My experience with elves is mixed between Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and reading fantasy. In AD&D elves do not reach maturity until they are around 100. If this is the case how does their body and mind age as compared to humans?
I’ve read in The Lord of the Rings elves mature mentally faster than humans but their bodies mature slower, with them reaching adulthood at somewhere between 50 and 100 years of age. Again how would they age as compared to humans.
This becomes important to me because I have several eleven characters that grow up during the story. In the case of Ferguson and his sister Moenna take part in several of the later books and their age will have an effect on how the story plays out. Ferguson is a young elf, far from mature when his father dies. At this point his sister Moenna is a new-born. Even though still a child by elven standards Ferguson must take over his father’s responsibility and lead his people.
How would the elves respond to being lead by a child? How would you respond to being lead by a child? In ancient days when the king died if his child was not yet of age they court would often appoint a regent to run things until the child reached adulthood. A vital part of the story calls for Ferguson to take charge and lead his people.
With the death of their parents Moenna is a new-born. It isn’t long until she becomes a main character in the stories. Do the story have to wait a hundred years for her to age to adulthood or is she able to become an active player earlier. Keep in mind that a major element in the story is human, so a wait of even 50 years would be the passing of multiple generations.
I like the idea from middle earth that elves mentality mature faster than they do physically. At a year an elf child is able to talk, sing, walk, and dance but their body is still that of an infant. Their mind will continue to grow faster than a human so by their teens they are metals as mature as a human adult, but their body will still reflect that of a human child maybe a toddler. By fifty even though they have been mentally mature for many years their body is still that of a young teen.
This type of aging would allow them to be accepted more by elven society even though human society would still see them as nothing more than a child. A human would most likely have no respect for an elf of fifty because they would see the physical not the mental maturity of the elves. This will work in my favor in the stories because Ferguson has assumed his role as a leader among his people, but he is forced to deal with humans many of which will see him as a child and act accordingly.
Thus an elf at fifty my assume some adult responsibility but still be physically limited in the tasks they perform due to their physical ability. You would not expect a young teen ager to be as strong as an adult.
To sum everything up elves mentally age faster than humans but their body matures more slowly. Thus their body won’t reach full maturity (mid to late teen) until around 100 years.
