Again, from the creator of the drow, Gary Gygax (See Wikipedia: "Everything about the Dungeons & Dragons drow was invented by Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax except for the basic concept of "dark elves"): "Drow are black skinned and pale haired".
No grey, no other skin tone, just pure black. And there is not one inkling of racism in there, it's really pure mythology. Even in his inspiration (Wikipedia again): However, in the Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson wrote about the black elves: "... the dark elves however live down below the ground. ... while the dark elves are blacker than pitch." These are Svartálfar, which literally mans "black elf".
Fortunately, Gygax is a decent guy, someone we can be proud of.
At the same time, there is an "inkling" of racism. The Norse source referring to the "dark elves" being "blacker than pitch" refers to hair color, being a black-haired brunette. In context, it connotes the color black with being bleak, gloomy, and cruel. Despite the fact, the Norse text refers to hair color (a common motif including red-haired being fiery, explosive, and passionate, and fair-haired blond being calm and rational), the societal American racism in which Gygax lived assumed that black was a reference to skin color. Gygax even went so far to assert that being black-skinned was a curse (relating to American racism perceiving a skin-color curse in the biblical story of Noah, relating to Ham and Canaan). Gygax himself wasnt racist, yet he did take for granted and even perpetuate American cultural constructs that are racist. For the Norse, the hair colors among the Norse ethnicity were thought to be a marker of temperaments (corresponding blond phlegmatic, red choleric, black melancholy, and gray sanguine), not ethnicities. Note, black hair also has positive aspects, such as the nature spirit who personifies "Night", having long black hair and being calm, comforting, and protective, like a mother holding a baby wrapped in a blanket.
Fortunately, Gygax is a decent guy, someone we can be proud of.
At the same time, there is an "inkling" of racism. The Norse source referring to the "dark elves" being "blacker than pitch" refers to hair color, being a black-haired brunette.
Source ?
I think, (and I could be wrong here,) the reasoning behind this lies in etymology. Svartr refers to black objects usually things like hair or possessions like garments. Bl’ar was typically used for skin tone or pigment.. so an argument could be made that Bl’aralfar would be black skinned elves while Svart’alfar could be interpreted as black bedecked elves.
But I also admit I am no Norse Scholar at all, just a backwoods West Virginia fellow with a love of folklore and a pretty good library. (Mythology of all Races, Volume 2. Published 1930, Marshal Jones Company)
Fortunately, Gygax is a decent guy, someone we can be proud of.
At the same time, there is an "inkling" of racism. The Norse source referring to the "dark elves" being "blacker than pitch" refers to hair color, being a black-haired brunette.
Source ?
This is just what the Old Norse word means. For example, there is a famous Norwegian king called "Haraldr the Blond-hair" Haraldr Inn Hárfagri. His father who is half-Norwegian and half-Danish is called "Halfdanr the Black" Halfdanr Svarti because he has black hair. Note, despite the reputation for a high frequency of blond-hair people, Scandinavia also includes a high frequency of black-hair people.
Hmm... As a Scandinavian (Dane) I wouldn't exactly say that we have a high frequency of black haired people of native descent... There are certainly all ranges from bright blond to dark brown.. But black in the sense of asian or african hair... I don't think that's very common at all ... That is of course not to say that they don't exist(They most probably do :P ).. It's just not very common.
Fortunately, Gygax is a decent guy, someone we can be proud of.
At the same time, there is an "inkling" of racism. The Norse source referring to the "dark elves" being "blacker than pitch" refers to hair color, being a black-haired brunette.
Source ?
I think, (and I could be wrong here,) the reasoning behind this lies in etymology. Svartr refers to black objects usually things like hair or possessions like garments. Bl’ar was typically used for skin tone or pigment.. so an argument could be made that Bl’aralfar would be black skinned elves while Svart’alfar could be interpreted as black bedecked elves.
But I also admit I am no Norse Scholar at all, just a backwoods West Virginia fellow with a love of folklore and a pretty good library. (Mythology of all Races, Volume 2. Published 1930, Marshal Jones Company)
Yeah.
Generally, svartr means solid black, while blár means luminous black (a dark deep color). For example, iridescent raven feathers are called blár because the black feathers have a reflective rainbow sheen. And the underworld is called hel-blár, presumably because the blackness has a ghostly light (as seen in certain undead accompanying a gloomy lumination).
