Quote Originally Posted by Max_Killjoy View Post
Inside that comic is an absolute statement that I reject: "All fantasy is an allegory for the human condition".

Nonsense.

Sometimes an elf is just an elf.
But elves as an archetype represent numerous things -- an idealized mirror for humanity, a physical representation of Nature as chaotic or sublime, glamorous beauty as both wickedness and delight, the amorphous beliefs and values of pre-Christian Europe, etc.

The mundane things in fantasy can just be what they are, but when you get into our persisting imaginary creations there's usually some basis in our psyche on which they were generated.