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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7596733" data-attributes="member: 82106">While I think [MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION] has a decent answer, I think that 4e's elves and eladrin aren't PRECISELY like anything that came before.Eladrin are more like 'Fey creatures', the 'shee' of Celtic myth in essence. They live in an otherworld, the Feywild, and often readily travel back and forth, entering the mortal world through 'Fey crossings' and such. They are inherently magical, being more loosely tied to time and space than mere mortals. Powerful Eladrin enter into the ranks of, and become indistinguishable from, the 'arch fey', a category of creatures somewhat analogous to things like demons and such. Elves, I would say, more represent something that doesn't really exist in European folklore, and is much more closely aligned with Tolkien's depiction of 'Avari' or something like that. A race which has withdrawn from its more magical roots and become essentially mundane creatures, though still with some distant connections to their ancient fey origins.There simply aren't exact parallels with AD&amp;D elf types, all of which are more like 4e elves than eladrin, though if one were to try to equate, then Gygax's 'grey elves' might be most like the 4e Eladrin, though they still lack the otherworldly origins and connection. I would say there is still a good bit of Tolkien in 4e's Elves &amp; Eladrin, but the eladrin at least are also a good bit more like European elves were sometimes depicted. You could also spin Eladrin a bit and depict them much like the 'Eldar' of Moorcock's Eternal Champion and related cycles.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 7596733, member: 82106"] While I think [MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION] has a decent answer, I think that 4e's elves and eladrin aren't PRECISELY like anything that came before. Eladrin are more like 'Fey creatures', the 'shee' of Celtic myth in essence. They live in an otherworld, the Feywild, and often readily travel back and forth, entering the mortal world through 'Fey crossings' and such. They are inherently magical, being more loosely tied to time and space than mere mortals. Powerful Eladrin enter into the ranks of, and become indistinguishable from, the 'arch fey', a category of creatures somewhat analogous to things like demons and such. Elves, I would say, more represent something that doesn't really exist in European folklore, and is much more closely aligned with Tolkien's depiction of 'Avari' or something like that. A race which has withdrawn from its more magical roots and become essentially mundane creatures, though still with some distant connections to their ancient fey origins. There simply aren't exact parallels with AD&D elf types, all of which are more like 4e elves than eladrin, though if one were to try to equate, then Gygax's 'grey elves' might be most like the 4e Eladrin, though they still lack the otherworldly origins and connection. I would say there is still a good bit of Tolkien in 4e's Elves & Eladrin, but the eladrin at least are also a good bit more like European elves were sometimes depicted. You could also spin Eladrin a bit and depict them much like the 'Eldar' of Moorcock's Eternal Champion and related cycles. [/QUOTE]

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