The Norse viking travelers have met African warriors and merchants, and the Norse refer to them as blár, referring to a luminous-black skin, a dark deep color.
By contrast, human jet-black hair is called svartr, solid black.
Because the Norse were skilled at cloth (wool and linen) and dyes (every color of the rainbow), the term blár originally meaning luminous black, came more and more to refer to the indigo dyes that are deep blue, with this darker color being perceived as a kind of luminous black.
Hmm... As a Scandinavian (Dane) I wouldn't exactly say that we have a high frequency of black haired people of native descent... There are certainly all ranges from bright blond to dark brown.. But black in the sense of asian or african hair... I don't think that's very common at all ... That is of course not to say that they don't exist(They most probably do :P ).. It's just not very common.
For example, Norway has a relatively high frequency of black-hair, presumably from Sámi, Irish and Scottish, and Slavs (both ancient and modern). My own family includes both white-blond and jet-black.
The Finnish too have high frequencies of both white-blond and black.
Fortunately, Gygax is a decent guy, someone we can be proud of.
At the same time, there is an "inkling" of racism. The Norse source referring to the "dark elves" being "blacker than pitch" refers to hair color, being a black-haired brunette.
Source ?
This is just what the Old Norse word means. For example, there is a famous Norwegian king called "Haraldr the Blond-hair" Haraldr Inn Hárfagri. His father who is half-Norwegian and half-Danish is called "Halfdanr the Black" Halfdanr Svarti because he has black hair. Note, despite the reputation for a high frequency of blond-hair people, Scandinavia also includes a high frequency of black-hair people.
I'm surprised, because wikipedia says: In Norse cosmology, svartálfar (O.N. "black elves", "swarthy elves", sing. svartálfr), also called myrkálfar ("dark elves", "dusky elves", "murky elves", sing. myrkálfr), are beings who dwell in Svartalfheim (Svartálf[a]heimr, "home of the black-elves"). Both the svartálfar and Svartálfaheimr are primarily attested in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.
There is not one reference to black being the colour of the hair only, whereas "swarthy elves" clearly refers to the skin color... See also here.
That term "swarthy" in a Norse context means black hair. Compare the late Scottish actor Sean Connery − he is a good example of the term "swarthy", with black hair.
Note however, the svartalfr Alvíss is said to have a "pale" nose amidst his thick black hair and beard, referring to his corpse-like sunless white skin.
So, despite the fact the Norse were sea faring and did get as far as North Africa, the dark elves were merely legends based on fellow Norsemen? It makes far more sense that those legends were based on encounters with dark skinned North Africans.
Uh, North African peoples aren't dark skinned like people from Sub-Saharan Africa. They're olive complected, like most people of the Mediterranean. Furthermore, there were Germanic peoples (the Vandals) that settled in North Africa only a few hundred years before the start of the Viking Age.
For reference, here is a map of blond hair. Note, the boundaries of blond hair overlap significantly, but seem nonidentical from the boundaries of blue eyes. Apparently, these genetic traits originated from different ethnic groups. Possibly the blue eyes come from the aboriginal yDNA I1 group, relating to paleolithic Cro-Magnum hunter-gatherer populations.
In Norse tradition there are two groups, the alfar and the dvergar, they both personify fate, apparently respectively, a good fate with wide impact versus a bad fate with little significance.
The alfar live up in the sky personifying sunrays. The dvergar live in the ground away from the light, apparently relating to mineral patterns and unusual shapes in the rock.
The alfar are somewhat like angels, in the sense of being a source of good fortune. By contrast, the dvergar are a source of bad fortune, but sometimes a bad fortune can be useful, such as harming ones opponents. These useful dvergar are nicknamed "black alfar", both from their black hair and their bleak cruel attitude − but in fact being helpful nature spirits, like the alfar are.
Snorri invented the two terms "light alfar" and "dark alfar". These words are unique to him, and he himself probably coined them. The nicknames refer to the alfar and the dvergar respectively. The names emphasize where they these nature spirits dwell. The alfar live in the sky in the light of sunrays. Like the sunrays, their hair is luminous white-blond. Their psychological temperament is calm and pleasant. By contrast, the dvergar live in the darkness, hiding from the sunlight. Like their sunless dwelling, their hair is blacker than pitch. Their psychological temperament is gloomy and cruel.
