Elves' Ears

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Originally Posted by Lhunardawen

They might be, for all we know. But I believe they can still reproduce successfully if they are not of the same species. Look at the horse and the donkey. Or the members of the feline family.

Quite right about the donkey, but remember -- donkey's are sterile. The textbook def'n of species (at least one part of it) is (searching memory back to first year bio) that they are able to produce off-spring capable of reproduction.

Elves and Men can have children together who then go on to have children -- ergo, the same species.

But like I said above, this does not settle the ear debate, since ear shape could easily have a lot of variation (in fact, it does in human populations: some of us have full lobes, others have lobes that are attached).

[Firefoot]

Just a little bit to add to Lhun's genetic reasoning:

Let's say you reverse it, so that rounded ears would be dominant (EE) and pointed ears are recessive (ee). That would mean that half-Elves would be "Ee" - rounded ears. This would mean that those who chose mortality could only have offspring with rounded ears because of the dominant allele (EE or Ee). So, all of Elros' descendents would have rounded ears, with the possible exception of Aragorn and Arwen's kids, because if by some strange chance Aragorn had an Ee genotype and Arwen did too some kids could have pointed ears - ee. The problem this would present would be for half-Elves who chose immortality - some of their offspring might have rounded ears with the genotype Ee - rounded ears.

[HerenIstarion]

Letters, 153 - to Peter Hastings

I suppose that actually the chief difficulties I have involved myself in are scientific and biological — which worry me just as much as the theological and metaphysical (though you do not seem to mind them so much). Elves and Men are evidently in biological terms one race, or they could not breed and produce fertile offspring – even as a rare event

Lobes may be different, Fordim (also, donkeys are fertile, that's mule who's sterile ), but have you seen really and explicitly 'pointy' years? What would be the purpose? I suppose the 'outer' year - auricle, is some kind of a 'sound trap' - with the function of 'catching' and 'directing' the sound in. The pointed side has no biological function in the case, while lobes may have.

On the other hand, there is also:

Letters, 27 To the Houghton Mifflin Company

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).

But 'slightly' pointed is not what we've seen rubbed onto Arwen's ears in the movie. My friend has 'slightly' poinded ears, if you follow me, kind sirs and ladies.

cheers

[THE Ka]

I don't really know if they do, Maybe it's like with our ears, you know some have connecting lobes, some don't.

At least it's not like me and my dad. I have two different ears... one is slightly pointy and has no connecting lobe, the other is rounded on the top and has no connecting lobe. Also I have these weird bumps on the outer sides of my ears (My dad has this too.) Some nurse asked me if i had warts on my ears when I was at the doctor's office. Had to tell about the families' ear bumps...


~Ka~

[davem]

Well, they might have been pointed, but not at the top - maybe they had pointy lobes....

[Elianna]

I've always liked to think of the quote from the Etymologies that Elves' ears are more "leaf-shaped" than humans (Aside: I've heard at greenbooks with tOR.n that the 'h' of 'humans' was clear, but it was the rest of the word wasn't). I know the Professor means a leaf like a beech or something like that, but wouldn't it be funny if he meant Elf ears look like maple leaves or oak?

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

It sounds convincing. If we were to think that we are an extension of Middle-earth, and then taking into consideration:

My grand-father seems to have had pointy ears and sadly I have not inherited them . . . (Mithalwen)

[plus other quotes referring to a real-life person with pointed ears scattered throughout the Downs; too time-intensive to look for them all.]

then there must be a pointed-ear gene in mortals. Where, then, would have that come from?

Like you said, Elves, Men, and Hobbits have pointy ears.

So do Ëalar, Ents, and Tom Bombadil.

I didn't say that.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by davem

Well, they might have been pointed, but not at the top - maybe they had pointy lobes....

Too many centuries wearing arkenstone earrings.

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

My ulterior motive revealed at last.