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{{Short description|Offspring of an elf and a human from Norse mythology onwards}}
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{{Use British English|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
A '''half-elf''' is a mythological or fictional being, born of an immortal [[elf]] and a mortal [[human]]. They are often depicted as very beautiful and endowed with magical powers; they may be presented as torn between the two worlds that they inhabit. Half-elves became known in modern times mainly through [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Middle-earth]] writings but have origins in [[Norse mythology]]. A half-elf appeared in [[Lord Dunsany]]'s 1924 book ''[[The King of Elfland's Daughter]]''.

In Middle-earth, half-elves are the children of [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] and [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]], and can choose either Elvish immortality or the mortal life of Men. The elf-maidens [[Lúthien]] and [[Arwen]] in Tolkien's works both chose mortality to be with the Men that they loved. Scholars have noted that this enabled Tolkien to explore several key themes, including love and death, time and immortality. As a Catholic, he believed that Men, freely choosing to let go, gain release from the world's limitations; whereas if they tried to hold on to life and material things, they would end in darkness. His Elves – except for half-elves – were unable to gain this release. In ''[[On Fairy-Stories]]'' Tolkien wrote that since men write [[Fairy tale|fairy-stories]], these concern the escape from death; and conversely that Elves would tell human-stories about the escape from deathlessness. Since their popularisation by Tolkien, half-elves have become widely known in [[role-playing game]]s, and in turn in [[video game]]s and spin-off films. The role-playing game ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' features [[Half-elf (Dungeons & Dragons)|its own race of half-elves]], including the character ''[[List of Dragonlance characters|Tanis Half-Elven]]''.

{{anchor|Norse mythology}}

== Norse mythology ==

In [[Norse mythology]], a half-elf is the offspring of an [[elf]] and a [[human]]. Major examples include [[Skuld (princess)|Skuld]] and [[Hagen (legend)|Högni]].<ref name="Byock 1998"/><ref name="Cumpstey 2017"/> Högni was a hero in ''[[Þiðrekssaga|Thidreks saga]]'', born to a human queen when an elf visited her while the king was away.<ref name="Cumpstey 2017">{{cite book |last=Cumpstey |first=Ian (trans.) |title=The Saga of Didrik of Bern |publisher=Skadi Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-9576-1203-7 }}</ref> Skuld was a Danish princess, as told in ''[[Hrólfs saga kraka|Hrólf Kraki's saga]]''. King Helgi, sleeping alone as he had not been invited to King Adils's wedding, let in a ragged person on a midwinter night. As she slept, he saw she was a radiantly beautiful woman dressed in a silk gown. She told him he had freed her from a curse and asked to leave. He asked her to stay and marry him, and she agreed. They slept together. She told him they would have a child, and asked him to visit the child the next winter at the harbour. The King forgot to do so, but three years later the woman, an elf, returned and left a daughter at his door. She told him that the child's name was Skuld, which means "what you should do". She said that the King would gain the reward for breaking the curse, but that the King's people would suffer as the King had not done as she had asked. She never came back, but Skuld was always angry.<ref name="Byock 1998">{{cite book |last=Byock |first=Jesse L. (trans.) |title=The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki |year=1998 |place=London |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-043593-X |at=Chapter 11 |chapter=The Elfin Woman and the Birth of Skuld |url=http://www.viking.ucla.edu/hrolf/ch11.html}}</ref>

The scholar Hilda Ellis describes Skuld as evil, recalling that in the saga, Skuld used magic to raise an army against Hrólf, her half-brother. As quickly as Hrólf's warriors kill Skuld's men, they spring up, fighting more strongly than ever. Leading the fight for Hrólf, [[Bödvar Bjarki|Bodvar Bjarki]] calls Skuld's men ''[[Draugr|draugar]]'', 'undead', saying "they are grimmest to deal with after they are dead, and against this we have no power."<ref name="Ellis 1968">{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Hilda Roderick |title=The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature |year=1968 |orig-year=1943 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=New York |pages=78–80, 112 |oclc=1313536388 }}</ref> Ellis comments that Skuld is one of the Norse women involved in "everlasting battle" who share the names of [[Valkyrie]]s, females who guide the souls of the dead. She notes that Skuld is "said to be the child of an elf-woman", but that it is difficult "to decide how accurately the term [elves] is used", as its meaning shifts between the sagas and the ''[[Edda]]'' poems.<ref name="Ellis 1968"/>

Högni too is "essentially a demonic character", his name connected to the German ''Hexe'', 'witch', and to the English "hag"; the scholar Alexander Krappe sees his being the son of an elf as fitting in to that role, while his daughter Hildegund similarly has "certain magical qualities", such as awakening fallen warriors.<ref name="Krappe 1923">{{cite journal |last1=Krappe |first1=Alexander Haggerty |title=The Legend of Walther and Hildegund |journal=Journal of English and Germanic Philology |date=January 1923 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=75–88 |jstor=27702692 }}</ref>