What it comes down to, is people see what they wish to see. New folks who know little to nothing about mythology look at dark elves being evil and see a racism. Folks who have been around for a while say wait a minute, this goes back to Norse mythology, long before there was racism in America. The first group don't want to hear it however, because their minds are made up.
Why don't the Duergar get the same treatment? Why don't people care they are evil? Because they aren't described as "black" or very often referred to as Dark Dwarves (dark being often used as a racial epithet). If the drow were ONLY called drow, and had always been described as deep elves, and grey in color...you wouldn't hear about this controversy.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I'd frankly rather that the retcon the apprearance of the drow than the society, if that's enough to get us off the retcon bandwagon because someone's feelie-weelies got hurt.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
The Vault of the Drow module describes the dark elves of AD&D as having bone white hair, dead black skin, and red eyes. They don't look like any real-world ethnic group or people. Who has dead black skin? Nobody.
And a curse to make them turn black? Bah, what, one source in 2E talks about that? Complete Book of Keeblers, maybe? ;) Silly surface elves believe all sorts of tommyrot, no doubt. No, it's the weird radiation of the Underdark that altered the drow's ancestors.
The Vault of the Drow module describes the dark elves of AD&D as having bone white hair, dead black skin, and red eyes. They don't look like any real-world ethnic group or people. Who has dead black skin? Nobody.
And a curse to make them turn black? Bah, what, one source in 2E talks about that? Complete Book of Keeblers, maybe? ;) Silly surface elves believe all sorts of tommyrot, no doubt. No, it's the weird radiation of the Underdark that altered the drow's ancestors.
That's not what some people wish to believe...so they choose not to believe it. They want to believe the tommyrot (great word btw) that it's a subliminal racist choice to re-inforce modern racial stereotypes.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Don't get me wrong--I will never critique another DM for deciding that his drow are gray, blue, or look like much like surface elves. Whatever works for him.
I do reject the idea that it's somehow 'racist' to have evil pitch black mutant underworld elves in a fantasy game. It isn't.
Don't get me wrong--I will never critique another DM for deciding that his drow are gray, blue, or look like much like surface elves. Whatever works for him.
I do reject the idea that it's somehow 'racist' to have evil pitch black mutant underworld elves in a fantasy game. It isn't.
That's what I reject as well. A DM should be able to describe a race however he wants to. That's part of why I /truly/ wish they had kept Nentir Vale as the default setting for 5e. That would have left them the freedom to set the lore for that world however they wanted. Eberron drow for example, i think live in the jungle rather than under ground. I have no issue with that, that's ebberon's lore.
What I have a problem with is taking FR, which has thousands of years of lore, and trashing it because...the community is failing their perception checks repeatedly.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
The Vault of the Drow module describes the dark elves of AD&D as having bone white hair, dead black skin, and red eyes. They don't look like any real-world ethnic group or people. Who has dead black skin? Nobody.
First, Vault of the Drow is not the first appearance of the drows, it's in G3, Hall of the Fire Giant King.
Second, the description is not exactly that one, it says: "They are black skinned and pale haired... Their eyes are very large, being all iris and pupil. male drows have dead black skin and dead white hair, and the irises of their eyes are orange to orange-yellow. Females... have glossy black skin and shining silvery hair. The eyes of female Drow are amber, though a few are said to possess eyes of lambent violet."
What I have a problem with is taking FR, which has thousands of years of lore, and trashing it because...the community is failing their perception checks repeatedly.
For me, the FR reap what they sow, after pillaging all the other setting to include everything willy-nilly into an already crowded setting, they are generating their own inconsistencies. I honestly don't care, for me it's not a good setting as it's too much of a mixed bag and does not have any soul left from all the plundering done. So yes, the Nentir Vales was actually not bad and sufficient to play, and also much less controversial.
I like FR just fine, but I also freely ignore or rewrite vast chunks of it when I do use it in play.
My favorite version of the setting is the Old Gray Box, but with the characters over 20th level stripped out. Bye, Elminster. For me, then, FR is basically a big, unfinished map with notes, a place to plug in homebrew and modules. A lot like a world I enjoy even more, Greyhawk.
