Reading between the lines of what exists and is out there; a lot of magic schools have fire multischools
I’d argue that fire is purely elemental but can be manifested by multiple sources of magic (shafowflame, holyfire, felfire, pure fire (shamanistic))
But that’s me reading between the lines of (potentially) neglected lore bits
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This is in fact canon. The question of how mages create fire is brought up in The Last Guardian as a heavily debated topic among Kirin Tor mages.
Medivh says 1. it’s a dumb topic and doesn’t matter. The spell works; fire is created. What else do you need? And 2. Even if you were to discuss it further, everyone who believes that you “shape arcane into the properties of fire” is an idiot who should be kicked out of Kirin Tor according to Medivh. To spend so much time debating useless philosophy and arrive at the one (1) objectively false answer is the sign of a failed mage whose career is worthless.
When Khadgar presses him on it, Medivh says you obviously tap into an alternate plane of fire to draw upon (revealed to be Firelands). This is later confirmed to be true in Tides of War as Thrall is on the receiving end of Jaina’s fireballs and realises they’re enslaved to the mage’s will; they’re all real elemental spirits each and every fireball and he tries to plead them to stop but the Focusing Iris made Jaina’s hold over them too great for him to break. She also enslaved water elementals to create a tidal wave, and ripped Thrall’s water shields apart and bend them to her will.
Thrall asked the spirit of air for aid again. A gust of wind, raging at near-hurricane levels, blasted Jaina so fiercely that the mage stumbled backward, toppling to the sand. Her hand was torn from the Focusing Iris, and the whirling air snatched the words of command from her mouth.
Thrall used the precious seconds to direct his full attention to the towering wall of water. Spirit of water, struggle against this spell that enslaves you. Take my strength; use it to—
He heard and felt the heat behind him. Lamenting the need, he re-directed his imploring from the spirits of water to a spirit of fire. Thrall whirled, his hands up to do what he could to protect himself from the massive fireball hurtling toward him. The Spirit of Fire was angry and tortured, and for a moment Thrall feared it would not hear him in time
Mages use arcane magic to enslave the elements, though this is not shown to be something mages are aware of in-universe, nor do many give much thought to this. Do spell, fire is made – sometimes that’s all it needs to be (in their POV).
Jubeka’s Journal shows that some destruction warlocks also began to go down this route, though they’re very much aware of what they’re doing while enslaving the flames of Firelands to their will, and they most certainly do not care either.
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Correct. All sorts of unsavoury magics others won’t dabble in because doing so makes you a… gasp Warlock!
As for the fire, it’s demonstrably fel or drawn from the untamed chaotic conflux of the Firelands.
To further support this notion (not that it’s required at this point), there were sin’dorei “Void Warlocks” in Magister Umbric’s ranks.
If it’s powerful and falls outside of conventionally accepted kinds of study, chances are that you’ll find warlocks there.
True, your Shadow spells lie that way.
Does that mean a mage’s and a shaman’s elemental spells are basically the same? Shamans borrow magic from the elemental spirits and mages take it from the elemental planes?
They are the same thing, but how they wield them is different. Shaman ask for their consent and wield what power the spirits offer them – mages (and some warlocks) simply take it, though most mages do not know the mechanics behind their spells – it doesn’t matter to them.
Dark shaman also enslave them, but they do this with the Spirit of Decay which also corrupts the elements which is an extra step of bad.
But in the end fire is fire is fire.
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Yes, that’s exactly what happens. One barters, the other enslaves, albeit unknowingly so.
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Thanks, interesting, I spontaneously feel it’s easier to just take it without the risk of getting a no, but less polite 
There is a little down side to that, too. Chronicles 2 shows us that elemental and arcane energies are inherently incompatible. Mix them long enough and the dissonance between the energies grows large enough and results in a catastrophic explosion.
The ogres probed the Temple of Elements in Nagrand with their arcane scrying spells for several days and eventually the clashing energies leveled the temple and we’re left with the ruins we see in game.
Casting a fireball won’t do much, but if you keep at it for days you’re bound to have a disaster.
Huh, cool, good to know. Haven’t read the chronicles but they often come up as good info sources
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