== Lord Dunsany ==

{{further|The King of Elfland's Daughter}}

Perhaps the earliest published half-elf in modern literature is the character Orion in [[Lord Dunsany]]'s 1924 ''[[The King of Elfland's Daughter]]''. The lord of Erl sends his son, Alveric<!--whose name means 'Elf-kingdom'-->, to fetch the King of Elfland's daughter, Lirazel, as his bride; the couple have a son, Orion. Lirazel, pining for [[Elfland]], returns there. Alveric and his father search for her helplessly. Lirazel now longs for her mortal husband and half-elven son. The King of Elfland changes Erl into a part of Elfland, and the family live forever in a timeless realm.<ref name="Langford 2002">{{cite book |last=Langford |first=David |title=Complete Critical Assembly: The Collected White Dwarf (And Gm, and Gmi) Sf Review Columns |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Nz6Ei_gAEkC&pg=PA154 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Wildside Press]]|isbn=978-1-58715-330-3 |page=154}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Plunkett |first=Edward (Lord Dunsany) |author-link=Lord Dunsany |title=The King of Elfland's Daughter |title-link=The King of Elfland's Daughter |date=1924 |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] |location=London and New York |oclc=8664446 }}</ref>

In 1977, two members of the [[folk rock]] band [[Steeleye Span]] ([[Bob Johnson (musician)|Bob Johnson]] and [[Peter Knight (folk musician)|Pete Knight]]) created a [[concept album]] also named ''[[The King of Elfland's Daughter (album)|The King of Elfland's Daughter]]'', inspired by Lord Dunsany's book. [[Christopher Lee]]<!--many years before he appeared as Saruman--> appears as the narrator and the King of Elfland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/records/kingofelflandsdaughter.html |title=Bob Johnson & Peter Knight: The King of Elfland's Daughter |website=Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music |access-date=13 April 2022}}</ref>

== Tolkien's Middle-earth ==

In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s  [[Middle-earth]], the ''Half-elven'' ([[Sindarin]] singular ''Peredhel'', plural ''Peredhil'', [[Quenya]] singular ''Perelda'') are the children of the union of [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] and [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]]. Of these, the most significant were the products of couplings between the [[Sundering of the Elves#Eldar|Eldar]] (the Elves who followed the Call to [[Valinor]]) and the [[Edain]] (the Men of the Three Houses of early Men who allied themselves with the Eldar in their war against [[Morgoth]]). Three recorded unions of the Edain and Eldar generated descendants: Idril and [[Tuor]]; [[Lúthien]] and [[Beren]]; and [[Arwen]] and [[Aragorn]]. The first two couples wed during the final part of the [[First Age]] of Middle-earth, while the third married at the end of the [[Third Age]] (some 6500 years later). The third couple descended not only from the first two couples, but also from the twins Elros and [[Elrond]], who chose mankind and elvenkind respectively—thereby severing their fates and those of their descendants. In Appendix A of ''[[The Return of the King]]'', Tolkien notes that by the marriage of Arwen and Aragorn "the long-sundered branches of the Half-elven were reunited and their line was restored". The second union was the only one of the three marriages in which the Elf involved (Idril) did not become mortal; instead Tuor was joined to the Elves. In all these cases, the husband was a mortal Man, while the wife was Elven.<ref name="Hammond Scull 2005">{{cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Wayne G. |author1-link=Wayne G. Hammond |last2=Scull |first2=Christina |author2-link=Christina Scull |title=The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion |title-link=The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] | year=2005 |isbn=978-0-00-720907-1 |pages=683–684}}</ref>

=== Beren and Lúthien ===

{{further|The Tale of Beren and Lúthien}}

The first of these was between the mortal [[Beren]], of the House of Bëor, and [[Lúthien]], daughter of the Elf [[Thingol]], king of the [[Sindar]], and [[Melian (Middle-earth)|Melian]], a [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maia]]. Beren died in the quest for the [[Silmaril]], and in despair, Lúthien's spirit departed her body and made its way to the halls of [[Mandos]]. Mandos allowed them a unique fate, and they were re-bodied as mortals in Middle-earth, where they dwelt until their second deaths. Their son Dior, heir of the Sindarin kingdom of [[Doriath (Middle-earth)|Doriath]] and of the Silmaril, was thus one-quarter Elvish by blood and one-quarter Maian, and half-human. He was killed while still young, when the [[sons of Fëanor]] sacked Doriath. Dior's wife was Nimloth, a Sindarin Elf, and with her he had three children, Elwing and two sons (thus, half-elven but not between Edain and Eldar, men and Elves of the highest blood).<ref name="Hammond Scull 2005"/>

