D&D Movie/TV New D&D movie details? Vecna?!

[Urriak Uruk]

To my knowledge, the dark elves of Scandnavian mythology weren't evel dark-skined. That's a Gygax thing as far as I know.

I wasn't trying to actually make a point here, I was just legit curious as I know little on dark elf mythology. As I assume the casual blockbuster audience will.

Unrelated, I really don't know why this is being debated. Obviously if drow are put in as villains, and are given a foreign accent, the casual blockbuster audience is going to connect it to blackface.

Even if you think that criticism is misplaced, it's probably a lot better for the health of a budding film franchise to sidestep a potential controversy like that? I mean seriously, if I was a film exec, putting an evil dark-skinned race in my new film property is a ticking time bomb that I'd be a complete fool to approve.

 

[Parmandur]

To my knowledge, the dark elves of Scandnavian mythology weren't evel dark-skined. That's a Gygax thing as far as I know.

A result of doing a photo negative take of a normal Elf, it seems.

 

[Azzy]

I wasn't trying to actually make a point here, I was just legit curious as I know little on dark elf mythology. As I assume the casual blockbuster audience will.

I just added that to further drive home the fact that even those that have a casual understanding of Scandinavian mythology would not necessarily draw a connection of between drow and dokkalfar. So that the presumption that the casual movie goer would make that connection is silly at best.

 

[Tonguez]

To my knowledge, the dark elves of Scandnavian mythology weren't evel dark-skined. That's a Gygax thing as far as I know.

Theres some debate on that though.The Prose Edda refers to Svartálfar (Black Elfs) which as noted above might just be another term for Dwarf.
The Prose Edda also has a line where the Dökkálfar (Dark Elfs) are described as "blacker than pitch" however Jacob Grimm dismisses Snorri’s interpretation and instead suggests that the ’black’ is more metaphoric and that dark elfs were dingy and pale (and opposed to the Light elfs).

 

[Bohandas]

But the Dragonborn were called Dragonborn in D&D in 2006 for Races of the Dragon, and in 2008 in the 4E PHB. D&D Dragonborn deeply predate Skyrim.

Its attested as a title of Tiber Septim going back at least to Morrowind, which came out in 2002, four years before Races of the Dragon

See the "Talos Cult" and "Tiber Septim" entries in the elderscrolls.fandom.com archive of Morrowind generic dialogue

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Dragonkin and half-dragons were canon in AD&D 2nd Ed, in the age of 32 bits.

 

[Bohandas]

Dragonkin and half-dragons were canon in AD&D 2nd Ed, in the age of 32 bits.

That's completely beyond the scope of tgis conversation. We are talking about which franchise used the term "dragonborn" first

 

[Son of the Serpent]

IIRC The dark elves in germanic mythology are largely a footnote and not meaningfully distinct from the dwarves in any case

Agreed. In either case they are too any intelligent person fairly obviously not black people anyway. The norse didnt exactly have much contact with africans that they would base a mythological race on them anyway.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Dragonborn appeared in "Draces of Dragons" in 2006. And I dare to say the idea of the dragonborn is linked to the dargonkins, a previous monster, as source of inspiration. I mean the dragonborn are a version of the dragonkins to be used as PC race by the players.

And in elder scrolls games it appeared in 2011, didn't it?

 

[Tonguez]

Agreed. In either case they are too any intelligent person fairly obviously not black people anyway. The norse didnt exactly have much contact with africans that they would base a mythological race on them anyway.

Harald Sigurdsson, King of Norway from 1046 - 1066 spent time in Constantinople (from around 1034) where he served as a Commander of the Varangian Guard and particpated in raids across the Mediterannean, including against North Africa. One legend is that in africa he seized 80 castles and killed the ‘King of Africa’ in single combat.
The point being that the Norse were quite aware of Africa and had encountered Africans

As to drow, I like the scene in American Gods where Czernobog is talking about his brother Belobog, he makes the point that although there are no Black people in his homeland still he is called the black god and considered accursed, cruel and associated with the devil whereas his brother is considered fair and good. Thats the original metaphoric association of Black, not its contemporary association with high melanin levels