Elves

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_bigfoot.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 14:00:39 +1200


Chris Lemens:

> >>Greg said that [Elves] worship using spiritual practices.

>Me>Except for the few that use theistic practices]
> >(wild guess: Ernalda, Babeester, Yelorna)...

>He said nothing about theistic practices. Greg said, "Most trees are just
>trees. In an elf forest many more trees are alive, with their own spirits.
>Others are alive with their own gods. The elf religions allows them to
>participate in spiritual practice with both types without any penalty."

IMO he was using "spiritual" as a synonym for "religious" rather than "animist". If an elf wants to worship a theistic tree then it has to use theistic practices.

>Also, why do you think they worship Ernalda and Yelorna?

Because of past sources saying that they do and a TR connection between Ernalda and the Elves (Overdruva TR p191, Aldrya's forest being accessible from Ernalda's realm. As for Yelorna, elves do worship her in the Pavis Temple and she is listed as an associate cult in Elder Secrets.

> >I think Aldrya lives in this world and that the Aldryami otherworld
> >is the world of the Taker. Things that live here appear dead there
> >and vice versa.

>Yes, except that their positions switch partway through the year. The
>spirits of the dryads, brown elves, runners, and pixies follow hers to
>the Underworld. The green and yellow defend their lifeless Forests.

The cycle is a bit more complicated than that.

Green Elves sleep throughout the year (some sleep during the day while the others sleep during the night). In the winter, they experience the Taker's World in their sleep although their stays are short compared to the Browns.

Brown Elves do not sleep during the summer but sleep all through the winter.

The Yellow Elves have no myth of defending lifeless forests during the Winter (AR merely states that when Winter came, they turned into the first Brown Elves and slept). I suppose they still sleep regularly although the sources are moot, although the sources are mute on this topic.

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