=== Tuor and Idril ===

{{further|Tuor and Idril}}

The second marriage of Men and Elves in the First Age was between [[Tuor]] of the House of Hador, another branch of the [[Edain]], and [[Idril Celebrindal]], an Elf, though half [[Noldor]]in and half Vanyarin in ancestry. Their son was [[Eärendil]]. After the fall of [[Gondolin]], Eärendil also escaped to the [[Mouths of Sirion]], and married Elwing who was also half-elven. They had twin sons, [[Elrond]] and Elros.<ref name="Hammond Scull 2005"/>

=== Aragorn and Arwen ===

{{further|The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen}}

Uniquely, Eärendil and Elwing, together with their sons Elrond and Elros, were granted their choice of fates: to be counted as Elves (free to dwell in the blessed [[Undying Lands]] for as long as [[Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda]] endures) or to be counted as Human (entitled to the Gift of Men whereby, through death, their spirits are freed to enter the unknown beyond Arda). Should this Choice not have been granted, they, like all other Half-Elves, would have been automatically mortal.{{efn|The latest version of Tolkien's text was in ''[[The Lost Road]]'', which states: "[ [[Manwë (Middle-earth)|Manwë]]:] Now all those who have the blood of mortal Men, in whatever part, great or small, are mortal, unless other doom be granted to them; but in this matter the power of doom is given to me. This is my decree: to Earendel and to Elwing and to their sons shall be given leave each to choose freely under which kindred they shall be judged."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987|pp=326-327}}</ref> [[Christopher Tolkien]] further stated "It is to be observed that according to the judgement of Manwe Dior Thingol's Heir, son of Beren, was mortal irrespective of the choice of his mother."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987|pp=334–335}}</ref> }} Elros chose to be counted among mortals, and became Tar-Minyatur, the first king of [[Númenor]]. He finally took his death (for those kings had the freedom and grace to die at will) at the age of five hundred. The descendants of Elros were not given this choice, but their lifespan was several times that of ordinary Men. In later times the [[Númenor|Númenórean]] kings, descendants of Elros, regretted their forefather's choice, and this helped lead to the Downfall of Númenor.  Elrond chose to be counted among the Elves, joining the [[royal court|court]] of [[Gil-galad]] until the end of the [[Second Age]].<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}} ch. 24 "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"</ref> He also founded [[Rivendell]] in the Second Age.<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}} "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"</ref> He married the Elf [[Celebrían]], daughter of [[Celeborn]] and [[Galadriel]], and sailed into the [[Aman (Tolkien)|West]] at the conclusion of the [[War of the Ring]].<ref name="AppB Third Age" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} Appendix B "The Tale of Years", "The Third Age"</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} book 6, ch. 9 "The Grey Havens"</ref> The children of Elrond were also given choice of kindred,<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} Appendix A, (i) Númenor.</ref> and therefore [[Arwen]] could choose to be counted among the Edain even though her father hoped she would accompany him to Elvenhome in the West. But she chose otherwise, marrying [[Aragorn|Aragorn II Elessar]], king of the Reunited Kingdom, at the start of the Fourth Age, and bringing noble elvish blood into his dynasty. He ruled for 120 years, choosing to die at a great age for a man, but while still in full health. She died alone at the age of 2,901 years, grieving the brevity of her mortal happiness.<ref name="Tale" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} Appendix A (v) [[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]</ref>

=== Line of the Half-elven in Middle-earth ===

{{Half-elven family tree}}

=== Other lines ===

According to "the tradition of [the] house" mentioned in ''The Lord of the Rings'', the line of Princes of [[Dol Amroth]] originated from the union of Imrazôr the Númenórean, a Prince of Belfalas,<ref name="UT Cirion and Eorl" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980}}, Introduction, Part Three, II: "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", note 39, p. 316.</ref> and Mithrellas, a Silvan Elf and companion of Nimrodel, an Nandorin Elf from Lothlórien.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980}}, "History of Galadriel and Celeborn", p. 248.</ref> They had two children: a boy Galador and a girl Gilmith, though it is said that Mithrellas later vanished in the night. Galador, according to this tradition, became the first Prince of Dol Amroth.<ref name="Arwen">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Armstrong|first=Helen |editor=Michael D.C. Drout |title=Arwen |encyclopedia=[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]|year=2013 |orig-year=2006 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=38–39}}</ref> Tolkien initially worked on a genealogical table linking Imrazôr's children with [[Imrahil]], but eventually abandoned it.<ref>The table is reproduced in ''The History of Middle-earth'', Vol XII, "The Heirs of Elendil", pp. 222-23.</ref> The claim of elvish heritage figures in the perception of Prince Imrahil among the people of Minas Tirith, illustrated by the following line of dialogue: "Belike the old tales speak well; there is [[Half-elven|Elvish blood]] in the veins of that folk, for the people of Nimrodel dwelt in that land once long ago".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} "The Siege of Gondor", p. 98.</ref> [[Legolas]], an Elf of [[Mirkwood]], believed as much about Prince Imrahil's alleged heritage upon meeting him during the events of ''[[The Return of the King]]''.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} book 5, ch. 4 "The Siege of Gondor"</ref><ref name="Hammond Scull 2005"/> He remarked that "long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of Lórien, and yet still one may see that not all sailed from Amroth's haven west over water",<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} "The Last Debate", p. 148.</ref> though the matter is probed no further.

