edition MM has for this entry, but for now, the only edition I have, 4th printing]:

"Elves are slim of build & pale complected. Their hair is dark, & their eyes are green. Their garb is typically pastel & of blue or green or violet (but often covered by a greenish gray cloak)."

The MM then gets into more detail regarding diff. types:

"Aquatic Elf... humanoid in appearance, w/ gill slits on the throat & greenish-silver skin & green or blue-green hair."

"Drow... The drow are said to be as dark as faeries are bright & as evil as the latter are good."

"Grey Elf (Faerie): Grey elves have either silver hair & amber eyes or pale golden hair & violet eyes. The latter sort are generally called faeries. They favor white, yellow, silver, or gold garments. Their cloaks are often deep blue or purple. They live beyond the age of 1,500 years."

"Wood Elf: Their complexions are fair, their hair is yellow to coppery red & their eyes are light brown, light green, or hazel. They wear russets, reds, brown & tans. Their cloaks are usually green or greenish brown. Wood elves have a life span of centuries."

So high elves are grey elves?

Anyway, onto BASIC:

HOLMES [originally published in 1977, I have a later printing of this as well]:

Character section: "Elves -  are five or more feet in height, slim of build, weigh about 120 pounds & have fair to tan skin." Monster section: "Elves generally are of two sorts, wood elves & high elves... They are described in the character section."

Notice that up to this point there has been nothing about pointy ears. In D&D, we dont see that description drop until MOLDVAY:

"Elves are slender, graceful demi-humans w/ delicate features & slightly pointed ears. They are 5 to 5 1/2 feet tall & weigh about 120 pounds... prefer to spend their time feasting & frolicking in wooded glades. They rarely visit the cities of men."

Something to note about Moldvay as well is that this is the first rulebook to have the elf be a class in itself: one experience path, abilities of both a fighter & magic-user entwined.

One can assume that Moldvay's elves are high elves, much like it's stated in the AD&D Player's Handbook how all player character elves are high elves.

But why cant players be wood elves? And if they were, what exactly would be different about them?

[more to come]