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Soon, our knowledge of genetics will grant us the ability to recreate (at least in appearance) all the races of J.R.R. Tolkien's books and stories.
Where did people get the idea that Tolkien's elves have pointed ears? I don't think he ever mentions that particular feature. If this is one of those
occasions when I'm drastically wrong and you can prove it, please provide a source (and approximate location relative to chapter ends).
[J]utta, I don't think the upcoming movie counts as proof on this. Even if there is no reference to it in the Books, many fans would find Jackson seriously amiss if he neglected to pointify. Besides, it helps the less swift among us know that there is something different about the pointy characters, without having to know their exact ethnicity.
www.theonering.net: Do Tolkien's Elves have pointy ears?
http://greenbooks.t...299.html#pointyears
Thanks, [Haemavore]! [jutta, Jul 18 2000]
Lotr game
http://www.games-wo...niaturegallery3.htm
For those of you who don't know, to coincide with the realease of the movie Games workshop( a table top gaming company) are releasing a war game to go with it. The minatures look excellent so even if you aren't a GW fan I'd recommend getting some and maybe finding someone to paint them for you. [kaz, Jul 18 2000, last modified Oct 17 2004]
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Crush us and smash us, my precious! We hates the negative voters! We hates them FOREVER! |
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Judging by some of the victims of plastic surgery 'enhancements', I'd say that the Orcs have already arrived. Personally, I think I'd like to be a big fat Shelob lookalike. Some people say I already am. Morgoth's laughter will be your only reward for this one I'm afraid. |
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"Why do your ears look like that?" |
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"So are you supposed to be an elf or a Vulcan?" |
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Nickname aside, I haven't managed to struggle all the way through LoTR (around the introduction of Tom Bombadil, I got bored and skipped ahead to the dismemberment scene at Mount Doom). So I don't know where the pointed-ear convention came from. |
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If it's anywhere, it's probably in either The Hobbit (description of Elrond) or the Silmarillion (which talks about the creation of the elves, but I don't remember a physical description). |
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The only references to ears I can find relate to the Elves extremely sharp hearing. Perhaps literal-minded people just equate 'sharp' with 'pointy'. At the end of Appendix F in LOTR he makes a comment about their appearance (and the use of the word 'Elves') but he doesn't mention ears. |
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Footnote: I checked out the illustrations for the first Tolkien Calendar (by the Brothers Hildebrandt) and they neatly avoid the issue by giving all the elves long hair so you can't see their ears. The hobbits all have pointy ears though. Pick the bones out of that one! |
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Footnote to the Footnote: I've just realised how sad and empty my life is. Blub! |
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For me, it'd have to be PIGLIT |
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Mr T's description of the elves haveing pointie ears is actually in 'Unfinished tales'
Check out the questions and answers bit on |
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http://www.theonering.net |
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I just recently got done reading LOtR (again) and you are right. There is no mention of pointy ears in the book at all, but you must remember that as bright and imaginative as Tolkien was, he didn't conjure the idea of elves up out of thin air. Elves have been embedded in European tale and folklore for centuries and many do describe elves as having small pointy ears. I do think, though, that Tolkien did give us a more fresh (for the time) perspective on what elves are and should be in the land of fantasy. And I really think that, even though Tolkien gave us a new and closer view inside the world of elves and such, that he wouldn't, in his own mind and imagination, change a feature that has for centuries been common with the fantasy surrounding the wonderful world of elves. Cheers! |
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On the other hand, I think Tolkien was the first to give elves a body size comparable to humans, unless you count Santa Claus. I'm not really up on my elflore. So, it seems he was willing to make some major changes. |
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You're confusing elves with pixies, as far as I have read on European mythology, Elves have always been tall, slender beings, only changed in modern day translation of fairy tales etc. |
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Another thing, Goblins and Orcs are a variation on the same creature, generally depending from which country it is translated from. But in most modern day fantasy tales and games, they are completly different creatures. Again Tolkein got it right. |
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Do not ever, ever, ever, ever, ever call Tolkien "Mr. T" again... |
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One Ring to Bind them, Sucka! |
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I just want hobbit feet! Nice and furry, keeps you warm.... never have to wear shoes again! |
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In anticipation of genetics providing a pointed-ear solution too late for me, I'd pay a good deal of money to have my ears surgically made pointy!
- Andi (tsuchan@bigfoot.com) |
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[tsuchan], I know someone who will do it with a Stanley knife for fifty quid and a bottle of tonic wine. Any use? |
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"Oh God! Not another fucking elf!" |
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Why stop at Tolkien? Why not have BioJuster (The Phantom Tollbooth) or BioRowling (Harry Potter)? |
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I think they mentioned something about hobbits' ears being pointed, and thus have an Elvish quality in them...? |
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[mcscotland] what in god's name is tonic wine? |
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I'm willing to bet that elfin ear-modification becomes the next big thing after body-piercing. Look for it late 2003. |
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[notme] It's a funny tasting wine that's supposedly full of vitamins - Sanatogen make a version of it. It basically allows alcoholics to have a tipple with breakfast without feeling like saucers. |
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So its like proactive vegemite, premixed into booze? Did a halfbakery idea get out into the real world? |
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[Rayford] Strangely enough, I actually know a guy who *did* get elfin ear modification... |
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A girl that works at my local motorcycle shop has one pointed ear. She's a beautiful amazon that makes me (6'1") look short. So I figure she's probably half-elf. |
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I keep dreaming I wrote Lord of the Rings.. I guess I was Tolkien in my sleep. |
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