Comments on the Heresies of the Elves

The fundamental heresy of the elves is their vain belief in the continuity of intelligence in the universe. From this doctrine stems their widespread denial of the gods' creative roles and preference for reincarnation among views of the afterlife, and their ancient willingness to treat with all manner of malicious spirit which thankfully has been largely abandoned by all but the most savage of their kind. Each of these mistakes of theirs shall be treated here in turn, but since they can be shown to all grow from the same root, we begin with the root. The source of this fundamental heresy is perhaps a characteristic vice of arrogance. If one were to ask a learned but otherwise ordinary elf, even be he a wretch, whether he thinks there may be any being in existence who is by their very nature his natural and essential superior, most probably he will reply in the negative. More than that, even should he be healed of a terrible illness or injury by the prayers of the Blessed faithful, which evince the power and glory of the gods in the liberality with which they are answered, he will go on in his arrogance, thinking of his healing as akin to the services of a physician rather than a gift and instruction from the masters of his very life.

I refer to this heresy as that of the continuity of intelligence in the universe, by which I mean that the heresy consists in believing that the qualities and powers of even the gods are of a kind with those possessed by lesser spirits, elves, men and dwarves, and even the beasts and birds. The most blasphemous expression of this belief surely is to be found among the tales told of the elven hero whom they call Brother Clever. Baseless stories of Brother Clever's many victories over divine spirits and the honors with which they showered him can be found among all elven tribes, and exemplify most clearly the prideful frivolities with which elves tend to waste the gift of their centuries of life. For though among men and dwarves many fools still cling to the old religion of strife, they at least know that whomever may be a god, he is deserving of their worship, whereas the elves do not accept even this.

Hence, the Master begins the section of the root text with a verse introducing this most fundamental heresy:

Single in merit is all of existence,
All of a kind though they come in degrees.
Equal are we to the gods in potential.
Power is nothing but vision and Will.

"Single," i.e., not plural or admitting genuine distinction. "In merit," i.e., in worth, in dignity. "Existence," i.e., sentient existence, as in the phrase "what Fate has written over my existence." "All of," i.e., all kinds of and all cases of. "Of a kind," i.e., in whatever respect endows merit, worth, or dignity, grounded in a common quality. "Though they come in degrees," i.e., in contrast to differing in kind, merely differing in intensity or number of that quality. "Equal," i.e., the same, at the same state. "The gods," i.e., the heavenly rulers and their servants among the spirits. "In potential," i.e., in capability, the phrase used here to indicate that it is possible that we equal the gods even if we presently do not. "Power," i.e., divine power, the powers displayed only by the gods, such as true healing and the purifying fire. "Is nothing but," i.e., merely consists in. "Vision," i.e., sight, in this sense an elliptical expression for creative genius, as in the phrase "the painter's vision." "Will," i.e., the Active and Sustained application of the Talent. The elves take the view that the gods' works are merely Acts of Will, akin to those of an elven or human capable of Wielding the Talent, and that a well-cultivated Wielder could replicate any of them, even as a mortal.

The High Elven teacher Loroa Rai Uneh has argued for this view in his Questions for the Eastern Priests, a manuscript of which was given to the Master by the author himself, whereby the Master reproduces the opponent's first argument over the following four verses...

Excerpt from Comments on the Heresies of the Elves, by the Very Venerable Priest Judgejoy on his own preceptor Most Venerable Priest Judgeglory's The Heresy of the Elves, prepared in the fifteenth and sixteenth regnal years of the Sixth Diarchy, Serene Diarchy of Vale and Mountain, R.E. 366, following the author's return from the diplomatic mission to the Elflord Yieh Rai Salolor.