To Dwarf or not?

I don't mind dwarves, elves, gnomes as long as the characters I meet are fresh. Pratchett is a good example.

Also, and on a tangent, have you seen the article on dwarves in Ancient Egypt? http://www.livescience.com/history/051228_dwarf_egypt.html

It doesn't matter if they are used many times or not. Use the original names if the book feels right that way.

Ask yourself why you are using these races with those names and a given set of traits.

It can create continuity with previous works and establish a race in the readers mind more effectively. However, if you vary more than slightly from what the reader thinks is "canon," they may be lost or feel tricked.

You can build upon the preconceived notions the reader has, or lead them someplace new. I would personally enjoy reading about a dwarf that looked nothing like I've seen from Tolkien and DnD. Elves have had the myth makeover - they have become aloof, mysterious, and unknowable in new incarnations. But dwarfs (generally) still have beards, are dour, wear heavy armor, don't like horses, can see in the dark, and fight with axes.

Personally, as a fantasy *reader*, I'm bored by stock dwarves and elves and gnomes. If you do something fresh and different with elves, I might like it...but I'll probably never read it, because if I see "elf" on the back cover of a book, I'll put it back on the shelf.

On the other hand, if you've got stock elves that act like stock elves and you call them "limpets," I might read your book...but I'll hate it. So I wouldn't bother just *calling* your elves something different by search-and-replacing through your manuscript.

IMO, as a reader only.

Most of fantasy is peopled with characters belonging to the folklore of Europe, since of course most of the writers have anglo - saxon backgrounds. For a change, why not try using faerie beings from a different culture? You run the risk of confusing your readers, but it may bring in a breath of fresh air.

Jusy my opinion.

Elwyn said:

MattW: Seems logical to use previous stories to build on character traits. Therefore, I think I'll stick with the Elves but change the other two - because they do NOT (entirely) match preconceived notions of Dwarves and Gnomes. But there's the hitch about people not buying the book because Elves are involved. It's time to roll the dice, I guess.

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Any book that relies on the presence of elves probably appeals to a gaming audience with specific expectations that anyone not writing directly for will fail at. Those are the kind of books that will have the right buzzwords in the blurbs to attract the right buyers.

There are other books that have magical races, even called elves, that are not obligatory, serve a purpose, and defy expectations. Deft readers can tell the difference.

nandu said:

Most of fantasy is peopled with characters belonging to the folklore of Europe, since of course most of the writers have anglo - saxon backgrounds. For a change, why not try using faerie beings from a different culture? You run the risk of confusing your readers, but it may bring in a breath of fresh air.

Click to expand...

I can see it now - a fantasy world populated by chupacabras.

If it's even possible for you to do a find/replace on your names, and end up with a race that people don't even recognise as what you originally called them, then they really shouldn't be called that in the first place. If on the other hand your reader turns to you and says "hey, these Valrens sound a lot like Elves", then stick with elves.

We have a similar argument, er... discussion going on in the Ogre Vs. Orc thread.

The fact is, you are the writer. If you want to create new names for these creatures feel free to do so.

If you want to use established names and keep their characteristics somewhat recognizable, thus forgoing having to explain what the creature is and just get to the action, do that.

It's a matter of choice. There are no set in cement rules here.

So you can either write:

The elf raised his longbow and aimed at the dwarf's heart.

OR

The filken, a race of tall, slender, silver-haired, handsome people. raised his longbow and aimed at the heart of the kornka, a short, squat rather ugly creature.

I saw the redirect on the Novel board, and jumped over to read, since I'm a fantasy writer.

It's a classic caution not to take something that exists and just plop a new name on it. You don't take rabbits and call them schmeerps, or something like that. All you have if you do that is a rabbit story.

As a reader, if I read a book that has a race of pointy-eared long-lived ancient forest dwellers that are called Pillafs, and some short, strong stoneworkers called Dunks who happen to hate the Pillafs, I'm immediately going to think "ripoff." I think readers are smart enough to see through search-and-replace naming.

As a writer, I try to write new races and stay away from stereotypes entirely, but only if required by the story. By all means, if the story has some feature that requires Tolkienesque elves and dwarves, then I'd use them -- but I'd call them elves and dwarves. Generally, though, if I need two warring races, I stay away from the obvious elf/dwarf stuff and make the things that /do/ differentiate the races things that are pertinent to the themes and the plot of the book -- say, an air race versus a sea race, rather than wood/stone. Or even better, an argumentative race versus a nonfrontational race, rather than pointy ears/stocky frame.

If it's any use to you, I'm with most of the previous posters. If your elves and dwarves are classic high-fantasy elves and dwarves (the dictionary definition isn't terribly relevant in this case), then stick with those names.
As a fantasy reader, if I see a race called h'ranu who look and act like high-fantasy elves, then I'm going to be annoyed that the author pretended to be showing me something new and different, and thought I wouldn't catch on. Whereas if they'd been called elves, it would be comfortingly familiar, and instead of watching the h'ranu to see what sort of people they were, I'd be paying attention to the plot and the specific characters.
I guess I'd say that I'd read h'ranu as a sign that I should pay attention to this world and its peoples, because they were the main issue, where I'd read elves as a sign that I should pay attention to the story. That's just me, of course.

If you're putting some remarkable twist into the elves and dwarves (the dwarves being great shipwrights, and the elves mechanically inclined, for instance) then you might be able to get away with renaming. On the other hand, writers twist the image and characteristics of vampires all the time, and readers don't usually complain that hey! these vampires don't behave like the usual ones!
-Barbara

May I ask, is the reverse a problem? My world has things called "elves" and "dwarves" that have marked differences from the stereotypes. They're close enough that the word is the most appropriate thing to call them, in my opinion. But the dwarves don't live underground, nor do they mine, and the elves are in no way noble or dignified - they're tall and willowy like Tolkien's elves, but temperamentwise they've got a dash of satyr in them.

As a reader I don't have a problem with a book that has races called 'elves' and 'dwarves'. Back in the 80s, Tad Williamson had trolls that were wee small things.

The caveats are that a) I might not pick up the book at all if there's the slightest chance that it looks like it's rehashing old territory, and b) the story would have to be pretty outstanding, or there would have to be something else extremely 'fresh' to sort of take my mind off the language that my poor mind has stereotyped.

The dustjacket or plot reviews would definitely have to play up the differences for me to be interested.

Oh, I just remembered an example, not of things called elves but of the reverse. Lynne Flewelling's series, Nightrunners. They're filled with these long-lived magical creatures called Aurenfaie. And the first time I read the name, I was like, "Oy, here we go." I stuck with book, though, and loved it -- although that 'elf knockoff' thing still niggles, even though I'm now a diehard fan.