Dark elf: Encyclopedia - Dark elf

Dark elf

Dark elves are the (mostly) evil counterparts of the Light Elves in many mythologies and fantasy settings. They are often at war with other elves.

Dark elf - Dark elves in mythology and folklore

Dark elf - Norse/Germanic mythology

In Norse mythology, Svartálfar ("Swartelves" or "black elves"), sometimes considered synonymous with duergar ("dwarves"), are subterranean creatures who dwell in the world of Svartálfheim. They may be either good or evil.

The Dökkálfar ("Darkelves") are male ancestral spirits who may protect the people, although some can be menacing, especially when one is rude to them. They are generally light-avoiding, though not necessarily subterranean.

Snorri Sturluson, author of among other things the Younger Edda, distinguishes them from the ljósálfar ("Lightelves") of Álfheim, in most sources simply known as elves.

Dark elf - Celtic mythology

In the Celtic language, the Daoi-Sith are dark elves, while the Du-Sith are black elves. Both terms are obscure, and the latter seems to have been used as a proper name. There are no known surviving myths or stories associated with these creatures in Celtic mythology, so it is impossible to tell whether they were thought to be elf-like, troll-like, or something completely different, or if they were even similar to each other, if they were good, evil, or either, etc.

While the terms exist and were apparently used for something, it is currently impossible to tell exactly what. However, it seems very likely that they are related to the Trow and Drow of Scottish folklore, if not direct precursors.

Dark elf - British Isles folklore

In the Orkney Islands, the Trow or the black elves are similar to the Svartalfar or to Scandinavian trolls or dwarves, and inhabit mines and caves. They may be either good or evil, but the evil variety are more common.

The Drow or the dark elves are the Shetland Isle equivalent of the Trow, but unlike the trow, they are thought of as exclusively evil. They are tiny elves known for their mining and metal-working, not unlike dwarves. A useful way to envision them may be as evil, subterranean counterparts to tiny shoemaker elves.

In Irish mythology, a drow is a stone monster of the Fomori, similar to the Scandinavian troll.

Due at least partly to influence from the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, and perhaps also to the ever-growing tendency toward synthesis of folklores, it is not uncommon for both Trowes and Drowes, along with Black-elves and Dark-elves, to be pictured as otherwise beautiful but evil and corrupted versions of the Norse Lightelves that have come to replace the tiny fairy-like elves of British folklore as the dominant model. As the image associated with the word "elf" once again became one of tall, slender, human-like creatures of otherworldly beauty, so did the image associated with the Black-elves/Trow and the Dark-elves/Drow.

Dark elf - Dark elves in fiction

Dark elf - Middle-earth

In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, the Moriquendi—the Elves of Darkness—are, in essence, the Elves that did not join the Great Journey over the sea and behold the light of the Two Trees in Valinor. The term "Dark Elf" in Tolkien's writing seems to hold an additional special meaning, as it is given as a special title of Eöl of Nan Elmoth. Eöl wears dark black armor, carries a dark black sword, is dark hearted (a villain), and spends a lot of time with Dwarves, underground, in the dark. His title is therefore quite fitting.

Dark elf - Dungeons & Dragons

In the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse, especially in the worlds of Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms and Eberron, dark elves are called drow. They are dark-skinned and white-haired and are generally, but not exclusively, evil. Many other games and works of mainstream fantasy fiction derive their "dark elves" or "night elves" from the drow of Dungeons & Dragons.

The drow made their first appearance in the Dungeons & Dragons game in the module D1 Descent Into the Depths of the Earth (1978) by Gary Gygax (monochrome cover). The story continued in modules D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth , D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, D3 Vault of the Drow, and Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. The first monster encyclopedia that the drow appeared in was the Fiend Folio.

The Dark Elf Trilogy (1990–1991) is a series of books written by R. A. Salvatore, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, starring the heroic dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden. R. A. Salvatore is widely credited as the "creator of the drow."

In the Dragonlance setting, dark elves are not a distinct race; rather, "dark elves" are elves who have been cast out by the other elves for various crimes, such as worship of the evil deities. Dalamar, an ally of Raistlin Majere, is the most notable of Krynn's dark elves.

In the Mystara/"Known World" setting, night elves are a race of subterranean elves who have been mutated via magic.

Dark elf - Record of Lodoss War

Dark elves from the fictional world of Record of Lodoss War are brown-skinned and not necessarily evil, but primarily aligned with the forces of Marmo, the enemies of the story's heroes. These Dark Elves are capable of deep loyalty and love.

Dark elf - Shadowrun

As with most metahuman races in the Shadowrun world, many elves are born from the same ethnic groups that normal humans come from, meaning that there are African elves, Indian elves, and Arabic elves, for example. However, the closest thing to the "dark elf" in Shadowrun is the elf metahuman variant subgroup called the Night Ones, most of which come from Europe. The Night Ones have an aversion to sunlight and are different from other elves by possessing a fine fur coat that covers their bodies, indistinguishable from their skin at a distance and usually colored from black, violet, or dark blue. Popular media has dubbed them dark elves, and the group is sometimes stereotyped against as being members of a cult or an "evil" metahuman race. In the in-character comments of a sourcebook, a character derisively calls a group of Night One pirates, "the Muppets", because of their purple fur resembling the Muppet Grover.

Dark elf - Warhammer Fantasy

In the world of Warhammer Fantasy, the generally evil Dark Elves (Dark Eldar in the Warhammer 40,000 universe) do not dwell underground, nor are they dark-skinned. They call themselves the Druchii and live under the ruthless fist of the Witch-King Malekith and his sorcerous mother Morathi. The Druchii live in Naggaroth, the geographic equivalent of North America in the Warhammer World, and are cruel raiders with much hatred for all other races; especially their lighter kindred, the High Elves. The Dark Elves were actually the ones responsible for sparking "The War of the Beard", the great war that divided the formerly-friendly Dwarf and High Elves, though only the High Elves know this and the Dwarfs would disbelieve it if they found out. It is implied in the army book that Malekith and Morathi have an incestuous relationship.

