Re: CHAT: Tolkien (was Re: fantasy)

Ed Heil wrote:
>
> Having just done some reading up on Tolkien FAQs about all this, let
> me tell you what I found out:
>
> 1.  Tolkien doesn't say anything one way or another about pointed
> Elvish ears, but that's certainly a reasonable reading of the fact
> that the words for "ear" and "leaf" are identical or nearly so in all
> the Elvish languages.
>
        Not that much. "leaf-shaped" in Quenya comes from the root KAT. Not
very much to do with LAS... And homonyms are possible...

> 2.  In a letter giving instructions for the illustration of "The
> Hobbit," he says that Bilbo's ears are not quite as pointed as Elvish
> ears.  While he is probably talking about stereotypical rather than
> Quendi elves at this point, this seems to suggest that Hobbit ears are
> a bit pointed, and if Hobbits' are, why not Elves?
>
        Then why not humans? My point is that if the Elves had pointed ears,
why such a distinctive feature wouldn't be pointed out in LotR, whereas
everything else (particularly the fact that Elves are a bit taller than
humans, which is not that distinctive feature) is. If they had pointed
ears, the only reason why such a distinctive feature would not be
pointed out would be that it is *not* distinctive in LotR, that's to say
that all the races of LotR would have pointed ears. A little too much
for me I think. It's better to think that nobody had pointed ears. And
don't forget that "The Hobbit" and LotR are two different kinds of
books. "The Hobbit" is specifically a fairy tale written for children,
whereas LotR is absolutely not.

> So I'd say that pointy elven ears are not exactly demanded by the
> text, but they're hardly an atrocity (as making the elves tiny and
> clothed in flower-petals would have been).
>
        It is, knowing how Tolkien despised the pointed ears of the elves of
the folk view. He said it enough to consider that giving pointed ears to
Elves in LotR is not a good idea, if only to respect his memory.

> 3.  In several places Tolkien makes it very clear that Hobbits are
> supposed to be a variety of human rather than a separate entity
> altogether as are the elves and the dwarves.
>
        I think that Tolkien would have preferred a small inconstitency between
The Hobbit and LotR by giving human ears to the Hobbits than giving
pointed ears to Elves. But here it's my own and humble opinion.

> Ed
>
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        Christophe Grandsire

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