Tolkien Gateway - User contributions [en]

Elven characteristics

2008-03-14T20:12:39Z

147.236.238.33: /* Hair colour */

:[[Image:Merge-arrows.gif]] ''This page should be [[Tolkien Gateway:Duplicate articles|merged]] with ''[[Elves]].
[[Category:Articles to be merged|{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Image:Piotr Wysocki - Last Elf.jpg|thumb|''Last Elf'' by Piotr Wysocki]]
The Elves were a far more beautiful race than Men, and generally taller. Among them, those who had gone to Valinor were the fairest and had the greatest skill of body.

=== Pointed ears ===
There are no explicit references to pointed Elvish ears in ''The Lord of the Rings'' or ''[[The Silmarillion]]''. It was stated elsewhere that "the Quendian (Elvish) ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than Human." However, practical considerations, including a number of occasions where Men were mistaken for Elves (most notably [[Túrin Turambar]]), suggest that the points must have been subtle.

=== Hair colour ===
Elven hair colour is quite varied and complex. In general, the [[Vanyar]] were golden-haired, and the other Elves (including [[Noldor]], [[Sindar]], and [[Avari]]) had dark or even black hair, although some of the Teleri had silver hair. [[Lúthien Tinúviel]] and her remote descendant [[Arwen Undómiel]], both described as the fairest of all Elves, were dark haired.

This is not the full picture, however: [[Finarfin]], the youngest son of [[Finwë]], and his descendants (such as [[Galadriel]]) had golden hair on account of Finwë's second wife, [[Indis]] of the Vanyar. [[Idril]], the daughter of [[Turgon]], had golden hair inherited from her mother, [[Elenwë]] of the Vanyar. Even the sons of [[Fëanor]], the eldest Noldorin prince, were not all dark-haired: [[Maedhros]] and the twins [[Amrod]] and [[Amras]] had auburn hair, from their grandfather [[Mahtan]]. Fëanor's son [[Celegorm]] had blond hair, thus his epithet ''the Fair'' in contrast to his brother, [[Caranthir]] ''the Dark''.

Additionally, a silver hair colour existed in the royal houses of the Sindar, with [[Thingol]], [[Círdan]], and [[Celeborn]] all described as having silver hair. [[Galadriel]] displayed an extremely rare hair colour nowhere else observed: "silver-golden" hair, said to be dazzlingly beautiful ("blending the light of the [[Two Trees]], [[Telperion]] and [[Laurelin]]"), which may have been a result of her unusual mixed Noldoin-Vanyarin-Telerin heritage (her mother was the niece of [[Thingol]]). Thranduil, father of Legolas and a Sindarin Elf, is described as having blond hair in ''The Hobbit'', but his son Legolas' own hair colour is not recorded.

===Eye colour===
When Tolkien describes Elven eyes, they tend to be grey. This is certainly true of Lúthien (and her descendants: [[Elrond]], Arwen and her brothers, and [[Aragorn]] and the Dúnedain). [[Voronwë]], who guided the man [[Tuor]] to Gondolin, also had grey eyes.

Though he was half-Noldorin, [[Maeglin]] is said to have dark eyes (possibly from his father [[Eöl]], who was not of the Noldor), while [[Olwë]] (the brother of Lúthien's father [[Thingol]], and a Telerin king) had blue eyes. The eye colour of most other Elves is not mentioned, and so would be difficult to generalize.

===Androgyny===
Because of their (typical) beardlessness and beauty, the Elves are sometimes perceived as androgynous. However, they were probably not meant to be so; Legolas was described in the following way:

<blockquote>''"He was tall as a young tree, lithe, immensely strong, able swiftly to draw a great war-bow and shoot down a Nazgûl, endowed with the tremendous vitality of Elvish bodies, so hard and resistant to hurt that he went only in light shoes over rock or through snow, the most tireless of all the Fellowship."'' (''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'' Volume 2) </blockquote>

Elven characteristics

2008-03-14T20:11:33Z

147.236.238.33: /* Hair colour */

:[[Image:Merge-arrows.gif]] ''This page should be [[Tolkien Gateway:Duplicate articles|merged]] with ''[[Elves]].
[[Category:Articles to be merged|{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Image:Piotr Wysocki - Last Elf.jpg|thumb|''Last Elf'' by Piotr Wysocki]]
The Elves were a far more beautiful race than Men, and generally taller. Among them, those who had gone to Valinor were the fairest and had the greatest skill of body.

=== Pointed ears ===
There are no explicit references to pointed Elvish ears in ''The Lord of the Rings'' or ''[[The Silmarillion]]''. It was stated elsewhere that "the Quendian (Elvish) ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than Human." However, practical considerations, including a number of occasions where Men were mistaken for Elves (most notably [[Túrin Turambar]]), suggest that the points must have been subtle.

=== Hair colour ===
Elven hair colour is quite varied and complex. In general, the [[Vanyar]] were golden-haired, and the other Elves (including [[Noldor]], [[Sindar]], and [[Avari]]) had dark or even black hair, although some of the Teleri had silver hair. [[Lúthien Tinúviel]] and her remote descendant [[Arwen Undómiel]], both described as the fairest of all Elves, were dark haired.

