Question to tolkien scholars...

[Tsyr]

Question: Did Tolkien's elves actualy have pointed ears? I've got a somewhat-tolkien-scholar here insisting that the movie messed up in that regard...

If so, please provide a source I can cite...

 

[Umbran]

Tolkien was many things, but a great describer of character physical details was not one of them. He only rarely goes so far as to mention something like hair or eye color or skin tone, and then only in very general terms. So, I'm not sure he ever said anything about whether or not the ears had points.

I took at glance at Fellowship and the Silmarillion, to see if those things get mentioned the first time elves are seen, and they aren't mentioned.

But then again, I'll betcha Tolkien also doesn't specifically say they have five fingers and/or toes. I dunno if he ever actually mentions the presence of an elven nose.

However, he's a scholar of language and mythology, and he does use the term "elf". For a briton, that word was defined long before Tolkien wrote, and the standard British elf does have pointed ears. If he fails to contradict it, it's fairly safe to assume the points are correct.

 

[Tsyr]

He claims it says in the Sillmarilion that elves look "exactly like men"... I don't buy that it says it so plainly, but I havn't read the Silmarilion all that closely.

 

[KenM]

I'm not that fond of Toliken as a writer, I also know there is a great debate on weather or not the Balrog has wings.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

In "The Etymologies", a very important work for the study of Tolkien's Elvish languages, first published in The Lost Road (1987), the two entries given for the elvish element "las" show that "las", as in the Quenya *lasse, meaning "leaf", is possibly related to "las" meaning "listen", and *lasse meaning "ear". Tolkien wrote: "The Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than [?human]" (The reading of the last word is uncertain in the lightly pencilled manuscript.)

This comes from The One Ring's Q&A archive, here.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Question: Did Tolkien's elves actualy have pointed ears? I've got a somewhat-tolkien-scholar here insisting that the movie messed up in that regard...

If so, please provide a source I can cite...

The Tolkien Society has this subject in their FAQ. They write:

Do Tolkien's Elves and Hobbits have pointed ears?

Yes, they do. This has become a minor moot point, as pointed ears are not mentioned in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings anywhere. However, Tolkien mentioned Hobbit ears in The Letters of JRR Tolkien, letter 27: ... ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish' ... This letter is a good description of Hobbits all round.

Elf-ears are covered in The Lost Road (History of Middle-earth Volume V): The Etymologies, under LAS-(1) - (*lasse leaf): The Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than [?human]. This is then related to LAS-(2) 'listen', and words about ears.

It's not clear why Tolkien chose to give his elves and Hobbits pointed ears; still less why people thought so prior to the publication of Letters and the HoME series. Some literary and artistic traditions, going back many centuries, prefer to attribute to non-human beings animal-type ears. This appears to have introduced pointed ears as an artistic tradition for fairy beings. Some of Tolkien's Hobbit illustrations may show Bilbo with pointed ears, though it is very hard to tell through the small detail and curly Hobbit hair.

 

[Angcuru]

The reason that elves have pointed ears, IMO(with an added Tolkienist perspective), could be one of 3 things, or all 3, depending.

1 - Elves have a very acute sense of hearing, and seeing as all animals with super-fine hearing have ears that taper to a point, he applies this to the elves.

2 - It's all about the hair. Since all elves are inherently comely/handsome, long, flowing hair became the standard by which they judge beauty from elf to elf. Tolkien's elves get excited just THINKING about long hair, the longer the better. Elf w/ mid-back-hair = Real nice lookin'. Elf with waist-length hair = Super-Nice Lookin'. Elf with knee-length hair = OMG SHE'S HOT! Elf w/ Uber-long hair that trails along behind them as they walk = DROOL!. My point is that they need something to keep all that hair behind them, instead of all over the place. Pointy ears serve as hair-holders, keeping all that goodness out of their faces.

3 - Besides being really beautiul, Tolkien needs to give the elves a trait the distinguishes them from humans on sight. Ears are really obvious, so...there ya go.

I think all three work fine.

 

[Turin Turambar]

I am a Tolkien fan/nut.. but I just had to say this...

Maybe all Elves came from Vulcan??

 

[Robbert Raets]

Maybe all Elves came from Vulcan??

I don't see Elrond and Galadriel doin' mind melds or nerve pinches, do you?!

 

[Orius]

Question: Did Tolkien's elves actualy have pointed ears? I've got a somewhat-tolkien-scholar here insisting that the movie messed up in that regard...

If so, please provide a source I can cite...

It's a point of contention amoung Tolkien fans. Some say elves have pointed ears, others say they don't. I don't think there's any real consensus, sort of like whether or not dwarven women have beards.