Even in the early modules though the illustrations took a lot of liberties with Drow appearance. Now I admit I did not have the first (All B&W, 1978) runs of the modules but I do have the later (1981) collected editions with the color art on the covers.. but in those the way the Drow were depicted is kinda all over the place. In the Against the Giants collection, the male curate with the tentacle wand facing against the fighter on page 25 is drawn with no skin pigmentation and dark hair, while the illustration of the two males in the monster entry at the end of the module show the classic look most are familiar with. (P.30)
This trend continues with the D series of Modules too. In D1&2, The front page illustration by Willingham of the four Drow shows them in classic jet form (and there is even a little chest with Spiderman’s face on it!) while the Drow on page 6 seems kinda grey skinned more than jet, and the ones wielding atl atl in the monster entry are not drawn with any pigment whatsoever. The depiction of the adventuring party with the Drow prisoner however shows a jet skinned Drow with shaggy black hair. Looking at D3, the cover art by Errol Otis has a great depiction of a Priestess with a tentacle wand attacking a fighter, yet the interior front page illustration of a Priestess by Errol seems to have no pigmentation at all. The Drow Vampire on the back cover is kinda blue looking & sports a thick head of white hair in a Dan Fogleberg kinda style.
So while I wholeheartedly agree the narrative descriptions of the Drow from the onset is exactly as Lyxen describes, the illustrations varied kinda widely with a lot of liberties taken from what I can tell.
Even in the early modules though the illustrations took a lot of liberties with Drow appearance. Now I admit I did not have the first (All B&W, 1978) runs of the modules but I do have the later (1981) collected editions with the color art on the covers.. but in those the way the Drow were depicted is kinda all over the place. In the Against the Giants collection, the male curate with the tentacle wand facing against the fighter on page 25 is drawn with no skin pigmentation and dark hair, while the illustration of the two males in the monster entry at the end of the module show the classic look most are familiar with.
To the best of my knowledge, no one has yet published the original tournament copy of G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King. Its entirely possible that, at least at that time, the Drow as we know them were not part of the module and the tentacle rod-wielding elf vs fighter drawing might have been of a surface Elf and was too far along before the change to make them Drow came down. Or the Drow had not been conceived as having inky-black skin yet and more like the pale skin of Melnibonéans. Elric was a major influence on early Dungeons & Dragons and Drow very much so are like the people of the City of Imyr (being aligned with Chaos, indulging in new ways of seeking both pleasure and pain, utterly debauched). While its a long shot, I would point out that the tournament copy of The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth (note the alternate spelling) was for WinterCon V Gamefest in '76 and Iggwilv was a male Archmage and it was set in Perrunland (in other words, set in the proto-GreyhawkDomesday Map of the Great Kingdom & Environs). Against the Giants may have gone through a similar revision before publication.
Fortunately, Gygax is a decent guy, someone we can be proud of.
At the same time, there is an "inkling" of racism. The Norse source referring to the "dark elves" being "blacker than pitch" refers to hair color, being a black-haired brunette. In context, it connotes the color black with being bleak, gloomy, and cruel. Despite the fact, the Norse text refers to hair color (a common motif including red-haired being fiery, explosive, and passionate, and fair-haired blond being calm and rational), the societal American racism in which Gygax lived assumed that black was a reference to skin color. Gygax even went so far to assert that being black-skinned was a curse (relating to American racism perceiving a skin-color curse in the biblical story of Noah, relating to Ham and Canaan). Gygax himself wasnt racist, yet he did take for granted and even perpetuate American cultural constructs that are racist. For the Norse, the hair colors among the Norse ethnicity were thought to be a marker of temperaments (corresponding blond phlegmatic, red choleric, black melancholy, and gray sanguine), not ethnicities. Note, black hair also has positive aspects, such as the nature spirit who personifies "Night", having long black hair and being calm, comforting, and protective, like a mother holding a baby wrapped in a blanket.
he / him
I think, (and I could be wrong here,) the reasoning behind this lies in etymology. Svartr refers to black objects usually things like hair or possessions like garments. Bl’ar was typically used for skin tone or pigment.. so an argument could be made that Bl’aralfar would be black skinned elves while Svart’alfar could be interpreted as black bedecked elves.
But I also admit I am no Norse Scholar at all, just a backwoods West Virginia fellow with a love of folklore and a pretty good library.
