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Elliott's peoples

From:Sally Caves <scaves@...>
Date:Saturday, March 22, 2003, 4:01
Hello, Elliott!  I too, like Rob Haden, am interested in your various
languages and dialects.  You answered my survey publically, so I hope you
won't mind this public question.  You were one of the few to name Tolkien as
a direct source of inspiration for you, so I hope you can clarify your reply
a little bit.   I asked: "How many of you have a constructed world, and, if
so, does it include some of the races we associate with Celtic or
Scandinavian mythology?  (Elves, Dwarves, medieval societies of humans,
Faeries or Fays, Selkies? Wizards?)"  You answered:

> Hm, well...I have the Neste who speak most of my > languages...and they were originally kind of > 'Elf-like'...but I dont know if that's the case > anymore. They've changed alot in the past year or so. > There's also the occasional dragon. :)
On your website, you call your languages "Elvish." What exactly do you, or anybody, mean by "Elvish"? This word is so Tolkienesque in its connotations--a beautiful, mysterious, and immortal people destined for the Undying Lands, who are one of a number of races Tolkien drew from Old Norse and Celtic. He even modified the spelling (i.e., not "dwarfish," not "elfish," which connote diminution and frivolity). So what exactly do you mean by "Elvish"? Are your people immortal? Are they different from humans in some way? Are there different races in your world? Who are the Neste? What do they look like? Why the word "Elvish"? Tolkien's influence on conworlds is something I'm trying to figure out. Sally Caves scaves@frontiernet.net Eskkoat ol ai sendran, rohsan nuehra celyil takrem bomai nakuo. "My shadow follows me, putting strange, new roses into the world."

Replies

John Cowan <cowan@...>
Elliott Lash <erelion12@...>