 |
The Aen Seidhe and the Aen Elle elves were once one folk, the Aen Undod. Then came a cataclysm, no one knows its nature. The Aen Undod were forced to leave their world. They split along the way. |  | |
| - Yennefer of Vengerberg to Geralt of Rivia, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | |||
Age of Migration was the period during which the Aen Undod elves split into two distinct culturals groups. The Aen Seidhe came to the shores of the Continent on their white ships and landed by Pontar and Yaruga, about two thousand years before the arrival of humans.[1]
The Aen Elle arrived in another world where they encountered a sentient species, capable to travel naturally between worlds and time, the unicorns and founded the city of Tir ná Lia.
Trivia[]
- The arrival on the white ships could be reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion. Noldorin elves led by Fëanor arrived in Middle-Earth on white ships which they had seized after slaughtering the Teleri elves during Kinslaying at Alqualondë. After reaching the shores of Beleriand, Fëanor burned the ships to leave his brother's followers behind.
- On the other hand, Andrzej Sapkowski might not be referring to Tolkien but directly to the Irish mythology from which both Tolkien and Sapkowski took inspiration. The story of the Tuatha Dé Danann people who invaded Ireland from across the sea, burned their ships when they arrived and fought a fierce battle with the then inhabitants was the clear basis for the Exile of the Noldor while aes sídhe (aos sí, "people of the mounds") is the inspiration for Sapkowski's Aen Seidhe, "(people) of the hills".
References[]
- ↑ It is unsure if "2000 years before the humans' arrival" means 2000 years before the First Landing when the Northerners started their colonization of the Northern Kingdoms, or 2000 years prior to Conjunction of the Spheres when humans arrived in the world.