In ''[[The Hobbit]]'' reference is made to a rumour among [[Hobbit]] folk that a Took ancestor of [[Bilbo Baggins]] had long ago taken a "fairy" (i.e. Elf) wife, but the allegation is immediately dismissed as a simplistic explanation for the sometimes atypical behaviour of the Took clan.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937}}, ch. 1 ""An Unexpected Party"</ref> Even if hobbits have some elvish blood, however, they are "endearing rather than frightening", unlike other half-human hybrids such as [[Dracula]].<ref name="Bridgstock 1989">{{cite journal |last=Bridgstock |first=Martin |title=The Twilit Fringe-Anthropology and Modern Horror Fiction |journal=[[The Journal of Popular Culture]] |volume=23 |issue=3 |year=1989 |pages=115–123 |issn=0022-3840 |doi=10.1111/j.0022-3840.1989.00115.x}}</ref>

In ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'' (published in two parts), the young Tolkien originally intended Eärendil, then spelled [[Aurvandil|Earendel]], to be the first of the Half-elven.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984b}} book 2, ch. 5 "The Tale of Eärendel"</ref> Early versions of ''[[The Tale of Beren and Lúthien]]'' had Beren as an Elf.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984b}} book 2, ch. 1 "The Tale of Tinúviel"</ref> The earliest version of the tale of [[Túrin Turambar]] had Tamar, the character Tolkien later renamed Brandir, as a Half-elf; Tolkien mentioned this in a way that implied he did not consider Half-elven descent especially remarkable at the time he wrote that story.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984b}} book 2, ch. 2 "Turambar and the Foalókë"</ref>

=== Interpretations ===

{{further|Time in Tolkien's fiction}}

The Tolkien scholar [[Richard C. West]] notes the resemblance between the half-elves Arwen and Lúthien, and analyses Arwen's understanding of her fateful choice, between love for Aragorn and mortality on the one hand, and her father's wishes and immortality on the other.<ref name="West 2006">{{cite book |last=West |first=Richard C. |author-link=Richard C. West |chapter='Her Choice Was Made and Her Doom Appointed': Tragedy and Divine Comedy in the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen |title=The Lord of the Rings, 1954-2004 : Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder |editor1=Hammond, Wayne G. |editor1-link=Wayne G. Hammond |editor2=Scull, Christina |editor2-link=Christina Scull |publisher=[[Marquette University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=0-87462-018-X |oclc=298788493 |pages=317–329}}</ref> West analyses the scene at the camp on Weathertop where Aragorn recounts to the hobbits in poetry and prose the tale of Beren and Lúthien, with West highlighting Aragorn's words and "pensive mood" as he tells them that Lúthien "chose mortality, and to die from the world, so that she might follow [Beren]" and that "together they passed, long ago, beyond the confines of this world" and that she "alone of the Elf-kindred has died indeed and left the world, and they have lost her whom they most loved".<ref name="West 2006"/> West speculates that Aragorn may be thinking here of the consequences of what will happen should Arwen marry him, and later states that he finds "the lonely death of Arwen the most moving tragedy within [''The Lord of the Rings'']".<ref name="West 2006"/> A similar conclusion regarding Aragorn's feelings at Weathertop is drawn by the scholar of medieval English literature John M. Bowers in his work on the influence of [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] on Tolkien. Bowers, looking at both the Weathertop scene and 'The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen', states that like certain pilgrims in Chaucer's ''[[The Canterbury Tales|Canterbury Tales]]'', Aragorn's stories of his ancestors "open a window into his private desires and fears".<ref name="Bowers 2019">{{cite book |last=Bowers |first=John M. |title=Tolkien's Lost Chaucer |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2019 |isbn=978-0198842675 |pages=244–245 }}</ref>

