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Elves live in a parasite dimension, a world that isn't quite complete by itself and has to ride along on a better world, e.g. the Discworld. There are barriers at locations where the elves' world is close to the Discworld. Some of these barriers weaken about once every fifty years. It is just as well that it is difficult for anyone, elves or Discworld people, to cross the barriers between Discworld and the elves' lands, because... well, a good adjective for the elves, you see, starts with an n, tip of my tongue, not nice, or starts with an m, not mild-mannered, oh, and not musical. G is also good, but not good.

Elves are nasty and mean. They have no artistic talents, but they want to have some fun, so they kidnap human musicians and bards. Elves have no sense of pain, heavily contributing to their having no empathy, sympathy, or conscience. Elves are not evil in the same sense that Evil Dark Lords are evil (consult The Last Hero). Evil Dark Lords play by the rules and break their promises because they are evil dark lords, it is a sort of professional behavior. Elves lie and make empty promises (often promises of safety, on the lines of "I won't hurt you if you come out, the way I have just hurt your friend here") because they want to get at people and hurt them some more. To elves, music is fun, but torture is even more fun. There is not a single elf reported as being nice or good.

Elves are glamorous. When an elf is conscious, he or she is capable of making humans perceive him/her as beautiful and grand, and the humans will feel, by comparison, worthless and unimportant. Elves can also read minds. Consider the scenario: a human in the company of elves is in danger of being robbed, and then probably tortured, but a such a human also thinking bad thoughts about the elves is certainly going to be tortured. Another interesting thing is that the barriers between the elves' world and the Discworld weaken if people think about elves. Thinking about elves is multiply dangerous, so down the ages people have coined terms that are slightly protective, respectful-sounding, such as Lords and Ladies and the Shining Ones. People are afraid even to think that elves will do bad things to them, because the elves will know. As elves ceased visiting when the barrier between worlds was strong, people were afraid to think about elves and talk about how bad they were, and as time went on, some people only remember that elves were beautiful. Folklore, on the other hand, remembers that you should not go out alone, lest the elves kidnap you, that you should leave a saucer of milk out for the Lords and Ladies, otherwise they'll come into your house and take it from you, that you hang up a horseshoe, a handy piece of cheap iron that can deter elves.

Elves have a sixth sense that is probably related to magnetism. With this sense, an elf can know absolutely, exactly, where he is. The presence of iron disrupts this sense for an elf. One elf once described being locked up in iron chains and so on as being buried alive. Elves cannot stand iron, so iron is a good thing to have handy during an elf invasion.

Locations known to lead to the elves' world:

• The Dancers, Lancre
• The Long Man, Lancre
• a stone portal on the Chalk

The elves' world has at least two parts. The Long Man leads to a hot and smoky part of the elves' world, ruled by the King of the Elves. The Dancers lead to a permanently wintry part of the elves' world, ruled by the Queen of the Elves. This part of the elves' world also includes the unicorns and other fairy races that the Queen has allowed to stay in her Fairyland. The Queen is supported by her principal henchman, an elf called Lord Lankin. Unicorns look like horses with a horn, and like the Elves are upset by the presence of iron. Elves also ride on horses, large, fiery horses tamed only by iron. As witches can ride on broomsticks, elves can ride on yarrow stalks. One of the elves' favorite weapons is bow and arrow; the arrow is tipped with what is called "elfstone", which renders the prey unconscious, dreaming of playing with the fairies.

The elves are the antagonists in Lords and Ladies. Fairyland and a Queen of the Elves, (but not the elves themselves), is the antagonist in The Wee Free Men.