Re: Elliott's peoples

Sally Caves scripsit:

> How do elves get associated with pointy-ears, for instance?
It's a good question.  In one of the published letters, T describes hobbits'
ears as "only slightly pointed and 'elvish'".  While he does use scare quotes
around "elvish", I have to think that he thought of his Elves as having
them too.  I remember, decades ago, seeing a drawing on a rock somewhere
in the New World showing a humanoid with pointed ears, and thinking about
Spock and the apparent universality of this image.

> Tolkien inveighs indignantly against such interpretations of
> his elves, and insists that they have no such deformities in body or limb.
Certainly in Appendix F he makes a point of denying that Elves had wings
-- nothing is said of Balrogs, however.

--
John Cowan           http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all.  There
are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language
that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful.
        --_The Hobbit_