Elves (Discworld)

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, elves are of a race that lived before the Iron Age, and were banished by steel weapons.

Elves on the Discworld are based on the nastier kind of fairy-folk in European (and other) folklores than elves as portrayed in most modern (post-Tolkien) fantasy fiction. They are native to the Disc, but now live in a parallel world, sometimes called Fairyland. During certain times of the year, such as Mid-Summer, the walls between Fairyland and ordinary reality become thin, allowing the elves (and other fae creatures such as unicorns, Jenny Greenteeth and, before they were cast out, the Nac Mac Feegle) to break through.

Elven invasions of the Discworld are recorded in Lords and Ladies,The Wee Free Men and The Shepherd's Crown. The Science of Discworld II: The Globe involves an attempted invasion of Roundworld (a version of our world). In Moving Pictures it is mentioned that a few elves have moved to Holy Wood. THese are not the wild elves, but the offspring of elves and humans, seen below.

Though elves lack the ability to procreate within their own species, they are capable of breeding with humans, resulting in offspring with superficially elvish characteristics - skinny, pointy ears, a tendency to giggle and burn easily in the sun - but fundamentally human traits i.e. empathy. As mentioned above, creatures from the elves' universe often go hunting when they manage to enter a 'real' universe, one of the things they hunt being people. Elves have no proper imagination or real emotions, and therefore such things fascinate them. Because they cannot create they steal musicians and artists. Because they cannot have children they steal children from the Disc to be their toys. Because they cannot feel empathy they enjoy the suffering of others. In Lords and Ladies, Pratchett states that elves would smash the world if they thought it would make a pretty sound. Pratchett also compares the elves to cats, both being extremely stylish and excessively cruel.

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