Young Writers Society

...about elves. (I'm hoping this is the right place for this.) In long ages past, a friend and I wrote a Lord of the Rings story over 3 years. It was a huge learning experience, and it was where we both learned our individual styles and quirks as writers. It's a pretty ridiculous story in places, but I dearly love the characters we created for it, and they have never gone away. I want to build them their own world, but I'm stuck on some points.

The only similarity with Elves I want to keep is their immortality and physical prowess. They aren't any prettier, smarter, or moral than "human" types. They do have a resistance to harmful radiations that would kill or severely damage others, which is part of the role they play in the wider society (ie: weaponsmiths, energy provisions). I know that they used to co-exist with the wider society until something happened to disrupt life on a global scale and they retreated into tight-knit secluded communities. They also have maybe 100 children a year for the entire race, so they don't have much population growth.

The problem I'm running into is an origins problem. I started with the notion that they're actually the descendants of a soldier class created by "humans" specifically to fight wars, but I don't like that much now. I've toyed with them growing out of a percentage of the "human" population that was affected by an unknown agent that changed them to be this way. And I've thought of having them just be a natural part of that world. I feel like if I could get a name on them it would help. Obviously I don't want "humans" to be called human and "elves" to be called anything sounding like Elves, Fae, or Elders. Does anyone have any questions about this premise? If I get asked questions, it brings up things I haven't thought about which leads to me figuring out what my muses are doing.

I can understand not wanting to call your elves "elves" since people have a preconceived notion of what elves are like, but why not call humans "humans"? There's no point in just renaming something that's essentially identical just for the sake of being different. Now, the need for different namesfor humans would be justified if you had several nations/regions where the people living there called themselves something and everyone else something else, but that would be just to identify between different societal groups rather than renaming a species that doesn't need to be renamed.

Sorry for the mini rant. Personal pet peeve.

Anyway, when looking for a name, keep in mind that names decribe that which they name. Depending on the origins of the elves or their role in society, their name will most likely be based off it, or some physiologically defining trait. Names also change over time, so you can give your elves various names/ways they are referred to. "Immortal folk" is one possible name-meaning, with "hidden folk" for after they've retreated into their secluded communities. Also ask yourself what your elves refer to themselves as, and what they consider their most defining traits/aspects/beliefs.

Once you've got a meaning down, create words in the native language(s) that mean the same thing, and voila! There you have an original name(s) for your elves.

That's my exact problem. Their origins are eluding me! Originally, I was going with that they were human, but changed somehow and now they don't consider themselves human. Their culture is starting to get less murky, like for what possible reason would a society of immortals with low birth rate have for being strictly monogamous or pairing off for "life"? That makes no sense, as there's no religious imperative to do so. I know they divide themselves into "Lines"; not everyone in a Line is strictly related, but they assume they descended from a common pair, eons past. Different Lines are known for different aptitudes, have different appearances, different locations etc.

Just keep thinking about the origins. One of my tricks is figuring out how the story has to be for plot, then working backwards. It can be a serious pain when there's a huge hole in logic as to how a society has to be, but that's how you grow your logic. If you can't solve it, the detail gets altered. But I've worked with quite a few plots that look nearly impossible but have something you can twist around. Especially in fantasy, where you have complete control on the setting (one nearly impossible plot was a historical).

So work two ways. Figure out what the society needs to be like for plot, and then work backwards as to how they got there. That's worked for me in one world, and it turned out really well.