Elves and Blood Magic

There is little lore about the origins of Blood Magic and the use of it amongst the elvhen is limited, however it does exist. There is not the biased fear of it that The Chantry and humans hold, but more of a healthy respect taught by Keepers of demons and what they can do. There is clear recognition of what an abomination is, and it is the clan's responsibility to hunt and kill it if someone should submit. Any reluctance to turn to blood magic again comes from the need to preserve the Clan. The elves are dwindling, and thus they simply cannot afford to lose more people to recklessness. Therefore, while they may have no problem turning to blood magic if the need is great enough they tend to avoid it on the whole – they cannot risk losing a Keeper, First and clan members in the killing of an abomination.

The type of blood magic used is similar, but not only limited, to what Zathrian and Merrill do, which shows a deep understanding of the denizens of the Fade and a great amount of control. Keepers are able to seal demons and open and close (small) tears to The Fade, for example. This points to a greater knowledge then even The Tevinter Imperium has.

Historians argue on this point, suggesting the Imperium's mages may have actually learned it from the elves of Arlathan, since stories claim that ancient elves once possessed immortality. This suggests that such magic originates from the elves and thus it stands to reason that even with their lost lore they have a greater understanding of the magic and use it sparingly, in spells such as the Dalish: Rite of Vallaslin. The magic may have originally been taught by denizens of the Fade, but the elves seem to not distinguish as much between “demons” and “spirits” but rather see them as merely “malignant” or “benign”. Even the benign are dangerous and so they treat these Fade denizens with respect and caution. We know from Zathrien’s experiences and from the Lady of the forest that the lines between “good “ and “evil” are blurred and thus blood magic amongst the elves is not forbidden but neither is it encouraged.

Ancient elvhen may have used blood magic and spirit magic to create artefacts that are found in Thedas today. The theory is that the power of blood is used to infuse spirit to the weapon, or armour or item and this enchants the object. In Arlathan all elves could use magic and it is theorized that craftmasters were also enchanters and this is why ancient elvhen weapons are magical. We only need to look at the lore on arcana warriors to see this link between magic and melee fighting is strong. Some of the weapons Dalish craftmasters make today are the same design, handed down or rediscovered over time, as the ancient weapons – only missing the enchantment and blood magic needed to finish the creation of such weapons and armour and items.