----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Jones" <devobratus@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2003 9:21 AM
Subject: Re: Elliott's peoples
> Sally Caves wrote:
> >How do elves get associated with pointy-ears, for instance? In some
letter
> >of his, IIRC, Tolkien inveighs indignantly against such interpretations
of
> >his elves, and insists that they have no such deformities in body or
limb.
> >And I think it was about things like pointy-ears, not the diminished
size.
>
> But in the Etymologies, didn't Tolkien himself comment upon the
> similarities of the roots for "leaf" and "ear" (both LAS-, IIRC), saying
> that the Quendi's ears were "leaf-like"? Thus, "pointy"?
>
> Dan
You can get round leaves. Not very common, though. He could have meant
that they are thin.