An Elf By Any Other Name . . .

[MarkB]

it's probably a bit of Call A Rabbit a "Smeerp" with writers wanting to differentiate their elves from others, plus some instances of wanting to differentiate individual subraces within their fiction.

In Elder Scrolls, for instance, the "-mer" races include not just multiple varieties of Elf, but also Orcs (Orsimer) and Dwarves (Dwemer).

 

[Marc_C]

Mostly for the Trademarks.

This. Elves are no longer called elves in Warhammer Fantasy Battle. They are named Sylvaneth. For IP reasons.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Simple reason. Look at me I'm so original!!

Especially those silly Norse poseurs with their "alfar."

I mean really, who do they think they're fooling?

 

[Mallus]

My favorite off-brand elves are from Mike Moorcock: Melnibonéans, the Vadhagh folk, the Eldren (technically I think they're all the same species).

Also, why so many sea gods (Neptune, Poseidon, Triton, etc., etc. etc.)? Pick one and be done with it, I say!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'd also add the Light and Dark Elves of The Spire and the various elves of Elfquest to the list of distinct elvish tropes.

As for why so many elvish varietals, I think it goes back to Tolkien. Having just read the Nature of Middle-Earth, it's clear that elves were for him, a huge key to his design and understanding of Middle-Earth. While the elves are just one part of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, when you read the Silmarillion, an enormous amount of the foundational worldbuilding is experienced through elvish eyes.

Elves are frequently the most magical of the various fantasy races, and when designing a magical world, that ties them all the more strongly to it. If you want to present your fantasy world as different, one way to convey that is with different elves.

 

[Tonguez]

Especially those silly Norse poseurs with their "alfar."

I mean really, who do they think they're fooling?

Yeah I can see why the Norse were always coming down hard on the Anglosaxons - did that Northumbrian lot really think ælf was going to cut it? and as for Ylfe, come on Wessex thou can doest better!

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

You think Vulcans should have been called Elves?

Not exactly. I was just pointing out them as an example of "basically elves" that are not called elves.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Also, why so many sea gods (Neptune, Poseidon, Triton, etc., etc. etc.)

Neptune and Poseidon are the same god, just the Roman and Greek versions of him respectively. Triton is their son. However, there are quite a few redundant Greco-Roman water gods/titans, like Oceanus, Pontus, Phorcys, and all of the river gods, and so on.

 

[Ryujin]

Not exactly. I was just pointing out them as an example of "basically elves" that are not called elves.

Not exactly the flighty and chaotic elves of fiction. It's like all of the "Grim Quester" Elves got on a Spelljammer and headed for the stars.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

You think Vulcans should have been called Elves?

Would that make the Romulans the Dark Elves?