August 25, 2003

Difference Between the Elves in Hobbit and LotR
Bob Praz

First, thank you to Matthew for changing my name back. So moving on from that now...

To answer Frodo_Lives, I think Tolkien changed his view of the elves slightly between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In LotR he probably made them more serious since the book itself is more serious. Your theory that their ever-waning days were responsible for this is also a good explanation, but since the sixty or so years between the adventure of Bilbo and the Quest of the Ring is not a very long time for the elves, it is unlikely this would be the only reason. Anyhow, good question, and I think it was Tolkien's evolving views of his story that are the answer.