I think you mean Germanic as opposed to German?
Old Norse and Danish folklore were the only ones who almost exclusively depicted elves as being *more* beautiful than man.
Elves were rarely portrayed as being beautiful in German folklore until the 1700's. Which was when they became romanticized in literature, in both Germany and England. Even then elves were more often than not synonymous with fairies before and after the view of them had changed. Both were mostly portrayed as having the peak of beauty standards for people ( aka humans) at that time, just with pointed ears, wings and of various shapes and sizes. Instead having a beauty unobtainable by humans (thus a different beauty standard loosely based off the ones used for humans), including pointed ears. Which is more akin to Tolkien's interpretation of Elves, who are closer to Old Norse folklore. There are several Germanic countries where elves were portrayed as horrid, spreading disease and killing or stealing livestock in their folklore.
The point being that elves have gone through very many iterations in Germanic culture before Tolkien published any of his work. Tolkien's interpretation has certainly become a standard in the fantasy genre that is often referenced in design.
However, to act as if different interpretations of folklore pre-existing Tolkien's work aren't allowed to use the name elf (even though Tolkien had originally adopted the german words Elb and Elben until they didn't stick with his audience) is kind of childish. It's fine if you don't like Larian's design choices. Lashing out at someone (whether they were being an ass or not) and presenting your contradictory opinion as factual adds nothing to the conversation. There is nothing to be given or gained in this thread by acting like a brat.
Last edited by Alverdine; 17/09/17 02:12 PM.