Dark elf - WarCraft

In the WarCraft series of computer games, night elves are a predominantly good ancient race of elves with glowing eyes and varying skin colors from pale blues to pale pinks to white. They have glowing eyes, as well as extensive lore. They are remarkable for being influenced by historical pre-Christian Celtic, Norse and Hellenic Artemisian culture in design, featuring antlers and so forth, with significantly few Dungeons & Dragons trappings. They live within matriarchal society. When not dressed for war, Night Elves dress elegantly in Japanese-influenced robes in beautiful, elaborate nature-focused yet permanently nocturnal cities.

Dark elf - The Elder Scrolls

In The Elder Scrolls series of computer role-playing games, Dark Elves (also called Dunmer) lived peacefully with other races. They were the predominant race in Morrowind, their native province, and held many of the highest positions of authority. In addition, much of the mythology surrounding Morrowind revolved around them. They are generally conservative by nature, being very devoted to their pantheon of gods, and are distrustful of "outlanders". Dunmer culture is split between the settled people of the cities and the nomadic Ashlander tribes. Dark can easily be applied to them as "gloomy" or "morbid", for such is their temperament. Dunmer are said to have been punished with their red eyes and dark-bluish skin colour by Azura, one of the most prominent Daedra, either for disobeying her in one of the most crucial moments of their history or for turning to worship the Tribunal, although many Imperial scholars prefer the theory that the bluish-grey skin is an evolutionary response to the frequent volcanic eruptions on Vvardenfell.

Dark elf - Final Fantasy IV

In the RPG Final Fantasy IV, the Dark Elf holds the Crystal of Earth, which he stole from the peaceful kingdom of Toroia. The player is tasked with retrieving said crystal, a task complicated by the Dark Elf's ability to manipulate magnetic fields—metallic equipment does not work in the cave in which he lives.

Dark elf - Age of Wonders

In the Age of Wonders series of computer strategy games, the story begins with the arrival of humans to the Valley of Wonders and the slaying of the elven leader. This causes the elven race to split into two parts: the light elves (keepers of the light) and the dark elf (the cult of storms). The light elves wish to keep peace with the humans, while the dark elves want to take revenge and destroy all traces of mankind. The player has to choose in the campaign to be one of the two factions.

Dark elf - Lineage

In this Korean MMORPG, dark elves are introduced in the later expansion packs. In its sequel, Lineage II, the user can choose from several type of races: human, light elf, dark elf, orc, and dwarf.

Dark elf - Sacred

Sacred is a classic Hack and Slash RPG by the German company, Ascaron. The "races" in this game are: Seraphim, Gladiator, Wood Elf, Dark Elf, Battlemage, Vampiress, Daemon, and Dwarf. (The last two only appear in the expansion pack, Sacred Underworld.)

Dark elf - Mega Man Zero

The Dark Elf was created as the ultimate weapon during the era of Cyber Elf development, towards the end of the Maverick Wars. According to legend, the original X used the power of this Elf to finally destroy Sigma for good, thus ending the years of constant fighting. Following the construction of Neo Arcadia, the Elf was stolen from a laboratory, and used by the evil Dr. Weil to instigate the Elf Wars. X and Zero together stopped Weil and his reploid Omega, and after Zero went in to suspended animation for 100 years, X sealed the Elf away for good using his own body as the seal.

Dark elf - Arcanum

Dark Elves in Arcanum are Elves who believe in the old Elven beliefs, that Elves are superior to all other races. They have also chosen to actively attack humans for their use of technology which interferes with their magic and their destruction of the Elven forests. If the player in the game chooses to turn evil he spends some time working for the Dark Elves. Unlike in most modern fantasy fiction the Dark Elves do not appear physically different from the Light Elves.

Dark elf - Midkemia

Midkemian dark elves - called moredhel - resemble the rest of the elves (eledhel) but have dark hair. They're quite warlike. They mostly inhabit the Northlands of Triagia, and are usually only seen in the more populated parts of the world robbing and raiding. Some of the moredhel return to reside with the eledhel, with whom they are very closely related.

They play a significant role in the novel A Darkness at Sethanon (Riftwar series) and the computer game Betrayal at Krondor.

Dark elf - Famous Dark Elves in fiction

Dark elf - Malus Darkblade

Malus Darkblade is a Dark Elf Noble of evil renown in the Warhammer Fantasy world - he is possessed by a Daemon called Tz’arkan. His quest to rid himself of this Daemon is legendary. At one point he succeeded although it cost him his own soul. It took many years after that to track down the Daemon again and win his soul back, only to have Tz’arkan imprisoned inside him again.

For now it seems Malus has accepted his fate and has returned to his home of Hag Graef to lead its armies to war. None know what his true intentions are, but he has lost none of his thirst for power.

In battle he rides upon his trusted Cold One Spite and wields the fearsome Warpsword of Khaine. In times of need he can summon the Daemon and allow Tz’arkan to control his actions. This is great risk though as he can attack his own troops as well as enemies.

Dark elf - Drizzt Do'Urden

Drizzt Do'Urden is a Drow in the Forgotten Realms fantasty world. Drow are dark elves that live in subterranean caverns deep beneath the surface in the Underdark of Forgotten Realms. Not only does Drizzt refuse to reside in the Underdark, he has renounced the Drow's Spider-Queen Lloth, ruined his family and half-destroyed Menzoberranzan, the city of the Drow, and is thus considered a renegade.

Categories: Elves | Fictional species | Scottish folklore

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Dark elf", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki