Elves--how much do they know about their own race?

One of my players had his original character retire, and he’s now playing an elf, and I’d love some help in thinking about what he should know. (Or pointing out what I may have missed in the adventure.) Specifically:

What do elves eat if they don’t usually eat man food?
Does an elf know how he was “born”?
How much does a PC elf know about his own race’s history?

I’m thinking that the elf doesn’t really need to eat and only does so when pressed to by social circumstances. But the other two questions leave me a little stumped. How are others handling what their players know about elves?

It’s my understanding that a lot of the things that define Dwimmermount elves actually had a player-based origin, being conceptualized by the player who ran Dordagdonar in JM’s campaign.

So I would say that the characters certainly know these things, but I’m not sure if the players need to. If it becomes important I’d clue them in, but otherwise I’d leave it vague to maintain the mystery, which in my experience has been one of the most important factors in distinguishing Dwimmermount from other megadungeons.

This hasn’t been an issue in my game - my players have an elven retainer but all PCs are human - so you may have more insight than I do. This is just my initial gut reaction to how I would handle an elven PC. You know your players - do what will be the most fun for them.

What do elves eat if they don’t usually eat man food?
Elven food!

Does an elf know how he was “born”?
I would say no. It occurred when he was an infant. Only elder elves participate in the rituals. Etc.

How much does a PC elf know about his own race’s history?
Only the information provided in the elven player starting information and various rumors etc.

I’ve kind of been sketchy on the details for my player, but it does lead me to wonder what elven communities are like. I guess “the elders brought you” is as good as “the stork brought you.”

One further question. Do the off-screen elves (the ones that gave “birth” to a PC, for example) use different mechanics for elf creation than the rules listed in the Appendix? There it says that newly “born” elves cease aging. So if an elf was born as an infant, wouldn’t he still be an infant?

I realize I’m probably being pedantic here. And, frankly, my players have been far less curious about elves than I expected them to be, so all of this may be moot.
–Berc

My pedantic answer would be that “growth” is different from “aging”. Growth is the natural development of an organism. Aging is the accumulation of damage to the body over time. So an infant elf would grow into a mature healthy elf (resembling a fit twentysomething).

I imagine the secret of elven initiation to be something akin to the old tribal secrets. “Stare into the sun until you go blind and then you will know what I, your shaman, know, about the spirit world.” “I’m blind and there’s nothing.” “Now you are wise, my son.”