The scholar of English literature [[Anna Vaninskaya]] studies how Tolkien uses fantasy to examine the issues of love and death, time and immortality. Given that Tolkien's Elves are immortal, [[Death and immortality in Middle-earth|they face the question of death]] from a unique vantage point.<ref name="Vaninskaya 2020">{{cite book |last=Vaninskaya |first=Anna |author-link=Anna Vaninskaya |chapter=J. R. R. Tolkien: More Than Memory |title=Fantasies of time and death: Dunsany, Eddison, Tolkien |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-137-51837-8 |oclc=1134852757 |pages=153–228}}</ref> Sarah Workman writes that in the ''Tale of Aragorn and Arwen'', Arwen's mourning of Aragorn serves to overcome what [[Peter Brooks (writer)|Peter Brooks]] called (she writes) the "meaningless", interminable nature of immortality. Workman quotes Brooks's statement that "all narration is obituary" and states that it is in that conception that Tolkien valued Arwen's fate: it is Arwen's "mourning gaze that allows for the transmission of Aragorn's memory",<ref name="Workman 2014"/> or in Tolkien's words which she quotes, "And long there he lay, an image of the splendour of the Kings of Men in glory undimmed".<ref name="Workman 2014">{{cite book |last=Workman |first=Sarah |chapter= Female Valour Without Renown: Memory, Mourning and Loss at the Center of Middle-earth |title=A Quest of Her Own: Essays on the Female Hero in Modern Fantasy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfoDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |year=2014 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-1-4766-1763-3 |pages=87–88}}</ref>

Critics including the Polish scholar of religion in literature and film, Christopher Garbowski, note that while Tolkien contrasts Elves and Men throughout ''The Lord of the Rings'', he introduces the [[Central conceit|conceit]] that an Elf may marry a Man on condition of surrendering her immortality, something that happens exactly twice in Middle-earth: with Lúthien, and then with Arwen.<ref name="Garbowski 2006">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Garbowski |first=Christopher  |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Death |encyclopedia=[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment]] |year=2006 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-135-88034-7 |pages=119–120}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993}}, Part Four. Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth, pp. 303–366</ref><ref name="Davis 2013">{{cite book |last=Davis |first=Bill |editor1-last=Bassham |editor1-first=Gregory |editor2-last=Bronson |editor2-first=Eric |chapter=Choosing to Die: The Gift of Mortality in Middle-earth |title=The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw-NAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 |year=2013 |publisher=[[Open Court Publishing Company]] |isbn=978-0-8126-9806-0 |pages=123–136}}</ref><ref name="Gray 2009">{{cite book |last=Gray | first=William |chapter=J. R. R. Tolkien and the Love of Faery |title=Fantasy, Myth and the Measure of Truth: Tales of Pullman, Lewis, Tolkien, MacDonald and Hoffmann |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-230-00505-1 |oclc=228503211 |page=102}}</ref>

The scholar of English literature Catherine Madsen notes the reflection of mortality in the "fading" of Middle-earth from the enormous powers like [[Morgoth]] and [[Elbereth]] that battled in the First Age. She writes that "Aragorn is a hero and a descendant of heroes, but he is brought up in hiding and given the name of Hope [Estel]; Arwen possesses the beauty of Lúthien, but she is born in the twilight of her people and her title is Evenstar; these two restore the original glories only for a little while, before the world is altered and 'fades into the light of common day'".<ref name="Madsen 2004">{{cite book |last=Madsen |first=Catherine |chapter='Light from an Invisible Lamp': Natural Religion in ''The Lord of the Rings'' |editor-last=Chance |editor-first=Jane |editor-link=Jane Chance | title=Tolkien and the invention of myth: a reader |title-link=Tolkien and the Invention of Myth |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |location=Lexington |year=2004 |isbn=0-8131-2301-1 |oclc=54938267 |page=42}}</ref>{{efn|Madsen is here quoting from [[William Wordsworth]]'s ''[[Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood|Ode on Intimations of Immortality]]'', line 76.}} Rateliff, writing on the theme of the evocation of loss in Tolkien's works, describes the 'Gift of Men' as being "to accept loss and decay as essential parts of the world" and draws parallels with other writings by Tolkien: "The Elves cling to the past and so are swept away with it; in a fallen world, acceptance of the inevitability of death is the only way to pass beyond the world's limitations, for [[Brendan the Navigator|Brendan]] or [[Niggle]] or Arwen."<ref name="Rateliff 2006">{{cite book | last=Rateliff | first=John D. | author-link=John D. Rateliff | chapter='And All the Days of Her Life Are Forgotten' {{!}} 'The Lord of the Rings' as Mythic Prehistory  |title=The Lord of the Rings, 1954-2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder |editor1=Hammond, Wayne G. |editor1-link=Wayne G. Hammond |editor2=Scull, Christina |editor2-link=Christina Scull |publisher=[[Marquette University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-87462-018-4 |oclc=298788493 |pages=67–100}}</ref>

