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Old 08-21-2019, 04:19 PM   #43
Agemegos
 
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Join Date: May 2005
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Default Re: Elven maturation and population growth

Quote:
Originally Posted by Irish Wolf View Post
That's not entirely accurate. Galadriel was one of those who initially left Valinor with Feanor, and urged the Eldar to move eastward across Arda
She was. Círdan, however, was involved in the previous migration that carried Galadriel's grandfather and great-grandfather to Valinor in the first place. He was a contemporary and friend of her great-uncle Elwë Thingol.

Quote:
As for beards, Tolkien never mentioned any facial hair among the Eldar at all
Not never: very seldom, but at least once. Grab your copy of The Return of the King and open it to the last few pages of the last chapter, "The Grey Havens". The tenth-last paragraph begins as follows.
As they came to the gates Círdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars;…
I'll note further that Tolkien seldom mentioned the beards of Men either. Strider must have had one, as must Boromir, but they aren't mentioned that I recall. When Men's beards are mentioned it is usually "his beard was…", not "he had a beard", so I assume that a lot of characters actually had beards that weren't worth mentioning, just as I assume characters were wearing clothes between the ankles and the waist, though those are seldom mentioned either. Tolkien's style for describing characters tends to go straight to the impressions and social implications of their appearances, bypassing specifics and cultural signifiers (which the readers might not be able to interpret anyway).
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Last edited by Agemegos; 08-29-2019 at 02:21 PM.
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