Why do people in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power hate elves?

In the initial episodes The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of PowerThe show depicts a cultural clash between men from the Southlands, and those who guard them. Conflicts can take place in different times: The elves see the people of the region as a separate entity. JustMorgoth has stopped paying me. For the people, this war dates back hundreds of centuries.

It’s a fascinating contrast, one that speaks to the true alienness of daily human cohabitation with elves in a way that Tolkien never really shone a light on. But fast forward a couple episodes to the land of Númenor, and we’re watching a crowd get whipped into fury against elves for absolutely the most pedestrian reason.

[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 4.]

Image: Prime Video

Early in the “The Great Wave,” Rings of Power visits a bustling Númenórean square where a guild craftsman — one of the guys who got beat up in the previous episode — dabbles in the time-old tradition of inciting a crowd.

“Elf workers, taking your trades!” he prognosticates, based on the presence of one elf and one (already jailed) human ally. “Workers who don’t sleep, don’t tire, don’t age!” Galadriel and Halbrand’s presence on Númenor is apparently a slippery slope to a complete takeover of the Númenórean… economy? By… thousand-year-old low-wage workers?

His words whip up his audience into a derogatory chant of “Elf-lover!” against their own queen, until they are quieted by an equally brief speech for the opposite position and the sudden appearance of a round of drinks. The gods granted them an entire blessed island because they were so kind to the people.

This is an awful way of thinking, it should be obvious. Racism must be condemned in all aspects of human society. I don’t endorse hating elves, or anyone.

But if you were gonna hate elves there are much more obvious, present, and logical reasons than “they’re gonna take your job.”

Elves can be quite hateful, in fact

Photo: Ben Rothstein/Prime Video

The fantastical details of Tolkien’s elves has been a topic of much discussion lately. And as Polygon’s Tolkien expert I keep waiting for someone to ask me about the elephant in the room: Why have elves got it so much dang better than men in Tolkien’s legendarium?

If you’re a man (or a female man, commonly known as — checks notes — a woman) in Middle-earth, here are some facts:

• Physically, elves can do more than you.
• Elves are prohibited from visiting a paradise created by the gods.
• The Elf is immortal, and it’s your turn to die. Like, soon!

It’s important to remember that elves are not simply prettier, more graceful humans.

Vulcans are Elves

Image: Paramount Television

You can draw a direct line of “unnerving, elevated outsider” from Tolkien’s elves, through a bunch of nerd minds and Age of Aquarius thinking, to Star Trek’s own emotionally detached, pointy-eared racial metaphor with mysterious psychic powers.

There’s plenty of Vulcan/human prejudice in early Star Trek. Spock’s human heritage makes him the focus of childhood bullying by Vulcan classmates who believe it will make him unsuitable to Vulcan standards. In Starfleet, he again becomes the inflection point of bigotry, but from humans — and not because they think Vulcans are going to take their jobs.

Vulcan/human prejudice manifests in Vulcan characters that find Vulcan behavior so foreign they are interpreted as offensive or despicable. Humans who believe they cannot work with a Vulcan are rooted in those roots. Vulcans and humanity can’t find common cause, say those who think so. Vulcans feel the exact same way about human beings.

It is precisely this rift between men and Elfs that leads to distrust: A clash of cultures.

Why? DoAre humans so miserable in Middle-earth that they are unable to live with their problems?

Tolkien didn’t consider human death a problem in his works. Ineffable intent of the creator made it clear that the human race should end in death and only he and the god of afterlife would know what had happened to their souls. And for a deeply Catholic man, it’s a big step to present human fallibility as the blessing of a creator, rather than punishment for sin.

Elves have many benefits. But the trade-off on being an elf is that you lowkey don’t have free will, especially when compared to humans. Elves — all elves — are afflicted with a divinely inspired longing for Valinor that eventually eclipses all other desires in their lives. Their physical endurance is offset by their emotional resilience. There are many stories in Tolkien’s work of elves who cannot put traumatic experiences behind them and yet cannot die, their physical forms withering away until they are nothing but weary ghosts. It is a blessing to live in a paradise that never has any bad things, but it’s more necessary.

Image: Prime Video

Modern fantasy readers may be accustomed to settings like Dungeons & Dragons, the works of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, or even Marvel and DC Comics, where gods either require mortal worship as the source of their power, or seek out mortal worship as a matter of ego. However, the gods in Middle-earth represent something entirely different. No one in The Lord of the RingsNever go to church. We don’t even meet priests. Prayer is not something we discuss.

Because they are not seeking worship or requiring it, the gods of Middle-earth do not require nor seek to be worshipped. These are, even if they don’t come around very often. Humans must have faith, not that the gods exist, but that their work is a blessing, and that there is something for them beyond the living struggle of Middle-earth, even if the gods haven’t said what it is.

But elves don’t need faith in the gods. Elves can sense their divine work in them at any time. For a Catholic priest, this might seem the strangest thing they have.

Man who doesn’t appreciate elves because they have concrete blessings and he can only believe is one who disbelieves in the gods. We know this because The Silmarillion, Just what it says where the show’s Númenor plot line is going. Sauron will control the most blessed nation to manipulate them into abandoning their gods, rallying a fleet of soldiers and attempting to take over heaven.

It’s not a story about “economic anxiety,” but about anger at the creator who made elves and humans so different. And that’s really where “elves will take your job” fails to suspend belief. Why would an elf flip hamburgers when he could sail further west? You can go to heaven?