Yes, there are Wiki sources that somewhat cover this, but in Tolkien's universe elves are immortal - at least until they're killed.

But ESO elves live only to 300 at most, according to what I've been able to find.

So what gives? Why aren't they immortal, or were they at one time?

This isn't Tolkiens universe, therefore these aren't Tolkiens elves.

Yeah, got that, but let's be honest: Elves were borrowed from the Tolkien-verse, and their template is quite similar.

... but not the immortality aspect, though they live considerably longer than the other races.

Perhaps there's a back-story we're missing?

^^ what he said they do live longer then the other races though and they do have a few ways of extending thier life spans even more.


Also this should have been asked in the lore forum.

It's bigotry.

It's a little known fact elves have horrid dental care in Tamriel.

They get sick.

They die young.

Actually the mythology of Elves has been around a LOT longer than Tolkiens stories.

This.



Aren't there elves in DnD as well....

and in the ES: Arena...and daggerfall... don't they have alittle bit of age on the books....


Oh sh*t son! Which eleves are these one D:

Elves originally came from germanic/nordic folklore and were viewed as more spirit than mortal, in the ES universe the cosmology is completely different from either Tolkiens universe or the original germanic/norse elves. In elder scrolls the Elves are supposed to have originated from the Aerdra, but that could well be self serving racist tripe as the Elves, and the Altmer in particular make the Nazis look like social workers and the canon stories about self inflicted eugenics are pretty scary.

I just assume altmer are so arrogant they eventually burst into righteous fire and die, and bosmer eat so much meat and each other they pass lethal parasites everywhere.

This is the same as asking why do Orcs in TES mingle with society as opposed to Tolkien Orcs. Simple OP: Different universe. And the lore on elven life spans is pretty vague with multiple references scattered around. But there have been elves (Dyvath Fyr for example) that have increased their lifespan by a couple thousand years, with the use of sorcery.

So are TES orcs like Tolkein orcs too? Are TES dwarves like Tolkein dwarves?

Tolkien Elves are immortal, but Elder Scrolls elves, though quite inspired by Tolkien, never have been - they just live (much) longer than humans.

where do people keep getting this idea from o-o

Like most people are saying; not Tolkien. It's a lot like vampires. Blade vampires, Twilight vampires, Underworld vampires, Christopher Lee vampires; all different.

Same goes for Dwarves, Werewolves, Dragons, Gnomes and many other fictional beings.