Timeline for Why do Tolkien's wizards look Human, and not Elven?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 19, 2019 at 1:54 | comment | added | Anton Sherwood | There are a few scenes in canon (though I cannot point to them) where someone is unsure whether they're looking at an Elf or a Man. | |
| Jul 2, 2014 at 17:23 | comment | added | user8719 | @AvnerShahar-Kashtan - I'm not sure I fully agree with that (I tend more towards the arguments against cited in the linked essay in the accepted answer, and view the arguments for as being weak) but it doesn't really matter: pointy-eared Elves could still fall within normal species variation (we see it in dogs too). So the point (pun intended) is that Elves could be pointy-eared but despite that still be the same species as Men. | |
| Jul 2, 2014 at 16:47 | comment | added | Avner Shahar-Kashtan | Also, regarding the similarity of appearance between Men and Elves, there's this question whose answers lean faintly towards the view that Elves did after all have pointy ears | |
| Jul 2, 2014 at 15:57 | comment | added | Joe | @JimmyShelter I suppose, but the parallel seems interesting. Though off topic here I guess :) | |
| Jul 2, 2014 at 15:56 | comment | added | user8719 | @Joe - Luke is "a little short for a Stormtrooper" but he's not Yoda either. Gandalf could be 1.8 meters tall but the other 4 could still be taller. | |
| Jul 2, 2014 at 15:08 | comment | added | Joe | the shortest of them all - so Gandalf is Yoda? | |
| Jul 2, 2014 at 12:56 | comment | added | user8719 | @AvnerShahar-Kashtan - yup, that seems valid. Or like a Great Dane differs from a Jack Russell - just standard species variation. The same variation is noted in the Istari material in UT actually, so Saruman was tall and noble and black-haired, whereas Gandalf was old and bowed with age, the shortest of them all. | |
| Jul 2, 2014 at 12:09 | comment | added | Avner Shahar-Kashtan | Well, one could say that the different branches of the Human race in our Earth come in quite distinct varieties, so if Elves differ from Men as much as East Asians, for instance, differ from South Africans, then it's still a distinctive enough difference. | |
| Jul 2, 2014 at 9:47 | history | answered | user8719 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |