July 26, 2002

Re: Elven Appearance
Mewlip

Forget Jackson, here's some Tolkien description ~ Noldor: "This was regarded as a beautiful feature by the Noldor (who loved gold) though they themselves were mostly dark-haired." ~ Sindar: "In general the Sindar appear to have very closely resembled the Exiles, being dark-haired, ..." ~ Vanyar: "... in nearly all members of the clan yellow or deep golden." ( keeping in mind that the Vanyar didn't "hang out" relatively all that much in Middle-earth ;)). These quotes are from JRRTs "Quendi And Eldar". Compare to the ROTK Appendices description of the "Eldar".

Height (I like this quote so I'm tossing it in; see the full essay for better context): "They were called 'halflings; but this refers to the normal height of men of Númenórean descent and of the Eldar (especially those of Noldorin descent), which appears to have been about seven of our feet." JRRT "Of Dwarves And Men"'

As for beards (Círdan had one), this quote might interest to this (ultimately published in "Vinyar Tengwar"): "Elves did not have beards until they entered their third cycle of life. Nerdanel's father [cf. XII: 365-66 n. 61] was exceptional, being only early in his second."