At 1:07 pm -0500 23/11/99, David G. Durand 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.
On this I'm in _complete_ agreement with David!
There is absolutely nothing in Tolkien to suggest this - indeed, there is
much in his writings not to suggest it from what I recall.
It had never even occurred to me that either Elves or Hobbits had pointed
ears. I thought such embellishments were reserved for inhabitants of
Vulcan & Noddy's friend "Big Ears".
>Furthermore, in "On Fairy-Stories" he expresses distaste for the concept of
>the diminutive Victorian fairies most frequently associated with pointy
>ears.
He most certainly does.
>In fact, I believe that in some of Tolkien's pictures of Bilbo, you
>can even see that his ears are round. I'd have to check to be sure, though.
I thought everything about Hobbits were round - certainly their stomachs
were :)
Ray.
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A mind which thinks at its own expense
will always interfere with language.
[J.G. Hamann 1760]
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