Dark elf
From WoWWiki
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Dark elves were elves but not like high elves. They were beautiful in their own way, too, but it was a cold, haughty beauty, one that in the end, repelled... The beauty of the dark elves, was said to be almost as chill as Deathwing's voice, if not colder. They were lesser beings, with minute lifespans, and quick to rashness, plunging into what was believed too great a risk. In their folly, they brought demons.DotD 160, 161 Perhaps this is the race that spoke the fourth elven dialect, Elven on Mount Hyjal.CoH 67LoM 17
Early maps show dark elves as living in north eastern Kalimdor near mount Hyjal.
Speculation
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It should not be taken as representing official lore! |
It's hinted that the dark elves, possibly along with others (the book says, "others came, lesser forms, mynute life spans"DotD 161), had something to do with releasing the Burning Legion on Azeroth. This could mean several different things, perhaps the dark elves were the tribe of nocturnal humanoids by the Well of Eternity that became the immortal night elves, perhaps it's a reference to the night elves themselves (ignoring the fact that dark elves are apparently mortal and have limited lifespans in constrast to the night elves immortality), or its another name for the highborne elves, the quel'dorei the ruling class of the night elves that later became the high elves.
According to references made on the The Making of World of Warcraft dvd, night elves were based off of the dark elves in other fantasy settings (especially the drow from DnD), but their personality and culture were made to be the direct opposites of the cultures and personality of dark elves. This is possible evidence that they were once called dark elves in early development before they decided upon the term night elves.
It also seems that high elves have the potential to become dark elves through use of necromancy, see Ul'haik Hadanot. So the potential exists that they originated from corrupted elves, much like the Highborne race.
Trivia
In Tolkien, the dark elves (the Moriquendi) are elves that did not join the Great Journey over the sea and behold the light of the two trees of Valinor. They are more similar to night elves in that they are not evil.
Dark elves are known as a class of elves living underground in Old Norse mythology. They are subterranean creatures like some dwarves.[1]
Dark elves, or drow, are a generally evil, dark-skinned subrace of elves in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. They were forced underground after a great war between elves.
In Dungeons and Dragons fantasy settings dark elves speak undercommon.
