Corellon Larethian, the Protector and First of the Seldarine, is the creator and great guardian of the Elven people. He is the Elven deity of Magic, Music, Arts, Crafts, Poetry and Warfare, encompassing many of the things Elves consider most worthy of preservation. Corellon is both creator and defender. He teaches that the Elven people survive not merely by defending what they possess, but by continuing to create, explore and change. Art, magic, music and craftsmanship are therefore as much expressions of his divine purpose as the sword and bow. His symbol is the crescent moon, and his favoured weapon is the longsword.
Appearance
Corellon most commonly appears as an extraordinarily beautiful Elf of indeterminate age. He frequently assumes a male form but is equally capable of appearing female or possessing an appearance that combines qualities of both. This causes little theological difficulty amongst Elves. Corellon is the creator of their race and is understood to encompass within himself much of what it means to be Elven. Attempting to impose mortal limitations upon his appearance is consequently regarded as rather pointless. Whatever form Corellon assumes, there is something unmistakably regal about him. Yet his bearing is not that of a distant monarch demanding obedience. Despite his position as ruler of the Seldarine, Corellon is traditionally regarded as surprisingly humble. He frequently carries the two weapons most strongly associated with his children: the longsword and bow. Corellon may therefore appear one moment as an ethereal artist or musician and the next as an Elven warrior prepared for battle. Neither appearance is considered more authentic than the other.
Nature
Corellon is creative, protective and endlessly curious. Above all, he loves the Elven people. That love is not entirely indulgent. Corellon wishes Elves to preserve their civilisation and recover those things lost during their long history, but he does not wish them to become prisoners of that history. He warns constantly against stagnation. An Elf who spends centuries merely reproducing what previous generations accomplished has misunderstood Corellon's teachings. His followers are therefore encouraged to seek new experiences, explore unfamiliar places, develop new magic and create works of beauty that have never existed before. Corellon also teaches that threats to the Elven people may come from within as readily as without. The fall of the Drow remains the greatest warning of what can happen when corruption is ignored until it becomes impossible to contain. Consequently, protecting Elven civilisation means protecting both its people and its character.
The Protector
Corellon is not merely a patron of civilisation and art. He is also a god of war. Elves do not regard these roles as contradictory. Beauty is worth creating precisely because some things are worth defending. Corellon particularly opposes Orcs, the servants of Gruumsh, the Drow and the followers of Lolth. His ancient struggle against Gruumsh occupies a central place in Elven religious tradition, and the loss of Gruumsh's eye at Corellon's hand is remembered in ritual and legend. His faithful are expected to show courage when their people are threatened. Corellon favours those who aid others and has little regard for those who abandon their companions or flee unnecessarily from their enemies. He also regards the defilement of the dead as particularly offensive.
The dead have completed their part in the story of the Elven people. They have earned their peace.
The Church of Corellon
Of all the churches of the Seldarine, that of Corellon comes closest to possessing a genuinely universal place amongst Elves. Not every Elf is a devoted worshipper of Corellon. Many feel closer to Hanali, Erevan or another member of the Seldarine. Nevertheless, Corellon occupies a special position as the Creator and Protector of the Elven race. Elves, Half-Elves and many bards are found amongst his worshippers. His priests therefore frequently serve not merely as religious figures but as guardians of Elven history, identity and continuity.
They preserve songs and genealogies, encourage artists, teach young Elves, recover lost artefacts and advise rulers. When necessary, they also take up the sword. A temple of Corellon might consequently contain a library, an armoury, a school of music and an art gallery within the same building. Nobody involved would find this unusual.
Priests of Corellon
Corellon's priests traditionally wear silver circlets and brilliant azure robes, often accompanied by blue cloaks. Individual communities vary considerably, particularly where priests regularly travel or fight. A cleric defending an Elven settlement is unlikely to insist upon wearing delicate ceremonial robes beneath his armour merely because tradition suggests it. Corellon's clergy are expected to cultivate more than religious knowledge.
Many become accomplished musicians, poets, craftsmen, warriors or practitioners of magic. A priest who possesses no appreciation whatsoever for beauty or creativity would be considered to have missed a rather fundamental part of Corellon's teachings. Likewise, a priest interested only in art while refusing to defend the people who create it has understood little more. The ideal priest of Corellon possesses both. The hand that creates must sometimes be the hand that defends.
Temples
Corellon's temples vary enormously according to the communities that build them. In great Elven cities they may be magnificent alabaster structures with soaring spires, filled with sculpture, music and magical works accumulated across generations. In woodland settlements, a temple may instead be constructed amongst the branches of a great living tree. Neither is regarded as inherently more sacred. Corellon is also worshipped at natural geological formations. Caves, arches of stone, unusual cliffs and other places shaped by the world itself may become sacred sites. Such places are often subtly embellished rather than rebuilt. Elven artists may carve a single figure into an existing rock face or encourage flowering plants to grow around a natural arch. The intention is not to replace natural beauty. It is to answer it. Temples of Corellon traditionally offer hospitality to travelling Elves. Those of other races may also receive assistance, particularly if they are known enemies of the Drow.
