That really isn't so. Tolkien was not an immigrant, nor were his parents. His family was in England since the 18th C. and had been established in Birmingham since at least 1812. He was born in South Africa while his father was posted there as a bank manager.

The importance of Tolkien is that he was the only one of his time to see the true literary character and historical importance of Old English works, first Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and later Beowulf. Other scholars saw the monsters in Beowulf as childish elements set into the story as entertainment, but Tolkien saw them as integral to the narrative and to the historical events being recounted. He was also able to produce stories of his own that incorporated these elements as central to their themes, and for this reason he is called the father of modern high fantasy. Tolkien is the wellspring of everything from Dungeons & Dragons, Arena, and onward, and no matter how these differ in particulars from his universe, there is no more success in escaping his influence than there was in escaping the influence of Beethoven on 19th C. music.

It is in the raising of these old tales to high art and in the recognition of the fantastical elements as the very stuff of the narrative that all that followed him is dependent on Tolkien. The stories and the elves and the monsters would be there without him. But the weaving of these into a well-formed narrative is the fruit of his genius, and in this genre, his alone.

Cannabalism and all the other things they practice appear pretty evil. It would be cool though if someone made an elf race maybe not called the bosmer or woodelves that has the characteristics of Tolken wood elves maybe called Blackwood Elves that could be woven into the lore because I think they are missing and if they were from blackwood it wouldnt interfere with the wood elves. Maybe they could be wood elves that migrated like the wood elves themselves did from solsteim to black wood and gained different attributes more suiting to the swamps of southern cyrodiil. After all like it has been said before "Tolken is the father of Modern High Fantasy. Also if wood elves are primiive than dont you think this is more like how they would act if they werent primitive. I am not saying they should be immortal or perfect and btw the high elves basically the ones from Rivendell in Lord of the Rings are immortal and perfect but the elves of Mirkwood like legolas arent so perfect. Mirkwood and Blackwood are also kind of similar I mean they arent actually the same thing but that whole dark look that takes place in certain areas of blackwood would make it seem appropriate.

Triple amen.

At the risk of restating the obvious, Tamriel is not Middle-Earth, TES Wood Elves are not Tolkien's Wood Elves, and Tolkien's status as father of high fantasy in no way depends on the use of peoples he described or invented in other works (nor does it compel other authors to do so).

Tolkien introduced Wood Elves into his works because there they serve particular narrative and thematic purposes. The racial character, lineages, politics, and trade relations of the various folk called Wood Elves in his works are significant in the places they make appearance.

TES has Wood Elves in their games because there they serve particular different narrative and thematic purposes. Similarly, their racial character, society, abilities, and relations with their neighbors are significant in the places they make appearance, but their role is just nothing to do with their role in Tolkien.

This is one reason why there are no Dwarves in TES, despite repeated popular demand. The Dwemer are not Dwarves, and the literary role they fulfill, and the way they fulfill it (by somehow having taken leave of the created universe, or incorporated themselves into a brass god, or whatever) are entirely different from the literary role played by Dwarves in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

It would be no tribute to, but a mere parody of, Tolkien's literature to place peoples or creatures or things from his work into TES with no particular reason other than fan demand. They can only be there for good literary reason: that is the lesson Tolkien's life and work should teach us above all else.

actually there are player maked mods who can solve a bit of that, trough i dispise even dwarves in my tes game;

No

and btw cannibalism is part of religion of native Valenwood Bosmers, i doubt Imperialised ones would practice it.

Oh i'd love TES:V to be situated in Valenwood!

....*Wid Hunt*...

Man, if that's the case things would have to be going crazy in Valenwood for them to unleash the Wild Hunt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien.Yes it is so his grandparents were not immigrants,he was as was his mother..And all of Tolkiens work came from stories from his German ancestors.And books from his mother,Tolkien was a great writer but his arguments on Beowulf was one of many.

A lot of Tolkien's stories came from old English folk tales as well.

Tolkien WAS the father of high fantasy, there is no way around it. He popularized it, made it a viable genre. There were a few before, but none became popular. And much of today's fantasy is still based off of Tolkien's view of fantasy.

How can you say none became popular,a whole religion was based on these stories.Also many things are used today such as Thursday being Thors day,Wednesday Wodans day as in Odin,Tuesday Tyrs day.You can even look to Baldur and Hel as being major players in modern religion.And then Jormund the great snake.I could go on and on.

We are reading different meanings from the same text, it appears. Tolkien's parents were not immigrants, they were expatriates. His father was from Handsworth, his mother was from Birmingham, and both families had lived in England for some generations.

I see no evidence that Tolkien was responding to stories told by his ancestors. He was an extremely avid reader, his interest was early English, not specifically German, literature, and his works were pretty much in their entirety founded on early English models. (It's worth remembering in this context that Beowulf, even though its subject matter is Nordic, is a work of English literature.)

