Quote:
|
Originally Posted by William Cloud Hickli
Normally-held, but mistaken. Surely after twenty years people are aware that Appendix F was garbled, and that the 'dark-haired' description there was intended to refer to the Noldor alone, not all the Eldar?
|
Christopher Tolkien objects to the implication concerning the Vanyar, but he also notes...
Quote:
|
'But my father carefully remodeled the passage in order to apply it to the Eldar as a whole, and it does seem 'extraordinary' that he should have failed to observe this point.' Christopher Tolkien The Appendix on Languages HME XII
|
I agree it does seem extraordinary and so I cannot agree with characterizing a Tolkien-published description in a prime source such as
The Lord of the Rings as a garbled mistake because a
draft reads differently.
In any case I see no great reason to give the 'Vanyarin concern' textual parity here: published text concerning the Eldar outweighs unpublished text concerning the Vanyar in my opinion (and certainly outweighs draft text).