Re: CHAT: Tolkien (was Re: fantasy)

David G. Durand <david@...> wrote:

> I've never understood the pointy-ear obsession. There's no textual support
> for the presence on pointy ears on Hobbits or Elves or any of the Races of
> middle-earth, and there are also long physical descriptions that would
> include such a detail if it were in fact intended.
I read somewhere that someone supported this pointy-ear theory
for etymological reasons. The roots (Sindarin, and probably Quenya
too) for 'leaf' and 'ear' (or 'hear') are similar (LAS or LHAS?),
so this theory suggested that ears were pointed because they were
originally seen to have the same shape as leaves (of course this
assumes all leaves are pointed!). Tolkien seems to have revised
those roots then (see http://move.to/ardalambion/lh-rh.htm),
especifically because of that clash (he didn't love homonyms,
I guess).


--Pablo Flores
  http://draseleq.conlang.org/