Where do House Elves come from?

[sistermagpie]

BDClark
> Every time I start imagining a way how Dobby comes into existence 
(well,
> Kreacher and all the other House Elves as well), I immediately start
> thinking of Lord of the Rings.  Most probably because Hobbits are
> `Halflings' and could attribute to their smaller size.  Yet,
> there's also Sméagol, who seems to be a cousin race of the
> Hobbits.

Magpie:
I wasn't sure if you meant where they came from via evolution in the 
WW or literary speaking. As literary character they're based on 
brownies, creatures in folklore who do housework but get offended if 
you pay them (not slaves, though).

If you're trying to tie them to Tolkien's races...I'm not sure how 
you do that, because obviously they have nothing to do with each 
other. Nor do Tolkien's elves have anything to do with them. And you 
couldn't write an original work about taking one person's created 
race and turning them into another.

Or are you just saying you want to write a story about your own race 
that eventually becomes a slave race?

-m