If you are an elf, you can read any object with “runed” in the description (e.g. elven spears, daggers, bows, and the runed wand). Though, elves will know the identities of most of these items by default, so they won’t appear “runed”, which might defeat the purpose.

In any case, the message should be something relatively inane, like “Made in [elvish sounding place]”.

In a lot of folklore, iron wards away elves. This could be implemented in the game in several ways:

• Elves take extra damage when hit by iron. Not as much as silver, but still appreciable.
• Elven players take a small amount of damage when putting on or wielding iron gear, but get no further penalty. (dnethack hurts their regeneration rate while wearing iron, which is another option).
• Possibly some detrimental effect when wielding iron weapons as well, a to-hit or damage penalty, or negating bonuses from dexterity, strength, and skill, or something.
• This is balanced by elven racial equipment being better (not improved; it’s already better).

Elves can read the runes on any elvish weapons (and probably also the runed wand). This doesn’t have to say anything important, it could just describe the item.

Increase the Charisma cap for elves to 21. Any Charisma score over 18 may automatically frighten monsters via being so unnaturally beautiful.

Elvish players start the game with knowledge of one low-level enchantment spell that is not sleep or charm monster. They do not start with a spellbook of that spell, though. (If they get the same spell in a spellbook as a Wizard, it could either choose a different one or just not count.)

Elven priests start with an elven shield instead of a small shield.

Elven characters can read the runes on runed objects (which presumably don’t say much of interest, except possibly a runed wand will say what it is).

Orcish characters will never be able to tame elves, and elvish characters will never be able to tame orcs.

Elves get low-light vision, which doubles the radius of light sources, rather than infravision. It also gives them vision on dark squares that are orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to a lit square.

Elves should be able to squeeze between two trees diagonally.