Snow angels

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Originally Posted by Thenamir

I am reminded of an account I read some years ago of a reporter taken for a ride in an SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance jet who was warned not to touch the windshield once they hit Mach 2 (approximately 1500 mph or 2450 kph) – the temperature of the glass was high enough to blister the skin. Even so, I doubt that even that speed could have started a fire.

Think that we're talking about 'specific heat,' or 'heat capacity.' It's been said that, when you're baking/cooking, you're not as concerned about touching the thing that you're making as much as the thing that you're using to make it. In other words, the cake may be hot, but the pan will surely burn you. This metaphor comes up a lot when people discuss firewalking - walking barefoot across burning coals without harm to the skin. Many love to attribute this feat to magic and mysticism and the alteration of quantum auras (gotta use the word quantum to give it that new science smell), but it's simply physics. Hot burning wood 'holds' less heat than would an iron plate set across the same coals. You'll get away unscathed walking the coals, but not the plate.

Anyway, so even if the elves had hot feet, not sure if this heat would more than wilt the grass tips. But that's conjecture.

Further, if elves could generate that level of moving air, what’s to prevent them from actual flight? If they can “flod” over grass without harming or even marking it, it would surely be a small step to actual flight. I think there must be some other mechanism by which the elves negated the effects of their weight on snow or grass.

"That's one small flod for Nóm, one giant flod for elfkind..."

At the risk of bringing Treknobabble into a Tolkien website, I used to think that the elves lack of effect on snow or grass involved a partial negation of the effects of gravity – not so much as to become weightless, otherwise they’d just float away – but enough that their weight does not press down with enough force to mark their passing. However, this theory has as many problems as the wind/friction idea, because what’s to prevent elves from exerting this power just a bit more and achieving actual flight? Or at least the ability to hover over a battle out of reach of swords?

Problem with anti-gravity - physics aside (we ARE discussing elves ) - is how do these floating ones swing a sword, hoist a wine barrel or taunt a Dwarf? All, or at least two of the three, require the elf's feet to be firmly pushing against Arda in the equal and opposite direction as the action being performed (if I got that right). Just try to swordfight on wet ice...actually, don't, as that would fall under the 'that's silly and you most likely will get harmed or dead, and so don't do it' list of suggestions best disregarded.

(Wow, think of the advantages of a battalion of air-elves at an altitude of 500 feet or so, shooting arrows into a ground-bound division of orcs?)

These aren't Peter Jackson's elves, are they?