What is the correct spelling?

[VKALFIERI]

Elves? Elfs? Elvish? Elven? Elfin? Elvin? Elfish?

Elfs and Elven get the squiggly red underline that indicates an incorrect spelling, but I've seen each of the above variants in all sorts of published works.

So, which is the more common/correct spelling?

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I'd say elves for the plural. Elven doesn't seem to phase my spellchecker either, and I'm pretty sure I've used it in my MS. Elvish is one I think Tolkein used (so it must be okay!), elfin suggests fine features and prettiness in human females (I'm pretty sure I've seen it used to describe fashion models). Not sure about the other two. I probably wouldn't use them, personally.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Elves.

Elfin, I think, is the German for female elf. It can also be used, in English, as a descriptive term, typically for a slender person (usually female). Elven is the relevant adjective (elven ruins etc). The squiggly red line is wrong in this instance.

 

[The Judge]

The plural of elf is definitely elves.

Elfin does mean of or pertaining to elves -- and also an elf, though that's now pretty much obsolete, I think -- but it's more commonly used nowadays for someone, almost invariably female, who is small and delicate. (Also, spelt Elfine, for a galumphing girl in Cold Comfort Farm!)

Elfish does mean like or relating to elves, or their language, but personally I'd avoid using it as I read it as el-fish, ie an aquatic creature, which is rather off-putting!

Elvish is the adjective I'd choose.

Elven is the word Tolkien used, but I'm not sure whether it existed before that or he coined it from the Middle English elvene "of elves" -- if memory serves he coined dwarves as the plural instead of the-then usual dwarfs -- and as far as I know it's not yet standard in the non-SFF world, but widely used inside it. My ODE notes it as "adjective (literary)".

 

[goldhawk]

Tolkien used dwarves for his race to separate them from short humans, dwarfs.

Elfin seems to be a misspelling of elven. I would say just be consistent. No doubt, your editor will have their own opinion.

 

[Danny McG]

Make sure they wear life jackets as well...

 

[pambaddeley]

I've been using Elf, Elves and Elven in my novel. Didn't know JRRT coined Elven but if it was good enough for him ....