Do Tolkien's Elves Have Pointy Ears?
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Elf Ears (and Hobbit Ears) in Tolkien's Stories
Note: This is one of many Lord of the Rings resource pages by Tinw, a member of the lore forums of The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza. For casual or in-depth discussions of Middle-earth, please drop by!
Tolkien on Elves' Pointed Ears
LAS1-
*lassë leaf: Q lasse, N lhass; Q lasselanta leaf-fall, autumn, N lhasbelin (*lassekwelêne), cf. Q Narquelion [KWEL]. Lhasgalen Greenleaf (Gnome name of Laurelin). (Some think this is related to the next and *lassê ear. The Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than Human.)*
J.R.R.Tolkien, The Lost Road, p. 409 paperback edition.
*Note: editor Christopher Tolkien wasn't sure about the word "human", but it was confirmed in Vinyar Tengwar Issue #45.In Letters #27, Tolkien describes how he imagines hobbits. Among other characteristics, he states they have:
"A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'."
And just to give the dead horse one last thump, here's Tolkien's drawing of Mirkwood, home of Legolas, showing the leaf-shape JRRT usually uses in his art.
So there you have it. I doubt Tolkien had ears a foot long in mind, but yes, his Elves' ears were pointed.
Poll: Convinced?
Do Tolkien's Elves have pointed ears?
Amazon Spotlight: The History of Middle-Earth
The Histories of Middle Earth, Volumes 1-5
Amazon Price: $24.90 (as of 05/17/2012)
Christopher Tolkien has done fans and scholars a tremendous service by collecting, editing, and publishing his father's notes and unfinished work on Middle-earth. These books are dense in places, but if you're willing to browse, you'll learn how Tolkien came to develop his wonderful Middle-earth, its languages, legends and early history. There's some amazing stories, too, fully as vivid as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.. HOME 1-5 covers all Tolkien's writing about Middle-earth before he wrote The Lord of the Rings, and some of it is fascinating! For instance, the precursor to Sauron is a monstrous kitty cat!
More Lord of the Rings Lore Essays
Most of these are longer and more in-depth
Legolas of Mirkwood: Prince Among Equals My exhaustive biography and character analysis of Legolas, based on in-depth research of all of J.R.R. Tolkien's writings.
What Happens to Legolas in Return of the King? The fate of Legolas after the ending of The Lord of the Rings, based on Tolkien's own notes and the lost ending of The Lord of the Rings.
Elrond and Elros: The Star Twins The untold story of Elrond and his mortal twin, Elros: research into Tolkien's own writings on these two fascinating characters, plus an original short story.
Aragorn: Heir to Gondor's Throne, Or Not? Peter Jackson makes Aragorn a reluctant would-be king and scrambles his backstory. In Tolkien's story, Aragorn had every intention of claiming Gondor's throne -- but did he have the right?
The Healing Arts of Middle-Eart In-depth study of Elvish and other magical healing arts in The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other Middle-earth writings.
Arwen's True Role in The Lord of the Rings Arwen Undómiel, Aragorn's true love in The Lord of the Rings, plays a very different role in the books versus the films.
Estel: Aragorn's Secret Name Aragorn's secret Elvish name, estel, gives a powerful insight not only into his character, but Denethor's, and the whole Lord of the Rings saga.
Push Him, Elrond! Staging in Peter Jackson's staging of the Lord of the Rings backstory makes it look as if Elrond could've just killed Isildur and destroyed the Ring then and there. Here's why that couldn't have happened in the original story.
by Tinw
I'm a writer who loves the myth and magic of Tolkien's Middle-earth. Almost a decade ago, I participated in a Tolkien-inspired online community for writers,... more »
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Buy Elf Ear Tips
We all want pointy ears!
Pointy Ear Tips Woochie
Amazon Price: (as of 05/17/2012)
The only downside of these is that they're so subtle, your hair can hide them. But that does make them seem more realistic!
Over-the-ear Elf Ears
I had these as a kid
Star Trek Movie Spock Ears
Amazon Price: $1.95 (as of 05/17/2012)
These aren't quite as realistic, but with a little spirit gum, they'll stay on a kid -- in fact I wore them for several costumes as a child. They look better if you use a little make-up to add more subtle color.
(and in answer to one confused searcher who arrived on this page asking if Spock inspired Tolkien's elves: No, Star Trek was in the late 60s; depicitions of elves, fairies, and nature spirits with pointed ears are older... centuries older, in fact! The only question is whether Tollien followed the usual tradition of Elves with pointed ears, since his Elves are more human than in some flavors of Celtic mythology.)