(Mythology of all Races, Volume 2. Published 1930, Marshal Jones Company)
This is just what the Old Norse word means. For example, there is a famous Norwegian king called "Haraldr the Blond-hair" Haraldr Inn Hárfagri. His father who is half-Norwegian and half-Danish is called "Halfdanr the Black" Halfdanr Svarti because he has black hair. Note, despite the reputation for a high frequency of blond-hair people, Scandinavia also includes a high frequency of black-hair people.
he / him
Hmm... As a Scandinavian (Dane) I wouldn't exactly say that we have a high frequency of black haired people of native descent... There are certainly all ranges from bright blond to dark brown.. But black in the sense of asian or african hair... I don't think that's very common at all ... That is of course not to say that they don't exist(They most probably do :P ).. It's just not very common.
Yeah.
Generally, svartr means solid black, while blár means luminous black (a dark deep color). For example, iridescent raven feathers are called blár because the black feathers have a reflective rainbow sheen. And the underworld is called hel-blár, presumably because the blackness has a ghostly light (as seen in certain undead accompanying a gloomy lumination).
The Norse viking travelers have met African warriors and merchants, and the Norse refer to them as blár, referring to a luminous-black skin, a dark deep color.
By contrast, human jet-black hair is called svartr, solid black.
Because the Norse were skilled at cloth (wool and linen) and dyes (every color of the rainbow), the term blár originally meaning luminous black, came more and more to refer to the indigo dyes that are deep blue, with this darker color being perceived as a kind of luminous black.
he / him
For example, Norway has a relatively high frequency of black-hair, presumably from Sámi, Irish and Scottish, and Slavs (both ancient and modern). My own family includes both white-blond and jet-black.
The Finnish too have high frequencies of both white-blond and black.
he / him
That term "swarthy" in a Norse context means black hair. Compare the late Scottish actor Sean Connery − he is a good example of the term "swarthy", with black hair.
Note however, the svartalfr Alvíss is said to have a "pale" nose amidst his thick black hair and beard, referring to his corpse-like sunless white skin.
he / him
Uh, North African peoples aren't dark skinned like people from Sub-Saharan Africa. They're olive complected, like most people of the Mediterranean. Furthermore, there were Germanic peoples (the Vandals) that settled in North Africa only a few hundred years before the start of the Viking Age.
For reference, here is a map of blond hair. Note, the boundaries of blond hair overlap significantly, but seem nonidentical from the boundaries of blue eyes. Apparently, these genetic traits originated from different ethnic groups. Possibly the blue eyes come from the aboriginal yDNA I1 group, relating to paleolithic Cro-Magnum hunter-gatherer populations.
he / him
In Norse tradition there are two groups, the alfar and the dvergar, they both personify fate, apparently respectively, a good fate with wide impact versus a bad fate with little significance.
The alfar live up in the sky personifying sunrays. The dvergar live in the ground away from the light, apparently relating to mineral patterns and unusual shapes in the rock.
The alfar are somewhat like angels, in the sense of being a source of good fortune. By contrast, the dvergar are a source of bad fortune, but sometimes a bad fortune can be useful, such as harming ones opponents. These useful dvergar are nicknamed "black alfar", both from their black hair and their bleak cruel attitude − but in fact being helpful nature spirits, like the alfar are.
Snorri invented the two terms "light alfar" and "dark alfar". These words are unique to him, and he himself probably coined them. The nicknames refer to the alfar and the dvergar respectively. The names emphasize where they these nature spirits dwell. The alfar live in the sky in the light of sunrays. Like the sunrays, their hair is luminous white-blond. Their psychological temperament is calm and pleasant. By contrast, the dvergar live in the darkness, hiding from the sunlight. Like their sunless dwelling, their hair is blacker than pitch. Their psychological temperament is gloomy and cruel.
he / him
What it comes down to, is people see what they wish to see. New folks who know little to nothing about mythology look at dark elves being evil and see a racism. Folks who have been around for a while say wait a minute, this goes back to Norse mythology, long before there was racism in America. The first group don't want to hear it however, because their minds are made up.