Corellon and Elven Life
Corellon's rituals accompany an Elf throughout life. His priests participate in births, coming-of-age ceremonies, weddings and funerals, placing the great transitions of an individual life within the much longer story of the Elven people. This gives Corellon's clergy an unusual position. A priest might bless an infant, oversee that Elf's passage into adulthood decades later, attend their marriage a century afterwards and, perhaps centuries later still, speak at their funeral. For a long-lived people, such continuity matters. Corellon's church reminds Elves that while individual lives may be long, they remain parts of something older still.
Art, Magic and Creation
Corellon teaches his followers to bring beauty into the world through art, craft and magic. Creating something genuinely new is therefore an act of worship. A wizard developing a new spell, a smith forging an elegant blade, a poet completing a song, an architect designing a tower or a child producing their first clumsy carving may all honour Corellon through the same essential act. They have created something that did not previously exist.
The recovery of lost Elven art is equally important. Ancient wars, abandoned settlements and fallen kingdoms have scattered countless works of Elven craftsmanship across the world. Recovering such objects is regarded not merely as treasure hunting but as reclaiming pieces of the collective memory of the Elven people. Some of Corellon's followers have devoted their entire lives to doing exactly that.
Orders and Societies
One of the best known organisations associated with Corellon is the Brotherhood of Fallen Blooms, a loosely organised fellowship of Elven knights dedicated to recovering relics from abandoned Elven realms. Their expeditions may take them into ruins untouched for centuries, hostile kingdoms or lands now occupied by peoples who have little interest in returning anything. This can make the precise distinction between recovery, archaeology and theft somewhat complicated. The Fellowship generally considers the matter perfectly straightforward.
Another elite group, the Seekers of the Misty Isle, dedicates itself to discovering the lost Misty Isle, which tradition holds was spirited away through the actions of Gruumsh and Kurtulmak. Some Seekers spend decades following a single fragment of evidence. Few consider the time wasted.
Reputation
Amongst Elves, Corellon occupies a position that extends beyond ordinary religious devotion. An Elf may rarely pray to him personally yet still regard Corellon as the Father and Protector of the People. His stories explain not merely religious mysteries but aspects of Elven identity itself: why Elves create, why they value beauty, why they wield sword and bow, why Orcs and Drow inspire such ancient hostility, and why preserving the past must never become an excuse for refusing the future. Half-Elves also frequently worship him, particularly those who feel a strong connection to their Elven ancestry. Bards are naturally attracted to a deity who regards music, poetry and artistic creation as sacred. His priests are therefore generally treated with considerable respect. This does not mean Elves invariably obey them. They are still Elves.
Prayer and Battle
Formal prayers to Corellon are traditionally spoken in Elven. His rites frequently combine poetry, music and movement rather than relying upon lengthy sermons. A gathering may involve singing, dancing, displays of craftsmanship or the presentation of newly completed works of art. War has its rituals as well. Before battle, Corellon's faithful traditionally recite the Litany of Arrows, invoking the Protector before taking up their weapons.
Amongst some Elven armies the Litany is whispered individually. Amongst others, hundreds of warriors recite it together before the first arrows are loosed. Either way, its meaning is the same. Corellon is a god of beauty. That does not make him harmless.
Holy Days and Rituals
Many of Corellon's greatest holy days are governed by celestial events, some occurring only once in several years or even decades. His most important regular observance occurs each month when the moon reaches its quarter phase. This ceremony is known as Lateu'quor, the Forest Communion of the Crescent Moon. Corellon's followers gather in a moonlit glade to honour their Creator through song, dance and the presentation of beautiful works of art. Unlike many religious sacrifices, these offerings are not deliberately destroyed. Some remain to decorate Corellon's temples; others are believed to pass mysteriously into the Upper Planes, where they may be enjoyed by Elven spirits in the afterlife.
Sometimes the glade itself becomes the offering. Flowers may be planted, stones rearranged, trees carefully shaped and natural features incorporated into a work of art that may take generations to complete. There is something particularly Corellonian about this. The faithful do not merely stand before the beauty of the world and admire what their god has created. They add something of their own. Once each year, Corellon's followers also commemorate his ancient battle with Gruumsh. In Greyhawk tradition this festival is known as Agelong, and Elves traditionally hunt Orcs in remembrance of Corellon's victory over the Orc god.
Erevan teaches the Elf to remain free. Hanali teaches the Elf to love. Corellon teaches the Elf to create, remember, explore—and when necessary, defend all three.