The medievalist [[Verlyn Flieger]] wrote that nobody knows where Men go to when they leave Middle-earth, and that the nearest Tolkien came to dealing with the question was in his essay ''[[On Fairy-Stories]]'' "where, after speculating that since 'fairy-stories are made by men not by fairies', they must deal with what he called the Great Escape, the escape from death. He went on to the singular assertion that 'the Human-stories of the elves are doubtless full of the Escape from Deathlessness'."<ref name="Flieger 2005">{{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |title=Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6zgmCf_kY4C&pg=PA46 |year=2005 |publisher=[[Kent State University Press]] |isbn=978-0-87338-824-5 |page=46}}</ref><ref group=T>{{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien |title=[[Tree and Leaf]] |chapter=[[On Fairy-Stories]] |publisher=[[George Allen & Unwin]] |year=1964 |page=59}}</ref> Flieger suggests that two of the "human stories" of Tolkien's Elves really focus on this kind of escape, the ''Tale of Beren and Lúthien'' and the ''Tale of Aragorn and Arwen'', where in both cases a half-elf makes her escape from deathlessness.<ref name="Flieger 2005"/> Shippey comments that "the themes of the Escape from Death, and the Escape from Deathlessness, are vital parts of Tolkien's entire mythology."<ref name="IsaacsZimbardo2005">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |editor1=Isaacs, Neil D. |editor2=Zimbardo, Rose A. |editor2-link=Rose Zimbardo |chapter=Another road to Middle-earth: Jackson's movie trilogy |title=[[Understanding The Lord of the Rings|Understanding the Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEWXQbASXZUC&pg=PA242 |year=2005 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |isbn=0-618-42253-6 |page=242}}</ref> In a 1968 broadcast on BBC2, Tolkien quoted French philosopher [[Simone de Beauvoir]] and described the inevitability of death as the "key-spring of ''The Lord of the Rings''".<ref name="Lee 2018">{{cite journal |last=Lee|first=Stuart D. |author-link=Stuart D. Lee |title="Tolkien in Oxford" (BBC, 1968): A Reconstruction |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |date=2018 |volume=15 |pages=115–176 |issn=1547-3155 |doi=10.1353/tks.2018.0008|s2cid=171785254 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:937e4b3c-ea7a-4da2-ad9d-1d3d3612180d }}</ref>{{efn|As described by Armstrong (1998) and Lee (2018), Tolkien stated: "human stories [are] always about one thing aren't they? Death: the inevitability of death" and then pulled a newspaper cutting from his pocket and read out the following quote from de Beauvoir's ''A Very Easy Death'' (1964): "There is no such thing as a natural death. Nothing that happens to man is ever natural, since his presence calls the whole world into question. All men must die, but for every man his death is an accident, and even if he knows it and consents to it, an unjustifiable violation."<ref name="Armstrong 1998">{{cite journal |last=Armstrong |first=Helen |title=There Are Two People in This Marriage|journal=Mallorn | publisher=[[The Tolkien Society]]| date=1998 |volume=36 |pages=5–12}}</ref><ref name="Lee 2018"/>}} In their annotated and expanded edition of Tolkien's essay (''Tolkien On Fairy-stories''), Flieger and textual scholar [[Douglas A. Anderson]] provide commentary on 'the Escape from Deathlessness' passage, referencing Tolkien's views in a 1956 letter, that:

{{blockquote|The real theme [of ''The Lord of the Rings''] for me is .. Death and Immortality: the mystery of the love of the world in the hearts of a race [Men] 'doomed' to leave and seemingly lose it; the anguish in the hearts of a race [Elves] 'doomed' not to leave it, until its whole evil-aroused story is complete. But if you have now read [[The Return of the King|Vol. III]] and the story of Aragorn [and Arwen], you will have perceived that.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#186 to Joanna de Bortadano (drafts), April 1956 }}</ref><ref name="Flieger Anderson 2008"><!--quote is primary, obvs, commentary is 2ndry-->{{cite book |title=Tolkien On Fairy-stories |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien |editor1=Flieger, Verlyn |editor1-link=Verlyn Flieger |editor2=Anderson, Douglas A. |editor2-link=Douglas A. Anderson |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] | year=2008 |isbn=978-0-00-724466-9 |page=119 |url=https://archive.org/details/tolkienonfairyst00verl/page/119}}</ref>}}

Flieger remarks further that by attaching herself to men's lives and deaths, Lúthien is running against the current of elven life, but at the same time, by undergoing death and darkness Beren and she manage to come to the light. What is more, Flieger writes, their union creates a new race, the half-elven, who have the privilege of choosing either fate, and "new hope for both races".<ref name="Flieger 1983">{{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |year=1983 |title=Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World |title-link=Splintered Light |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] |isbn=978-0-8028-1955-0 |pages=129–130}}</ref> She notes that Tolkien described the story as "Release from Bondage", meaning death, release from deathlessness, and explains "Through death, men can let go; in their deathlessness, elves cannot. The half-elven can also be released from bondage, freed from the earth, if they wish. Tolkien makes no promises; what's to come is still unsure."<ref name="Flieger 1983"/> In her view, this is the Catholic Tolkien's key point, that being able to let go means trusting in faith. Holding on to life, or to physical treasures like the [[Silmaril]] which gets Thingol killed, is "folly". Thingol was in the light of the Two Trees, but by grasping Middle-earth, Lúthien, and finally the Silmaril, he journeys into and ends in darkness. It is the opposite of Lúthien's journey.<ref name="Flieger 1983"/>

