Elvish culture?

[The Chamberlain]

Since I'll be playing a character so knowledgeable about elvish culture, I was wondering if the mods have decided anything on the following subjects:

- Which gods do the elves worship? The Gaelic ones or just nature in general? In the extra material on my DVD (special ed, of course), Del Toro said that the elves with covered faces and horn hats were priests.

- Do all elves have yellow eyes, no eyebrows, gold tipped hair and cracks in their faces? All the elves in the council chamber had the look, but that might just be the Bethmoora clan?

- Are elves very prude? Like is it considered as scandalous to have children out of wedlock and so on?

Just want to make sure I don't go and set my character up with the wrong facts!

[Abe Sapien]

I thought we might blend a bit of the movies and comics to allow a wider range.

As for worshiping gods, it would depend on the Clan. We don't really know what the Bethmoora elves worship if anything at all, but they were depicted in the novel book as being a warrior clan, the best of the best. All other Clans looked to them.

Appearances, the comic and movie elves range, so it's only natural there are different looks for different Clans. The Bethmoora elves are bone white with silver hair and goldish eyes. The cracks in their faces are actually a sign of nobility they are born with, usually only royal males are born with it, but since Nuala and Nuada are connected, she got the echo of it, hence the finer details.

It is very scandalous to have children out of wedlock and extra scandalous to have mixed children. Movie movie elves are based more in German lore but their ruling caste seems more Celtic. And I'm going to briefly touch upon a touchy subject of incest. If you don't want to read, then skip this paragraph. Guillermo DelToro said it in person either in the commentary or in a interview and Luke Goss and Anna Walton also confirmed that the character Nuada played his heart very close to his sister, taking it past a sibling relationship. It was very subtly played out in the movie. And in the old world and Celtic lore, it was acceptable for related members to produce an heir to keep bloodllnes pure. It was still taboo then, I could be wrong, and could have been one of the reasons Nuada also self exiled himself. King Balor was having none of that.

Nuala should by all account marry a King of another Clan to both unite them and produce a royal heir. There is still a lot of tradition steeped in these elves. But she didn't, she in fact remains unwed and now has kids not only with someone who is not an elf but is also nothing more than a commoner. Very scandalous and there is probably some outrage with it, but Nuala has also been a great Queen, kind and sincere and has been rebuilding her kingdom. So you have people on the fence and others side with and against her. Which is also why Nuada keeps his son on the down low for this very reason but both twins have the ability to be progressive. To step out of tradition and move forward for their own reasons. It's 2030, not 1282.

I can only speak for Nuada, but I see him using tradition to get what he wants. He will do whatever he needs to do, whatever sacrifice there needs to be made in order to further his goal. Tradition is what made his clan wither away and let Man step all over them. He's not going to let that happen again.

[The Chamberlain]

Ok, thanks for the reply! I was going to ask about the incest thing as well; if the elves had a Targaryen approach to it or if was a huge no no.

Was it known at the court, that Nuada had not so brotherly emotions for his sister? I can imagine that as being another reason for the Chamberlain not liking him much. If/when they meet again, he'd probably subtly inquire if he's gonna get married to some nice girl from another clan and start producing some heirs.

[Abe Sapien]

King Balor struck me as a person against it (Nuada's line of their father guarding her heart from him, lends to that), but then again we never see his wife or the twins' mother. Who knows who she was. I would say, it wasn't talked about in public, like it was more hush hush between the family but since the Chamberlain has been a huge part of their lives, he would be privy to it. Maybe he even saw a few things that made him alert the King.

Haha, subtly inquire away!

[Frankie Guidicini]

I just want to butt in and say I have nothing to add, since Abe has encompassed everything with his fabulousness.

*Cartwheels away*