Why don't the Duergar get the same treatment? Why don't people care they are evil? Because they aren't described as "black" or very often referred to as Dark Dwarves (dark being often used as a racial epithet). If the drow were ONLY called drow, and had always been described as deep elves, and grey in color...you wouldn't hear about this controversy.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I'd frankly rather that the retcon the apprearance of the drow than the society, if that's enough to get us off the retcon bandwagon because someone's feelie-weelies got hurt.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
The Vault of the Drow module describes the dark elves of AD&D as having bone white hair, dead black skin, and red eyes. They don't look like any real-world ethnic group or people. Who has dead black skin? Nobody.
And a curse to make them turn black? Bah, what, one source in 2E talks about that? Complete Book of Keeblers, maybe? ;) Silly surface elves believe all sorts of tommyrot, no doubt. No, it's the weird radiation of the Underdark that altered the drow's ancestors.
That's not what some people wish to believe...so they choose not to believe it. They want to believe the tommyrot (great word btw) that it's a subliminal racist choice to re-inforce modern racial stereotypes.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Don't get me wrong--I will never critique another DM for deciding that his drow are gray, blue, or look like much like surface elves. Whatever works for him.
I do reject the idea that it's somehow 'racist' to have evil pitch black mutant underworld elves in a fantasy game. It isn't.
That's what I reject as well. A DM should be able to describe a race however he wants to. That's part of why I /truly/ wish they had kept Nentir Vale as the default setting for 5e. That would have left them the freedom to set the lore for that world however they wanted. Eberron drow for example, i think live in the jungle rather than under ground. I have no issue with that, that's ebberon's lore.
What I have a problem with is taking FR, which has thousands of years of lore, and trashing it because...the community is failing their perception checks repeatedly.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Good catch. Thanks for the correction!
I like FR just fine, but I also freely ignore or rewrite vast chunks of it when I do use it in play.
My favorite version of the setting is the Old Gray Box, but with the characters over 20th level stripped out. Bye, Elminster. For me, then, FR is basically a big, unfinished map with notes, a place to plug in homebrew and modules. A lot like a world I enjoy even more, Greyhawk.
Even in the early modules though the illustrations took a lot of liberties with Drow appearance. Now I admit I did not have the first (All B&W, 1978) runs of the modules but I do have the later (1981) collected editions with the color art on the covers.. but in those the way the Drow were depicted is kinda all over the place. In the Against the Giants collection, the male curate with the tentacle wand facing against the fighter on page 25 is drawn with no skin pigmentation and dark hair, while the illustration of the two males in the monster entry at the end of the module show the classic look most are familiar with. (P.30)
This trend continues with the D series of Modules too. In D1&2, The front page illustration by Willingham of the four Drow shows them in classic jet form (and there is even a little chest with Spiderman’s face on it!) while the Drow on page 6 seems kinda grey skinned more than jet, and the ones wielding atl atl in the monster entry are not drawn with any pigment whatsoever. The depiction of the adventuring party with the Drow prisoner however shows a jet skinned Drow with shaggy black hair. Looking at D3, the cover art by Errol Otis has a great depiction of a Priestess with a tentacle wand attacking a fighter, yet the interior front page illustration of a Priestess by Errol seems to have no pigmentation at all. The Drow Vampire on the back cover is kinda blue looking & sports a thick head of white hair in a Dan Fogleberg kinda style.
So while I wholeheartedly agree the narrative descriptions of the Drow from the onset is exactly as Lyxen describes, the illustrations varied kinda widely with a lot of liberties taken from what I can tell.
To the best of my knowledge, no one has yet published the original tournament copy of G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King. Its entirely possible that, at least at that time, the Drow as we know them were not part of the module and the tentacle rod-wielding elf vs fighter drawing might have been of a surface Elf and was too far along before the change to make them Drow came down. Or the Drow had not been conceived as having inky-black skin yet and more like the pale skin of Melnibonéans. Elric was a major influence on early Dungeons & Dragons and Drow very much so are like the people of the City of Imyr (being aligned with Chaos, indulging in new ways of seeking both pleasure and pain, utterly debauched). While its a long shot, I would point out that the tournament copy of The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth (note the alternate spelling) was for WinterCon V Gamefest in '76 and Iggwilv was a male Archmage and it was set in Perrunland (in other words, set in the proto-Greyhawk Domesday Map of the Great Kingdom & Environs). Against the Giants may have gone through a similar revision before publication.