Elvish culture is just the “… I could make that” impulse taken to Extremes
There’s a story told to children called The Elf Who Wanted A Cloak about how in order to accomplish this simple thing the elf needed to gather his own fiber and harvest the plants to dye it and then construct a set of weaver’s tools so he could spin it and a loom to make the cloth, and then hunt an animal so he had bone to shape into a clasp, and by the time he’s finished it’s summer and it’s too warm outside to need the cloak at all.
Elves tell it to their children as a cautionary tale about the importance of planning ahead and ensuring you’ve worked out all the steps in your project. Other races tell it to their children as a cautionary tale about elves.
The Avari tell it to their children as a cautionary tale about the Eldar trying to do everything on their own/being selfish about the works their hands instead of being part of a community that all works together with everyone doing their part to support the whole.
the gwaith í mírdain tell it with the finale of “hot damn that elf learned a lot about cloakmaking and then was able to tell all his friends so when winter came round again they were all prepared and very excited to apply what they’d learned”
when you have that kind of time, you can go beyond “I need a cloak, better find me a sheep.” you can *breed* a line of sheep with the perfect wool. you can absolutely start by making your tools; why wouldn’t you, they should be perfectly fitted to your hands and your way of working? if you mine and cut your own gems, you can have the one perfectly suited for the necklace you’re crafting. grind your own pigments. grow the ideal flax to weave the canvas for your painting. you have control of the entire process. no settling for lackluster materials. this is not a cautionary tale. this is the dream.
you’re an elf
by this logic, all elves are scientists and vice versa
which i mean…given the noldor, maybe not that far off
