Maybe they weren't actual elves with pointy ears and golden skin, but more like they played the role of elves, like how the Ka Po' Tun fill the role on Akavir.

So maybe they were just Yokudans who had a similar metaphysical outlook, so the others figured, "thinks like an elf, talks like an elf, must be an elf".

Well giants were said to be related to humans, and they had pointed ears. So perhaps the Left-Handed Elves were human-ish but with pointed ears and they were just confused with Mer in the annuals of history. I feel that is sorta a cop-out, though.

Maybe the left handed elves were not elves at all and were a completely different species altogether. Maybe they were another offshoot of the Ehlnofey. With things like Ice Demons, Tiger, fox and Cat people, Slug/toad things, Monkey men, Snake guys, Lizard saps, Ape mer impersonators, Silver humans, etc etc...they were just another group that got killed off and they were called the left-handed elves because they either seemed similar in appearance OR culture to elves who were first encountered by the Yokudans.
Idk just throwing some ideas out there.

I like this idea.

On a related note, what does the "left-handed" part of the race have to do with anything? Is it just a way of saying that these elves were atypical/odd? If so, that would add credence to them being a non-mer race altogether.

They were obviously very sinister.

I always thought they just feel confy using their left hand.

Elves... that are left handed? THEY'RE HYLIANS!

Din is Aka.

Nayru is Magnus.

Forare is Shezarr.

In their masters' pursuit of deity, the Left-handers ironically suffered the fate of the Dwemer: self-annihilation. So, unlike the Dwemer, I doubt Left-handers pursued this path of destruction.

What do you call a Left Handed Elf who is right-handed?

What do you call a Left Handed Elf who is right-handed?

Fragment One:

Second ship, the Pasquiniel, manned by pilot
Illio, was to follow the southern pointing
Waystone; and the third, the Niben, manned
By pilot Topal, was to follow the north-east
Pointing waystone; the orders from the
Crystal Tower, they were to sail forth for
Eighty moons and then return to tell.
Only Niben returned to Firsthold, laden high with
Gold and spice and fur and strange creatures,
Dead and live.
Though, alas, Old Ehlnofey Topal never found, he
Told the tales of the lands he had visited to the
Wonderment of all.
For sixty-six days and nights, he sailed, over crashing
Waves of dire intent, past whirlpools, through
Mist that burned like fire, until he reached the
Mouth of a great bay and he landed on a
Sun-kissed meadow of gentle dells.
As he and his men rested, there came a fearsome howl,
And hideous orcs streamed forth from the murky
Glen, cannibal teeth clotted with gore

For centuries, strange crystalline balls were unearthed at the sites of ancient Aldmer shipwrecks and docks, peculiar artifacts of the Merethic and Dawn Eras that puzzled archeologists until it was demonstrated that each had a tendency to rotate on its axis in a specific direction. There were three varieties, one that pointed southward, one that pointed northeast, and one that point northwest.

It is not understood how they work, but they seemed attuned to particular lines of power. These are the "waystones" of the fragment, which each of the pilots used to point their craft in the direction they were assigned to go. A ship with a name not mentioned in the fragment took his vessel north-west, towards Thras and Yokuda. The Pasquiniel took the southern waystone, and must have sailed down toward Pyandonea. Topal and his north-east waystone found the mainland of Tamriel.

It is clear from this fragment what the three ships were assigned to do - find a passage back to Old Ehlnofey so that the Aldmer now living in Summerset could learn what became of their old homeland.

My pet theory is that the LH-elves are the survivors and descendants of the 1st Unnamed Ship, just like the Maormer are the descendants of the Pasquiniel.

Could've sank, yes. But what kind of myth would it be if they all died?

Wait, what? Please elaborate.