Anyone else bothered by all the blond elves in the LotR movie?

[tleilaxu]

Of course, if we are going by the old Hobbit cartoon, then elves have blue skin and look stupid.

 

[Welverin]

Of course, if we are going by the old Hobbit cartoon, then elves have blue skin and look stupid.

Let's ignore that then.

 

[Agback]

All in all, I tend to think that the elves are colored thus, hair-wise:

Silvan or Wood-elves - Blondish, strawberry blonde

Sindar - blonde or silver

Noldor - dark haired, blonde in the house of Finwe (except Feanor)

If I remember correctly it was only Finwë's descendants in 'The Golden House of Finarfin' who are blond. His descendants through Fëanor and Fingolfin by implication show the pale-with-dark-hair coloration usual to the Noldor.

Regards,


Agback

 

[ColonelHardisson]

If I remember correctly it was only Finwë's descendants in 'The Golden House of Finarfin' who are blond. His descendants through Fëanor and Fingolfin by implication show the pale-with-dark-hair coloration usual to the Noldor.

Regards,


Agback

Fingolfin was also blonde. His mother was a Vanya.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

Alone among the Noldorin Princes, he and his descendants had golden hair, derived from his mother Indis, who was a Vanyarin Elf.

Entry for "Finarfin" in the index of The Silmarillion, p.319. First American Edition, 1977. (Emphasis mine).


i.e. only Finarfin, Finrod, Orodreth, Angrod, Aegnor and Galadriel were blond.

Celebrian, presumably inherited her father's silver hair colour, not her mother's (hence the name). IIRC Arwen was definitely dark-haired. Technically all were 'descendants of Finarfin.'

Fingolfin, Fingon, Turgon, Gil-galad etc. were not golden-haired, despite descent from Indis. And Aredhel is specifically stated as having dark hair.

Note that the quote is 'among the Noldorin Princes,' however - not the Noldor in general. It's probably reasonable to assume that interbreeding between the Noldor and Vanyar wasn't that uncommon when they lived in friendship in Tirion together - maybe that's how Glorfindel fits into the scheme.

 

[Dragongirl]

All in all, I tend to think that the elves are colored thus, hair-wise:

Silvan or Wood-elves - Blondish, strawberry blonde

Sindar - blonde or silver

Noldor - dark haired, blonde in the house of Finwe (except Feanor).

I think you are missing something.
Silmarillion pg 441 "Vanyar The first host of the Eldar.....The name (singular Vanya) means 'the Fair', referring to the golden hair of the Vanyar; see Finarfin...."

so.....
1) The Vanyar were different enough with their golden hair to be named after it.
2) If it was different enough to be named for, then the other elven groups must not have had blond hair commonly. Not saying it didn't happen but at least MOST of them must not have had blond hair.

Obviously the Noldor could have intermarried more than just the famous case of Indis, but I doubt it happened enough to make most of the Noldor blond. Most of the Noldor were either dead or decided to return to Valinor at the end of the First Age after they were forgiven. So, who were the elves of Lorien? Some of course could have been Noldor following the last of the great Noldor leaders left, but I believe most would have been Sindar or Nandor.

In any case, having already established my arguement why most elves were not blond I think it was unreasonable to have EVERY single elf that was in the group that captured the company be blond.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

In any case, having already established my arguement why most elves were not blond I think it was unreasonable to have EVERY single elf that was in the group that captured the company be blond.

I don't think you established that argument. I firmly established that Thranduil was blonde, and he wasn't a Vanya, clearly. The vast majority of elves were Silvan or Wood-elves, and I still have yet to find a definitive Tolkien quote about them. Has anyone seen any of Tolkien's drawings and paintings with depictions of elves? That would be a definitive answer.

Sepulchrave, I stand corrected on that matter. Where is that quote from?

 

[Sulimo]

Entry for "Finarfin" in the index of The Silmarillion, p.319. First American Edition, 1977. (Emphasis mine).

Note that the quote is 'among the Noldorin Princes,' however - not the Noldor in general. It's probably reasonable to assume that interbreeding between the Noldor and Vanyar wasn't that uncommon when they lived in friendship in Tirion together - maybe that's how Glorfindel fits into the scheme.

I dont know about that. If there was intermarriage, I find it hard to believe that NO Vanyar went with the Noldor back to Middle Earth.

As for Glorfindel...I thought he was of the House of Finarfin.

 

[Dragongirl]

I don't think you established that argument. I firmly established that Thranduil was blonde, and he wasn't a Vanya, clearly.

I never said there were no blonds amongst the other elven peoples. Only that there would be no reason to call the Vanyar that name if they were not peculiar in being the only elven subrace to be MOSTLY blond.

 

[Agback]

i.e. only Finarfin, Finrod, Orodreth, Angrod, Aegnor and Galadriel were blond.

There are some reasons to think that there must have been other members of the House of Finarfin than those you list. For instance, the leader of the party of elves Frod, Sam, and Pippin meet in the Woody End introduces himself as "Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finarfin". His name strongly suggests that there is something golden about him.

Then there is Glorfindel, the Prince of the House of the Golden Flower in Gondolin, who was definitely blond. Is he not a prince? Is he a Vanya who went along with Turgon for reasons undisclosed? Or is he a member of the House of Finarfin?

Perhaps the marriages and children of the lesser members of the family were omitted from the genealogicl charts to make them more compact and clearer.

Regards,


Agback
Regards,