Tolkien's Non-Humans Aren't

Elves, Dwarves and Hoblings
The non-human character "races" or ancestries in White Box and many later editions of the World's Most Popular RPG are sometimes referred to as "Tolkienesque", a term I frequently use on this blog to mean they are derived from the fiction of the good professor. There is little doubt in my mind that the popularity of the White Box has been enhanced by the inclusion of these alternate character ancestries, or races, as the game terms them. Much printed ink has been devoted over the years to what these characters should be like and how best to portray them in the game. Various descriptions have been detailed in the many game editions and in later editions additional non-human races not derived from J.R.R. Tolkien's work have been added to the list of playable characters.
Elves and dwarves of course appear in traditional fairy tales and Professor Tolkien's estate could lay no exclusive claim to the exclusive rights to such, but the estate reportedly did send Mr. Gygax and company a cease and desist letter over the appearance of the term "hobbit" (along with "balrog" and "ent") in the original printings of the 3 Little Brown Books (see Vol. 1, page 9, for example) that make up White Box. Hobbit is changed to "halfling" in the 6th printing and all subsequent editions (so as to avoid lawsuit, I suppose). I venture to speculate that the Tolkien Estate has sold quite a few copies of The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit to folks who first heard of these books (and fantasy in general)  through playing White Box or a later edition of The World's Most Popular RPG. What debt is owed to TSR for this interest is anyone's guess.
So what exactly are "elves", "dwarves" and "hob-lings" like beyond the physical descriptions and illustrations. They seem remarkably like humans to me, both in the works of the good professor and in the game. It is my position that the elves, dwarves and hoblings are stereotyped exaggerations of certain human traits often found in more moderate proportions among us living humans. Elves are wise, aloof - even haughty, tall slender, merry and somewhat flighty folk. Dwarves are short, stout, grumbling, earthy types who enjoy ale and are plagued by greed and grudge holding. Hoblings are short, worrisome, barefoot bumpkins who tend toward folksy attitudes and over eating. Yes, I can think of at least one person in my own family that resembles each of these descriptions.
The literary fictions of Professor Tolkien and the fantasy role-playing games of TSR seem to go hand-in-hand despite a higher level of magic use in the game. Inspiration for the game is drawn from the novels and interest in the novels is developed playing the game. In the 21st Century we can add the widespread viewing of the Peter Jackson films to this mix. I suppose each product benefits from the popularity of the other(s).
Those of us who role-play an elven, dwarven or hobling character may draw upon depictions encountered in novels and film when we portray our PC, but to an even greater extent we are drawing upon our experiences as human beings. Ultimately this is what J.R.R. Tolkien drew upon when writing about his characters. Our non-human "aliens" are really more human than anything else. Maybe that's why we like them so much?