Elves and other creatures in folklore /Re: House elves and slavery

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 126669


Vmonte responds:
 
Thank you Magda, I knew there was something familiar about JKR's 
elves. I also read the shoemaker story when I was a child. I agree 
with the idea that the relationship between elves and humans has 
become perverted over time into a master/slave relationship 
(completely through the fault of humans who have taken advantage of 
the elves). Time does not always heal all wounds; it sometimes makes 
you forget your history/past and eventually you start believing the 
ideology of the oppressor.  

You are also right that the idea of slavery is repulsive to me and 
that I immediately drew upon my knowledge of North American slavery 
>and completely forgot the shoemaker story. 



Alla:

I am not sure. I mean I read shoemaker's story or similar one when I 
was a child too, but I am not exactly sure that those elves are 
exactly the same.

I mean, sure, JKR draws from folklore, fairy tales, but are we sure 
that she does not change those creatures as they suit her?

Take the vampires, for examples. Whether or not Snape will turn out 
to be the one, I think many people agree that vampire will show up 
eventually in the series, right?
I don't think that that hypothetical vampire will follow all the 
rules of folklore.

Take the centaurs. Yes, they seem to be pretty close to the centaurs 
from Greek myths, which I grew up with. Fantastic Beasts even 
acknowledge that centaurs originated in Greece, nevertheless I do 
find JKR's centaurs to be different because of their isolation from 
humans and some other things.

So, going back to elves. I am MUCH more familiar with european fairy 
tales than I am with the history of slavery, nevertheless in my mind 
I cannot completely abandon the association with slavery.
Although I agree that JKR probably had in mind "shoemaker story" and 
similar tales.

JKR does not just talk about Elves' service, she makes sure to tell 
us about the details of their punishment, whether it is related to 
their service or not. I don't know... Hopefully we'll find out in 
the end what she had in mind. :)

Just my opinion,

Alla