This is not the full picture, however: [[Finarfin]], the youngest son of [[Finwë]], and his descendants (such as [[Galadriel]]) had blond hair on account of Finwë's second wife, [[Indis]] of the Vanyar. [[Idril]], the daughter of [[Turgon]], had golden hair inherited from her mother, [[Elenwë]] of the Vanyar. Even the sons of [[Fëanor]], the eldest Noldorin prince, were not all dark-haired: [[Maedhros]] and the twins [[Amrod]] and [[Amras]] had auburn hair, from their grandfather [[Mahtan]]. Fëanor's son [[Celegorm]] had blond hair, thus his epithet ''the Fair'' in contrast to his brother, [[Caranthir]] ''the Dark''.

Additionally, a silver hair colour existed in the royal houses of the Sindar, with [[Thingol]], [[Círdan]], and [[Celeborn]] all described as having silver hair. [[Galadriel]] displayed an extremely rare hair colour nowhere else observed: "silver-golden" hair, said to be dazzlingly beautiful ("blending the light of the [[Two Trees]], [[Telperion]] and [[Laurelin]]"), which may have been a result of her unusual mixed Noldoin-Vanyarin-Telerin heritage (her mother was the niece of [[Thingol]]). Thranduil, father of Legolas and a Sindarin Elf, is described as having blond hair in ''The Hobbit'', but his son Legolas' own hair colour is not recorded.

===Eye colour===
When Tolkien describes Elven eyes, they tend to be grey. This is certainly true of Lúthien (and her descendants: [[Elrond]], Arwen and her brothers, and [[Aragorn]] and the Dúnedain). [[Voronwë]], who guided the man [[Tuor]] to Gondolin, also had grey eyes.

Though he was half-Noldorin, [[Maeglin]] is said to have dark eyes (possibly from his father [[Eöl]], who was not of the Noldor), while [[Olwë]] (the brother of Lúthien's father [[Thingol]], and a Telerin king) had blue eyes. The eye colour of most other Elves is not mentioned, and so would be difficult to generalize.

===Androgyny===
Because of their (typical) beardlessness and beauty, the Elves are sometimes perceived as androgynous. However, they were probably not meant to be so; Legolas was described in the following way:

<blockquote>''"He was tall as a young tree, lithe, immensely strong, able swiftly to draw a great war-bow and shoot down a Nazgûl, endowed with the tremendous vitality of Elvish bodies, so hard and resistant to hurt that he went only in light shoes over rock or through snow, the most tireless of all the Fellowship."'' (''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'' Volume 2) </blockquote>

Tindómiel

2008-03-14T14:19:20Z

147.236.238.33: /* Etymology */

{{numenorean
| image=
| name=Tindómiel
| othernames=
| birth=Early [[Second Age]]
| rule=
| death=
| age=
| party=
| language=
| gender=Female
| height=
| hair=
| eyes=
| parentage=[[Elros Tar-Minyatur|Elros]]
| siblings=[[Vardamir Nólimon|Vardamir]], [[Atanalcar]], [[Manwendil]]
| spouse=
| children=
|}}
'''Tindómiel''' was the second child, and only daughter, of [[Elros Tar-Minyatur]], the first [[King of Númenor]]. Almost nothing is known about her life.

==Etymology==
Her name means "Morning Star" in [[Quenya]] (an assimilation of ''[[tindómë]]'' = "twilight of dawn" and ''[[el]]'' = "star").

== Genealogy ==
<code>
[[Elros Tar-Minyatur]]
|
____________________|_________________
| | | |
| | | |
[[Vardamir Nólimon]] '''TINDÓMIEL''' [[Manwendil]] [[Atanalcar]]
|
|
[[Tar-Amandil]]
</code>

[[Category:Númenóreans]]

El

2008-03-14T14:18:00Z

147.236.238.33:

"El" is the Quenya word for "star". It was the first word that the elves that awoke in Cuivienen spoke, and was initially an exclamation sound made by them as they first opened their eyes, for the stars were the first thing that they saw.

Tindómiel

2008-03-14T14:15:23Z

147.236.238.33: /* Etymology */

{{numenorean
| image=
| name=Tindómiel
| othernames=
| birth=Early [[Second Age]]
| rule=
| death=
| age=
| party=
| language=
| gender=Female
| height=
| hair=
| eyes=
| parentage=[[Elros Tar-Minyatur|Elros]]
| siblings=[[Vardamir Nólimon|Vardamir]], [[Atanalcar]], [[Manwendil]]
| spouse=
| children=
|}}
'''Tindómiel''' was the second child, and only daughter, of [[Elros Tar-Minyatur]], the first [[King of Númenor]]. Almost nothing is known about her life.

==Etymology==
Her name means "Morning Star" in [[Quenya]] (an assimilation of ''[[tindómë]]'' = "dawn twilight" and ''[[el]]'' = "star").

== Genealogy ==
<code>
[[Elros Tar-Minyatur]]
|
____________________|_________________
| | | |
| | | |
[[Vardamir Nólimon]] '''TINDÓMIEL''' [[Manwendil]] [[Atanalcar]]
|
|
[[Tar-Amandil]]
</code>

[[Category:Númenóreans]]