Snow angels

[Frodo Baggins]

Ok Ok I concede, Legolas can walk on snow. But riddle me this. Can ALL elves walk on snow, or jsut some? We seem to be focusing on Legolas, but what of those such as Elrond the half elven and his 3/4 elven children?

And even more importantly, can they throw snowballs?

[Gothmog]

but what of those such as Elrond the half elven and his 3/4 elven children?

And what makes that question even more interesting is the Maia blood in Elrond. Can divine spirits like the maiar walk on snow? If they can, Elrond (being 1/16 maia, 3/8 man and 9/16 elf. Hope I got that right...) should have greater "snow-walking" abilities than Legolas. Or does the man-blood make him lose some of his skill?

[alatar]

Gothmog, if I had my books (which I don't) I would be looking in TTT for text regarding Legolas walking on grass. Or maybe at the end of FotR...somewhere it's stated that elves tread lightly.

And I will send snow if someone were to pay for shipping - will send freezing wind for free - though we may have to hurry as the weather is going to change yet again.

[Frodo Baggins]

Your proportions are correct, Gothmog. Although at 1/16 I would think the Maia dilute enough to be just this side of negligible. Elves like Galadriel, Celeborn, and Gildor seem to have more...what's the word I want, more power or "oomph" if you will than Elrond. (Described as an "Elf-friend" in The Hobbit.) Perhaps the humanity (whuch is nearly a full half) cancels out the Maia. But I shall leave Elven DNA to more expreienced minds.

BTW Gothmog, love the signature.

[Gothmog]

BTW Gothmog, love the signature.

Thank you! And I really mean it!

Now when HUGO is finished (a project mapping the human genome) maybe it's time for EUGO, the mapping of the elven genome? Do the elven genome contain the usual nucleic acids with G-T-A-C (guanine, thyamin, adenine and cytosine), or do they have more nucleotids? What do the elven DNA look like????

And Alatar, no need to send the freezing wind, we've got that already. Actually there was some snow today, but not enough to make any experiments. But it will come...

[Farael]

Well, here in the Winterpeg we are having a really unusual fall... as it has snowed, then it all melted, snowed about 20 cm. in one night and then melted for the most part (yet what remains is nasty ice). Still, as soon as it snows again, I'll give snowrunning a shot. I might not be the ideal subject as I'm 6' and about 185 pounds but there's one thing I do recall from previous winters.

If it snows and then the weather gets really really cold, the top layer of snow will somewhat freeze and you will be able to walk on it. That is, until you find a soft spot in which you will sink knee-deep on snow. Still, if I can walk in frozen snow, I would guess a much lighter and athetic elf should be able to run on any kinds of snow.

Also, I found this quote, but the topic has already been discussed... stil, for your enlightment and enjoyment,

Few animals are able to walk on the surface of water. One such rarity is basilisk, which lives in Central America and is seen below. On the sides of the toes of basilisk’s hind feet are flaps that enable them to splash water. These are rolled up when the animal walks on land. If the animal faces danger, it starts to run very fast on the surface of a river or a lake. Then the flaps on its hind feet are opened and thus more surface area is provided for it to run on water.

Found on a webpage, sadly I forgot to copy the name of the page as well.

Farael

[Lalwendë]

Only Legolas still stepped as lightly as ever, his feet hardly seeming to press the grass, leaving no footprints as he passed; but in the waybread of the Elves he found all the sustenance that he needed, and he could sleep, if sleep it could be called by Men, resting his mind in the strange paths of elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of this world.

Here is the bit about Legolas walking on the grass (from TT). This puzzles me a bit as surely most people leave no footprints walking on grass? It also amuses me as Legolas is like one of those people you get on group hikes who is completely tireless and urging everyone onwards, even though all they want to do is sit down for ten minutes and make a start on their sandwiches.

Maybe Legolas tires so little because as an Elf, his days and years are much longer and he has a different concept of time and distance, hence he may possess more inate stamina. This might also explain why he is able to tread so lightly that he doesn't leave footprints. It could also be that as an Elf he is not wholly 'of this world' and leaves little behind him as he passes through it.

The snow did not happen here (just lots of hard frost instead) so I have not yet had the chance to try out running on the snow, though when it does, as I live on a steep hill some running on the snow may happen involuntarily. And we have been promised a 'bad winter', our weather coming more often from the North rather than the West as is usual - something to do with the Azores Ridge apparently.