== In role-playing games ==

Both Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954) and [[Lord Dunsany|Dunsany]]'s ''The King of Elfland's Daughter'' (1924) greatly increased popular awareness of half-elves. As a result, half-elves have become common in other [[fantasy]] writings and [[role-playing game]]s, the best-known being the 1974 ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''.<ref name="tresca2010">{{citation |last1=Tresca |first1=Michael J. |title=The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games |pages=32–34, 62 |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8H8bzqj6S4sC&pg=PA62 |chapter=Elves and Half-Elves |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786458950}}</ref> Half-elves are also featured in the role-playing game ''[[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game|Pathfinder]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 September 2023 |title=Pathfinder races and ancestries list 2024 |url=https://www.wargamer.com/pathfinder/races |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=[[Wargamer (website)|Wargamer]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Leggett |first=Kitty |date=7 February 2023 |title=Every Core Ancestry In Pathfinder 2e, Explained |url=https://www.cbr.com/pathfinder-2e-core-ancestry-explained/ |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=[[Comic Book Resources|CBR]]}}</ref>

=== Dungeons & Dragons ===
{{Main|Half-elf (Dungeons & Dragons)}}
''Dungeons & Dragons'' has featured its own race of half-elves as a [[player character]] option in multiple editions of the game.<ref name="2021 Human Fantasy">{{Cite book |last1=Premont |first1=Antoine |last2=Heine |first2=Samuel |chapter=The Human Fantasy: Exploring race and ethnicity through Dungeons & Dragons |date=2021-08-03 |title=The 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) 2021 |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3472538.3472560 |publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]] |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1145/3472538.3472560 |isbn=978-1-4503-8422-3}}</ref><ref name="2023 Den of Geek">{{cite web |last=Byrd |first=Matthew |date=2023-04-06 |title=Why Dungeons and Dragons Is Getting Rid of Controversial Half-Races |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-half-race-changes-racism-controversy/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=Den of Geek}}</ref> Josh Williams of ''[[Screen Rant]]'' stated that "half-elves are popular because they're a great choice for those wanting to play as a fantasy race without stepping too far away from humanity".<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Josh |date=August 2, 2022 |title=Dungeons And Dragons: 10 Most Popular Races To Play As |url=https://screenrant.com/dungeons-and-dragons-most-popular-races-dnd/ |access-date=September 20, 2024 |website=[[Screen Rant]]}}</ref> Williams commented that "half-elves struggle to fit in" when growing up but "thanks to being born of two worlds, half-elves are perfect for players wishing to be the charismatic diplomat of the group".<ref name=":7" /> Gus Wezerek, for ''[[FiveThirtyEight]],'' reported that of the [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition|5th Edition]] "class and race combinations per 100,000 characters that players created on [[D&D Beyond]] from" August 15 to September 15, 2017, half-elves were the third most created at 10,454 total, preceded by [[Elf (Dungeons & Dragons)|elves]] (16,443) and humans (25,248). The three most popular class combinations with the half-elf were [[Bard (Dungeons & Dragons)|bard]] (1,808), [[Warlock (Dungeons & Dragons)|warlock]] (1,401) and [[Rogue (Dungeons & Dragons)|rogue]] (1,325). Wezerek noted "some of the common character choices can be explained by the game's structure of racial bonuses".<ref>{{cite web |last=Wezerek |first=Gus |date=October 12, 2017 |title=Is Your D&D Character Rare? |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-your-dd-character-rare/ |access-date=November 26, 2019 |website=FiveThirtyEight}}</ref> Matthew Byrd, for ''[[Den of Geek]]'' in 2023, also highlighted that half-elves have "stats/attributes" reflective of two races which offer "some unique role-playing options" and that mechanically the race has "benefited from a pretty generous base stat distribution and useful base skills".<ref name="2023 Den of Geek" /> However, the terminology and the way in which the game structures inherited mechanical traits for characters with mixed ancestry, such as half-elves, has been criticised.<ref name="2021 Human Fantasy" /><ref name="2023 Racecraft of D&D">{{Cite journal |last=Carpenter |first=Benjamin J. J. |year=2023 |title='Monstrous Adventurers': The Racecraft of the Dungeons and Dragons Imaginary |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10646175.2023.2238194 |journal=Howard Journal of Communications |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=15–32 |doi=10.1080/10646175.2023.2238194|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="2023 negative estrangement">{{Cite journal |last=Holmes |first=Steven |date=2023 |title=Negative Estrangement: Fantasy and Race in the Drow and Drizzt Do'Urden |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48747482 |journal=Mythlore |volume=42 |issue=1(143) |pages=121–146 |jstor=48747482 |issn=0146-9339 }}</ref> As a result, ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is moving away from having the half-elf as a distinct race in the game<ref name="2023 Jeremy Crawford">{{Cite web |last=Hoffer |first=Christian |date=April 7, 2023 |title=Dungeons & Dragons Clarifies Plans for Half-Elves and Mixed Parentages in One D&D |url=https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/dungeons-dragons-half-elf-one-dnd-inherently-racist-plans/ |access-date=September 18, 2024 |website=[[ComicBook.com]]}}</ref><ref name="2023 Den of Geek" /><ref name="2023 CBR">{{Cite web |last=Melzer |first=Jenny |date=2023-04-13 |title=D&D Removing Half Races Is Less Dramatic Than You Think (& the Right Choice) |url=https://www.cbr.com/one-dnd-removing-half-race-good-ttrpg/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=CBR}}</ref> and it is not listed in the ''[[Player's Handbook#2024 revision|Player's Handbook]]'' (2024) as a character option.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Samantha |date=2024-09-18 |title=Race becomes species in D&D, but that's not the only change in the new Player's Handbook |url=https://www.polygon.com/dnd-dungeons-dragons/452438/new-players-handbook-uses-species-not-race |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=Polygon}}</ref>

