Editing Elf (section)

=== Fantasy fiction ===

{{Main|Elves in fiction}}

[[File:Poor little birdie teased by Richard Doyle.jpg|thumb|19th century illustration of an elf teasing a bird by [[Richard Doyle (illustrator)|Richard Doyle]] ]]

[[File:Elf markwoman by Kitty.png|thumb|Illustration of a female elf in the high fantasy style. Kitty Polikeit, 2011]]

The [[fantasy]] genre in the twentieth century grew out of nineteenth-century Romanticism, in which nineteenth-century scholars such as [[Andrew Lang]] and the Grimm brothers collected fairy stories from folklore and in some cases retold them freely.{{sfnp|Bergman|2011}}

A pioneering work of the fantasy genre was ''[[The King of Elfland's Daughter]]'', a 1924 novel by [[Lord Dunsany]]. The [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves of Middle-earth]] played a central role in [[Tolkien's legendarium]], notably ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''; this legendarium was enormously influential on subsequent fantasy writing. Tolkien's writing had such influence that in the 1960s and afterwards, elves speaking an elvish language similar to those in Tolkien's novels became staple non-human characters in [[high fantasy]] works and in fantasy [[role-playing game]]s. Post-Tolkien fantasy elves (which feature not only in novels but also in role-playing games such as ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'') are often portrayed as being wiser and more beautiful than humans, with sharper senses and perceptions as well. They are said to be gifted in [[magic in fiction|magic]], mentally sharp and lovers of nature, art, and song. They are often skilled archers. A hallmark of many fantasy elves is their pointed ears.{{sfnp|Bergman|2011}}

In works where elves are the main characters, such as ''The Silmarillion'' or Wendy and Richard Pini's comic book series ''[[Elfquest]]'', elves exhibit a similar range of behaviour to a human cast, distinguished largely by their superhuman physical powers. However, where narratives are more human-centered, as in ''The Lord of the Rings'', elves tend to sustain their role as powerful, sometimes threatening, outsiders.{{sfnp|Bergman|2011}} Despite the obvious fictionality of fantasy novels and games, scholars have found that elves in these works continue to have a subtle role in shaping the real-life identities of their audiences. For example, elves can function to encode real-world racial others in [[video game]]s,<ref name="Poor"/><ref name=cooper/> or to influence gender norms through literature.{{sfnp|Bergman|2011|pp=215-29}}