Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-101.174.54.47-20130226060747/@comment-134.41.72.182-20180428024045

Prometheus1960 wrote: there really isn't a specific piece of material stating how long Elves truly live. they are a mythical race and are not subject to the physical laws that govern the lifespans of Man. if you use (LOTR) standards every 100 years to men equals 1 year to elves, Lord Elrond was over 3,000 years old and at the battle of Mordor when men lost their strength. Elves are not immortal, just have abnormally long lifespans... but they can still die by any weapon which can kill a man.

Few things to note here. Barenziah the Dunmer Queen's biography mentions that Dunmer, at least, can live to be around 1000, but that most do not live so long because of the dangers present in Tamriel.

As far as Middle Earth elves go, the 100 to 1 thing deals mostly with how they perceive time, not their lifespans. Being the first-born children of Eru Iluvatar, elves were granted eternal life, so long as they did not succumb to injury or corruption. Elrond is something of an exception here, as he if not a full-blooded elf. He is the son of Eärendil, who was himself the product of an elf/human pairing. even given this, however, he is quite old, much older than 3000. He was born in the year 532 of the first age, and the war of the rig ended in the year 3019 of the third age. This means that, adjusting for the difference between Valian years and solar years, Elrond would have been in the vicinity of 31460 years old at the end of the trilogy, which still makes him a relatively young elf compared to others like Galadriel and Legolas, who were born before the first age, in either the Years of the Trees or the Years of the Sun.

All this aside, Elder Scrolls elves have little in common with Tolkien's, other than that they are working in the tradition of fantasy elves that Tolkien more or less established. The Mer of Tamriel were the first mortal race created after the convention of the Et'Ada which followed the creation of Nirn through the trickery of Lorkhan. The Et'Ada, a sort of primal spirit more like a force of nature than a person, mostly chose to leave the Mundus, following the strongest among them Magnus into the realm of Aetherius, where the gods dwell, their passing tearing holes in the fabric of reality that became the sun and stars. Those Et'Ada that remained either became the Earth Bones, which essentially act as binding forces for the laws of nature and reality, or they clothed themselves in flesh, becoming the Aldmer. The Aldmer, though long-lived, were mortal creatures adept in magic and technology from whom all mortal Mer are descended. Most like them are the Altmer, who most resemble their ancestors in appearance and temperament. Other descendants include the Bosmer, Chimer (Dunmer), Orsimer, Falmer, Dwemer, Maomer, Ayleids, and the Lefthanded Elves. For the most part, these elves appear to maintain their ancestors' longevity, though with a few notable exceptions. The Orsimer were once Altmeri followers of the ancestor spirit Trinimac, but were twisted and deformed along with their patron when Trinimac was eaten by Boethiah, emerging from the Prince's dung as the Daedroth Malacath. This corruption appears to have drastically cut their lifespan, though the tribalistic, fatalistic, and highly violent temperaments of the Orcs also plays a large role in their short lives. All things told, few Orcs live to what they'd consider to be "old age," but they seem to, in theory have about the same lifespans as average humans, perhaos slightly longer. The Bosmer, elven followers of the spirit Y'ffre, live rough lives, being a wild people who live and die by the will of the Green. Similar to Orcs, Wood Elves often die of decidedly unnatural causes, but have the ability to live until the age of around 200 or so, if they're careful. The Chimer, Falmer, and Ayleids appear to share many qualities with the Altmer, being more direct descendants of them than many other elves, the result of a diaspora from Summerset in the First Era, though whether the Falmer's current, twisted state, or Azura's curse upon the Chimer (Transforming them into the Dunmer) had any effect on their longevity is unclear. The Dunmer, at least, appear to have about the same life-spans as the Altmer- around 1000 years, but like the Altmer, they are adept at magic, leading to a great variety of methods available to extends one's life (note Divayth Fyr, the Telvanni Magister who, at the end of the Third Era, is over 4000 years old). Though I can't recall it ever having been mentioned, the Dwemer likely share thsi 1000 life expectancy, though given the degree to which incomparably advanced magics and technology are integrated into the very fabrics of their society, it is likely they would live longer lives still. Little is known about the Maormer and the Lefthanded Elves, so their lifespan is uncertain. One final note here; Bretons, too, would likely have a somewhat extended lifespan compared to other humans. Though usually considered to be human, they are actually the descendants of Aldmer/Nede pairings from the early Aldmeri colonization of Tamriel, meaning that they are technically half-elves (they're sometimes referred to as Manmer). I don't think the effects of their Elven heritage are mentioned in great detail anywhere, save for their aptitude for magic, but chances are they would live longer than a Nord or a Redguard (A whole other can of worms to open: Redguards have a different genetic heritage entirely than other humans, originating from the lost island of Yokuda rather than from the frozen continent of Atmora along with the other Nedic folks).

Hopefully this is exhaustive enough to give a decent sense of the subject. It is accurate to the best of my knowledge, but I welcome any corrections anyone can make.