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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8333186" data-attributes="member: 82106">Right, again one of those Gygax &quot;I never thought of that&quot; kinds of things, I suspect. That is, he certainly was at least partly inspired by the 'trow' or 'drow' of Norse/Anglo Saxon myth, a black-skinned underground race of 'alfs' or 'dwarves', maybe also identical with 'svart alfar' (and maybe not). Later some artists and authors seem to have extrapolated this more in the direction of a negroid kind of look (I know one module has an illustration of a kinky haired drow woman, for example). I always figured the drow did take some inspiration from Moorcock, yes. They have the same sort of overly hedonistic, morally 'depraved' society, and a similar relationship with other races. I suspect the matriarchal part was either incorporated to fit with Lolth (who may have been invented first, who knows), and/or perhaps as simply an attempt to make them more different, culturally and socially, than 'normal people'. Of course, it certainly doesn't come across too well in terms of depicting a matriarchal social order in a good light! Drow Tales has a slightly different spin on all of this, though it is still an underground matriarchal society of basically evil dark-skinned 'elves'.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 8333186, member: 82106"] Right, again one of those Gygax "I never thought of that" kinds of things, I suspect. That is, he certainly was at least partly inspired by the 'trow' or 'drow' of Norse/Anglo Saxon myth, a black-skinned underground race of 'alfs' or 'dwarves', maybe also identical with 'svart alfar' (and maybe not). Later some artists and authors seem to have extrapolated this more in the direction of a negroid kind of look (I know one module has an illustration of a kinky haired drow woman, for example). I always figured the drow did take some inspiration from Moorcock, yes. They have the same sort of overly hedonistic, morally 'depraved' society, and a similar relationship with other races. I suspect the matriarchal part was either incorporated to fit with Lolth (who may have been invented first, who knows), and/or perhaps as simply an attempt to make them more different, culturally and socially, than 'normal people'. Of course, it certainly doesn't come across too well in terms of depicting a matriarchal social order in a good light! Drow Tales has a slightly different spin on all of this, though it is still an underground matriarchal society of basically evil dark-skinned 'elves'. [/QUOTE]

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