Faerun elves, and most elves from FRPGs, are based on AD&D elves which have Tolkien as their ancestor.
I do not mean to be rude. I
truly do not. But did you take a moment to actually read what I posted before you replied?
People keep bringing Tolkien up, yet Tolkien has nothing to do with Faerun elves. Faerun elves are not tall and fair skinned necessarily. Moon elves are the variant with the lightest skin, ranging from pale to blueish/purpleish tints. Sun elves have golden and bronzed skin that can range from light, to very dark. Wood elves have coppery, tanned, bronzed or green skin, ranging from light, to very dark as well. Eladrin in 5E are more fairy-like, closer to nature spirit than elf.
And yes, there has been a lot of amazing official artwork, and a lot of in depth descriptions about the way they look like. Much of it, has been left out.
What does this have to do with Tolkien? Did Tolkien have blue or green elves? I think I missed that. If you wish to argue about this, and about how DND elves are 'Tolkien-like', then I recommend you to stop and open player handbooks. You might be very surprised.
EDIT: I am sorry if I come off as hostile. I truly do not mean it to seem that way. But the Tolkien argument is simply not going to fly, and people keep bringing it up. This is not Dungeons and Tolkien. Yes, Tolkien set the world base that inspired a lot of fantasy settings. Yes, Dungeons and Dragons took quite a lot of that. That much is true. But the moment they took something, they twisted it, they changed it, and they edited it; it is simply no longer the same. There are plenty of differences between Tolkien Elves and Faerun Elves explained, thoroughly,
IN DEPTH, in plenty of DND manuals. They do not look the same. They do not act the same. They are simply not the same.