A well-known character from ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fiction is [[Tanis Half-Elven]].<ref name="Rae 2019">{{cite web |last=Rae |first=Kevin Victor |title=A Guide to Roleplaying Half-Elves |url=https://www.tribality.com/2019/11/12/a-guide-to-roleplaying-half-elves |publisher=Tribality |access-date=27 March 2020 |date=12 November 2019}}</ref> Tanis is a player character in the spin-off 1988 video game ''[[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Fantasy Roleplaying: Heroes of the Lance |format=review |magazine=[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]] |issue=62 |page=71 |date=March 1989 |url=http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=Crash/Issue62/Pages/Crash6200071.jpg |issn=0954-8661 |accessdate=12 April 2022 }}</ref> He is a miniature lead figure in [[Ral Partha]]'s ''Dragonlance Heroes'' boxed figures set, described by a critic as "Tanis is dressed as a typical ranger in leathers and fur-lined shirt and boots. The vest has a design worked into it, as does his dagger scabbard. The belt has a pouch attached. Tanis's face is finely chiseled with a neatly groomed beard, although he appears gaunt. His left hand clutches his bow."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Bigelow |first=Robert |title=Through the Looking Glass |magazine=[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]] |issue=#155 |page=107 |publisher=[[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] |location=[[Lake Geneva, Wisconsin]] |date=March 1990}}</ref> Tanis is played by [[Michael Rosenbaum]] in the 2008 animated film ''[[Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (film)|Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dragonlance-movie.com/movie/cast/ |title=Cast |access-date=12 April 2022 |publisher=Cinemagine Media }}</ref> Tanis, like all ''[[Dragonlance]]'' heroes, is a flawed character; Lauren Davis of ''[[io9]]'' comments that he is "consumed by his inability to fit completely into either the human or elven worlds".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/why-dragonlance-should-be-the-next-fantasy-film-franchi-1520791414 |title=Why Dragonlance should be the next fantasy film franchise |access-date=12 April 2022 |website=[[io9]] |date=11 February 2014 }}</ref> Rob Bricken, also of ''io9'', writes that Tanis is "A bastard (in the technical sense) half-elf who doesn't truly belong in the world of either race; he's a capable leader of the group although he's often plagued by self-doubt. He left Qualinesti, a land of elves, because their leader's daughter Laurana was in love with him and her father was having none of it. He's currently in love with a swordswoman named Kitiara, who's the half-sister of Caramon and Raistlin."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bricken |first=Rob |date=11 August 2021 |title=Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Dragons of Autumn Twilight |url=https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-novels-revisiting-dragons-of-autu-1847446582 |access-date=12 April 2022 |website=[[io9]] }}</ref>

== Notes ==

{{notelist}}

== References ==

=== Primary ===

{{reflist|group=T|28em}}

=== Secondary ===

{{reflist|28em}}

=== Sources ===

* {{ME-ref|Letters}}
* {{ME-ref|TH}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|Silm}}
* {{ME-ref|UT}}
* {{ME-ref|BoLT2}}
* {{ME-ref|LROW}}
* {{ME-ref|MR}}

{{Middle-earth}}
{{Lord of the Rings}}
{{Norse mythology}}
{{Elves}}

[[Category:Creatures in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Elves]]
[[Category:Middle-earth Half-elven]]
[[Category:Fictional half-elves]]