The ears...

[Saraphim]

Here I am, on the internet, and I find myself nostalgic for the Downs. This is followed by the appropriate clicking and typing, then a glance at the long-backburned forums.

I can think of no better place for a return than a topic driven to death into the ground.

At any rate...

Quote:
Interesting. I wonder how and why "pointed ears" became one of the hallmarks of Faerie/Myth creatures.
Because pointy ears are unbelievably cool.

Seriously- ask some guy to draw a "super-cool humanoid type guy" and I'll betcha 99% of the time the guy will stick pointy ears on the thing.

Vampires on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel look more evil with pointy ears. Vulcans on Star Trek look wiser with pointy ears. Elves in Lord of the Rings look hotter with pointy ears.

Why is this? I don't know. It's one of the great secrets of the universe. But there's certainly no doubt that pointy ears are just totally the way to go.

Darn right.

Also, pointy ears set elves apart from your regular ol' human round ear, and way back in early times when we were creating myths to explain and excite, the idea of something that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike a human was a fresh, enticing idea.

And, as Lathriel mentioned, there are people out there with slightly pointy ears, which is a rarity. Rarities have always either been idolized or condemned throughout history, the former in this case being true.