For those of you that are into fantasy fiction, do you have elves, dwarves, goblins or other creatures in your stories? Have you invented your own or do you follow the likes of Tolkien's elves and other creatures. Or even Norse / Germanic or Northern European Mythology from which Tolkien himself drew inspiration. Have you invented completly different creatures altogether? At first I felt that basing my elves upon Tolkiens type of elves would be frowned upon, but my story has developed and they have taken a life of their own. They dont play a large part in the whole story in any case. I have found that using Tolkiens as a starting point has let my imagination flow. The result is that I have invented many creatures of my own, although I dont think I will ever dump these elves as I like them. I dont really feel anything for the short christmas type elves from fairy tales but if that is your preference, please give it a mention. So to recap Do you use elves, dwarves, goblins etc in your stories Are they similar to other creatures by other authours such as Tolkien Have you invented your creatures and or lore I really look forward to any input from you all.
I have a blend of borrowed and made up mythical creatures, but the ones which tend to get the most air-time are the ones I have created. There might be groups of elves or dwarves sitting in bars, but generally they are extras. So far.
I've got fae, not really any elves as of yet. In one story the main focus is Irish sidhe and somewhat how they've been effected by British and European fae. If/when I continue that, I would use the term elves for German fae. I do some inventing. Well, I mean revisualizing some of the classics. Nothing totally made up yet.
I have Tolkienesque elves in my world of multiple diverse types. But so far, they play the part of an aloof, distant and mysterious race. You don't generally see elves wandering around outside their homelands and going on adventures. Yes, I'll admit I had an half-elf in one of my stories, although his role was mainly to act as an interpreter. I mainly wrote about the ancestors of the elves in my world. When I played (A)D&D, I had a standard. Elves had Welsh names, dwarves had Scottish names, gnomes had Irish names, humans and halflings had English names. So the party used to consist of Llewellyn, Angus, Seamus and Robert.
None. I have invented my own. I like Tolkein's ideas although all those things existed in Mythology before he wrote about them. But I just felt a change was needed and I prefer Fantasy with new things to explore. I have to avoid temptation sometimes.
The setting for my book is inspired by the D&D Forgotten Realms: geography, races, classes, etc. At first I was going invent new names to be different, but a goblin by any other name is still a goblin, so I kept the classic names. Where the races separate from their FR, and other RPG counter parts, is how they developed within the setting. I wanted the non-human races to develop with the ethnic, and cultural diversity of humans. For example, the featured goblins in my series is the Rir. They are inspired by Viking raiders. There are others that are mentioned: the Cra, goblins inspired by the Picts who lived in Athar, but who have been hunted into near extinction, and the Oni, goblins based on Japanese Samurai who have a very developed civilization in the far east. The elves and dwarves have received the same treatment. The elves are the most diverse group because of a major split among the elves before the disaster that almost destroyed the world of Triskele, and two more splits since that disaster. My goal is to give the high fantasy readers who are familiar with goblins, dwarves, and elves those goblins, dwarves, and elves. But, like the characters in the books, to allow them to develop and grow within the setting and story to become something unique to the book. Godspeed!
That sounds great Stormburn, once we start writing about our own creatures and their adventures they take on a life of their own. Going back to Tolkien, it is amazing how quickly he could introduce a character / creature, then describe it, kill it, make it a hero or just leave it till further in his writings. This is a great lesson to world builders not to dwell on too much detail and just tell the story. It is also a lesson to writers that readers are capable of absorbing huge amounts of story, seemingly infinitely so. As long as it is written well and interesting. My elves and goblins tend to keep to themselves. Although one or too have found the company of humans more preferable. They dont play a big part, the majority of such creatures give depth and richness to the broader story. The few elves and goblins that mix amongst humans, give the reader the jist of what these creatures are about. I dont see any need to ramming it all down the readers throat as in my experience most readers will tolerate such creatures to a point. I have written back stories for the elves and goblins and if the reader fancies a dabble they can choose to read them. I think of it this way, these background characters and storylines are but a sign post for readers.
