# Ears



## Ledreanne313 (Jan 11, 2004)

In the New Line Cinema movies of The Lord of the Rings and many pictures draw by artist (before the movies) show Elves, and Hobbits, with different ears. Did Elves really have pointy ears? Did Hobbits have anything but normal ears? I haven't read so many books as many of you all , but I am sure that it says nothing of Elves or Hobbit's ears in the books I've read.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jan 11, 2004)

Ledreanne313 said:


> In the New Line Cinema movies of The Lord of the Rings and many pictures draw by artist (before the movies) show Elves, and Hobbits, with different ears. Did Elves really have pointy ears? Did Hobbits have anything but normal ears? I haven't read so many books as many of you all , but I am sure that it says nothing of Elves or Hobbit's ears in the books I've read.



You're right: There is absolutely NOTHING in Tolkien's works about pointy ears — _no mention whatsoever._ There has, however, been a very very long tradition among "fairy artists" of putting pointy ears on such as leprechauns, fairies, monsters, witches, etc. It would be interesting to know just who in the PJ crew decided that there would be pointy ears in LOTR. 

Lotho


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## Niniel (Jan 11, 2004)

Here a thread about the same thing, where some quotes are provided that hobbits and Elves did have pointy ears.
http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=8750&highlight=leaf-shaped


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jan 11, 2004)

Niniel said:


> Here a thread about the same thing, where some quotes are provided that hobbits and Elves did have pointy ears.
> http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=8750&highlight=leaf-shaped



Interesting link! However, what I come away with is: Tolkien evidently never thought enough of it to mention anything about it in LOTR. If the ears were "leaf-shaped" indeed, then I wonder which tree! (It could lead to some very inelegant and unaesthetic possibilities!)

Lotho


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## Lantarion (Jan 11, 2004)

LOL, yeah what if they had maple-leaf-shaped ears..? 

But in the English language, 'leaf-shaped' as an inspecific adjective always means 'elongated and pointy', in my view. So that's one thing PJ seems to have gotten right.


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## Eledhwen (Jan 11, 2004)

Niniel said:


> Here a thread about the same thing, where some quotes are provided that hobbits and Elves did have pointy ears.
> http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=8750&highlight=leaf-shaped


Ear we go again!^  ^


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jan 11, 2004)

Eledhwen said:


> Ear we go again!^  ^



Oh, GROAN! PUN my word, that was awful! Let's hope you don't start to WAX philosophical about it!

Lotho


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jan 12, 2004)

Having just received my copy of "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien" today, I ran across a passage in Letter #27 (ca. March/April 1938) in which Tolkien was discussing hobbit drawings. He said,

"I picture a fairly human figure, not a kind of 'fairy' rabbit as some of my British reviewers seem to fancy: fattish in the stomach, shortish in the leg. A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'; hair short and curling (brown)."

So here we have it from the good man himself! Although it wasn't mentioned in any of the books, he indeed pictured hobbits with slightly pointed ears, and, evidently, he pictured elves with ears even more pointed.

Lotho


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## Lantarion (Jan 13, 2004)

Great quote and great inductive reasoning Lotho!


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jan 13, 2004)

Lantarion said:


> Great quote and great inductive reasoning Lotho!



Aw shucks, Lanty! 
*:::blushes furiously:::*

Lotho


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## Sarde (Jan 13, 2004)

I remember there being something about this on the extended edition DVD of either FoTR or TTT, in one of the documentaries. If I do come across it again, I'll put it here...


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## arisen pheonix (Jan 13, 2004)

the ears are not important just away of saying...hes human..and hes not


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## Laurelin (Jan 14, 2004)

_*"...ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'..."

An excellent quote, Lotho.  I remember reading this description in The Annotated Hobbit. 
However, while this confirms that the Hobbits had pointed ears, I do not believe it sheds any light on the ears of the Elves. I could be mistaken, but I believe Tolkien was referring to the ears of the stereotypical fairy-tale elf, and not the Elves of Middle Earth (notice he chose to spell "elvish" with a lower-case "e"), since this was taken from a letter he wrote to his publisher in order to provide a basis for drawings made to advertise the book.
Incidentally, along with this letter, he sent a crude sketch of a Hobbit which indeed had pointed ears. Also, if you closely study Tolkien's own drawings made for The Hobbit which picture Bilbo, you will see that his ears are pointed.*_


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jan 15, 2004)

Laurelin said:


> _*"...ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'..."
> 
> ...if you closely study Tolkien's own drawings made for The Hobbit which picture Bilbo, you will see that his ears are pointed.*_



There's something to look for! I wonder if he drew any similar pictures of elves. That would certainly settle the matter.

Lotho


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## Laurelin (Jan 15, 2004)

_*As far as I know, there few drawings by Tolkien featuring elves, and in those drawings, unfortunately, the ears are not prominent enough to make out their shape.
Of course, one of the arguments that people put forth as evidence supporting pointed ears is the relationship between the Quenya stem LAS meaning both leaf and listen. However, even if that did indicate that Elves had leaf-shaped ears, that wouldn't necessarily mean they were pointed. After all, one could easily describe human ears as leaf-shaped. It all depends on what type and shape of leaf one is referring to.
Perhaps a stronger point can be made in that Tolkien spoke of a possible relationship between the two in a note next to the definition of the Quenya stem LAS (meaning leaf):

"Some think this is related to the next and *lasse 'ear'. The Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than Hu??n."

Most people believe that the last word, which is indistinct, is "Human." Regardless, this indicates that the Elves' ears were more pointed than something, and thus it follows that they were, indeed, pointed to some degree.
It is also important to note that Tolkien never objected to any of the numerous illustrations depicting his Elves with pointed ears.
Personally, I tend to think that their ears were pointed, but there is simply no solid and conclusive evidence, written or otherwise, to indicate the shape of the Elves' ears. Depending on what evidence you use to support your argument, a case can be made either way.*_


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## Maerbenn (Jan 15, 2004)

*?human*



Laurelin said:


> _*Most people believe that the last word, which is indistinct, is "Human."*_


 Please check out this post.


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## Morgan LeFay (Jan 18, 2004)

So here we have another proof that PJ really had read all Tolkien works before he started doing movies.
He's a maniac


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