I'll be back in awhile to give you some details as for now Hopkins is fixing to fight so excuse me for awhile.

I think the overarching 'Germanic' may be the best way to frame it. Tolkien himself wanted to create 'English' myths, and did draw a great deal from Old English. Certainly I think there are also some Norse influences in Tolkien's works, either directly on the author or via the Norse's historical influence on the Saxons. The Dwarves (including their given names) and term 'Dark Elves' are two strong examples.

This is quite so, but I do not see evidence that he was working from folk tales told him by German relatives, which was the particular point of contention. On the contrary, Tolkien was raised by his mother and her family, who were long-established residents of Birmingham, without evidence of influence from supposed German relatives. There is plenty of evidence, however, that he was an extremely avid reader, even as a small child, and gathered material for his stories in this manner.

In any event, it is peripheral to the point I was trying to make, which is that Tolkien and his work are the wellspring of modern high fantasy: his view that the genre is not childish at all, and the fantastical elements play vital and integrated parts in the telling of the story, is what is crucial. Without that, there is no modern high fantasy, just dusty epics and childish tales.

Yes but it would have to be rated Mature on Xbox and the pc lol

read in the writing part,to see where some of these German,Norse,influence I was refering to.And also,He was born in South Africa,and his people were German.His family had settled in England,but they did carry these stories with them.I remember learning all this in school,years ago.Now if I can find more on the internet I will post it. look to the link below to read what I said about the writings part.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien.I hope this one works.

There are all kinds of elves out there in fictions or games, if this one doesn't suit your taste go find another one. And yeah Tolkein didn't exactly created Tamriel did he so his elves should have nothing to do with "mers" in TES.

I personally think Bosmers are much more realistic as a bunch of folks that live in the trees. Just picture the real population in this world that live in woods. Do they resemble the elegant Tolkein wood elves more or the Bosmers more? I think we have a winner then.

Do you know what the wood elves were in LOTR They werent the elves from Rivendell! In the hobbit if you read it wood elves are not portrayed as elegant.

We seem to be unable to agree upon well-documented facts concerning Tolkien's life, and it is not the point I was trying to make, so I see no point in continuing along this line. Tolkien was born in South Africa to English parents who had traveled there on his father's business. He had little contact with his father's family, which was at least two generations removed from their German origin; he was raised by his mother and her family alone, and they did not have recent German associations. That is what I know of the matter; I believe your teacher was mistaken, and now I have had my say.

Anyway, the point I consider important is that Tolkien's view of this material, wherever he had it from, was so original and seminal that it completely recast the importance of fantastical and mythological elements in our understanding of these tales. This is why he is properly said to be the father of high fantasy, and it is why all tales told in this genre, including games, are founded in his work, even if the elements are different in detail or different altogether.

A reading of "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics", which is most approachable in http://beowulfandthecritics.com/ as edited by Michael D. C. Drout, is a key to understanding why the elves, orcs, trolls, etc. are not just entertaining, decorative, or scary, but absolutely essential to the proper telling of the story.

Well maybe i don't really remember that well, but I HAVE read the hobbit. They aren't really like Rivendell elves but they are elegant and beautiful nonetheless. And they are great archers. Legolas is nimble, quick and beautiful isn't he? I think he's quite elegant too. And I believe he is a wood elf.

Tolkien's wood elves are diverse. You can't pin them down to a single type. Legolas is an interesting one, though: he was of Sindar stock, not the same as the forest elves of Mirkwood or the tree-dwellers of Lorien. Mirkwood was ruled by a Sindar king, Thranduil, even though the Sindar were a minority there. Even though Legolas adopted wood elf customs and held himself out to be a wood elf, he too had the sea-longing of the Sindar and eventually built a grey ship to sail to Valinor.

I see, but is it safe to say that at least none of Tolkien's elves is anything annoying like Bosmers in TES?

Yes, I'd say that's fair. I also wonder why TES Bosmer are considered to be so annoying. I wonder if it has to do with the nature of the Bosmer folk (which isn't well elaborated, but it's all we have to go on): they're basically forest savages with a thin layer of civilization plated on. The ones that get by in Cyrodiil society are those that have some command of the arts of being polite and friendly, but they don't have enough command of these foreign arts to get them right. Thus all Bosmer are irritatingly, overcorrectly polite, and friendly Bosmer are just over-the-top off-puttingly affectionate. And some of them can't handle the stress of living in urban society and go mad.

In the PGE 1st Ed, although the Aldmeri Dominion was at war with the Empire, the Bosmer were portrayed as chirpily amicable, if a bit backwards. Still, I think the games have taken it to extremes and turned them into comic relief.