Snow angels

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Though I do like the sound of Snow-elves.

Well, there were snow-men, so why not?

davemology? davemological?

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

davemaic?

And take a look at the races of Middle Earth:

Wee hobbit lads pelting each other with snowballs as the hobbit men and women sit comfortably by the fire.

Grumpy dwarves, trudging through drifts, with miserable expressions.

Children of men building castles in the snow.

Ents... thinking about it.

And Elves? Who better than those who truly appreciate the beauty of nature to frolic in it? Though I daresay they might be hesitant to disturb the fresh powder... after all, untouched snow does gleam so beautifully in the morning.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by SpM

Well, there were snow-men, so why not?

The Men who lived on the shores of Forochel, the Lossoth, were also known as the Snow-men; and it was here that the Elven ship foundered when it came to rescue King Arvedui. It is possible that Elves and Men did meet on that occasion, and possibly mix at other times?

Originally Posted by SpM

davemology? davemological?

Well, davemology might properly be defined as the study of davem, as in Biology, etc.

What about davemism as a socio-political-philosophical system? In the manner of Communism and Capitalism?

[davem]

Originally Posted by Fea

Would the half-dwelling in the spiritual land experienced by the Eldar affect their physical bodies? It is not necessarily that they intentionally can caper about upon the snow as that they just sort of... do.

Its possible, I suppose, that living in both worlds at the same time they could somehow 'shift their weight' between them. When they sail West is it as much a spiritual as physical movement? What I mean is that they shift dimensions as much as travel in physical space. If that was the case then its possible that when Legolas stood on the surface of the snow he wasn't completely in the physical world. The spiritaul realm probably obeys different physical laws - which may explain Legolas ability to 'see' 105 Rohirrim warriors at such a great distance.

BTW - ? Davemist or Tolkienist - I think the terms are pretty interchangeable

[The Saucepan Man]

The Men who lived on the shores of Forochel, the Lossoth, were also known as the Snow-men ...

That's who I meant.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by SpM

Well, there were snow-men, so why not?

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

The Men who lived on the shores of Forochel, the Lossoth, were also known as the Snow-men; and it was here that the Elven ship foundered when it came to rescue King Arvedui. It is possible that Elves and Men did meet on that occasion, and possibly mix at other times?

Originally Posted by SpM

That's who I meant.

Let us not forget the snow-trolls around Helm's Deep during the terrible Long Winter, who Helm was said to appear like as he stormed the camps of the enemy.

Originally Posted by davem

BTW - ? Davemist or Tolkienist - I think the terms are pretty interchangeable

Hold on here! Are you suggesting, davem, that you are Tol-keener than SpM or Sharkey or Legolas or Estelyn or Aiwendil or Fordim or burrahobbit or the great and mighty Mithadan?

[davem]

Originally Posted by Bb

Hold on here! Are you suggesting, davem, that you are Tol-keener than SpM or Sharkey or Legolas or Estelyn or Aiwendil or Fordim or burrahobbit or the great and mighty Mithadan?

I wasn't suggesting anything....

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Well, davemology might properly be defined as the study of davem ...

Ah, a fascinating field of study. I hear that the University of East Anglia runs a very good course.

Perhaps we should start a thread to discuss it's finer concepts. It could start thus:

I wasn't suggesting anything....

Discuss.

[alatar]

Using a small bowl of pudding, one of my children's figurines, a toothpick and a pair of tongs, I tested the 'pudding angel' theory, which I assume is akin or corollary somehow to the custard theory (though I'm surely no scientist). Here is what I found:

Pudding is not the medium of choice for making angels. In an attempt to simulate appendage flailing, I tweaked the doll with the toothpick but wasn't successful in creating any angelic imagery, just a sticky mess. On the good side it was noted that the small figurine did not sink into the pudding; however; extrapolating upward into our scale to a person of average height, one would have to weigh in at approximately five pounds (2.3 kg) for guaranteed floatage*.

The figure had to be extracted using the tongs, and any impression that it may have made in the pudding was marred by the pudding's adhesive properties. Note that the ensuing 3-D shape created by the doll's extraction in no way resembled any humanoid, terrestrial or otherwise - and I'm somewhat of the imaginative sort. Those under the influence of psychotropic substances may believe otherwise and may be prompted to purchase said pudding angels on eBay.

My accomplice of the night was the dog, who patiently looked on, possibly hoping to participate in the doll's cleaning. This prompted the small insight in that further scaled-up testing involving a small pool of pudding and a human volunteer could be dangerous in that that much pudding/custard may attract unwanted attention from those of the Lalwendëian sort (e.g "I must have that custard!").


*Pudding floatage for witches was not determined and should be attempted with due caution.

The following was provided as a public service announcement and as a service to the community.

[The Saucepan Man]

Braniac

Custard

Sounds like this might be your kind of show, alatar.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

davemism

Is that similar to "euphemism"? Would a "davemism" then be a way of expressing something with particularly complicated sentences and words, hunting it down by going around it in circles until it gives up?

Ahem! To post something at least reasonably on topic - perhaps Elves would make "sand angels" on the shores of the Grey Havens before leaving Middle-Earth?

If you can't get more seriously on topic than that, Esty, you'll have to move this thread to Mirth...

[The Saucepan Man]

OMG Now Esty has an alter ego!!!

Er - snow angels ...

Legolas watched them for a while with a smile on his lips, and then he turned to the others. "The strongest must seek a way, say you? But I say: let a ploughman plough, but choose an otter for swimmming, and for running light over grass and leaf and snow - an Elf.

With that he sprang forth nimbly, and then Frodo noticed as if for the first time, though he had long known it, that the Elf had no boots, but wore only light shoes, as he always did, and his feet made little imprint in the snow. (Emphasis added)

That tells us four things:

1. This is an ability of Elves generally, not just Legolas.
2. It involves running lightly.
3. It involves being nimble.
4. His feet did make some imprint in the snow, but not much.

I draw from this that Elves, being lithe and nimble, were able to redistribute their weight so that they ran lightly, reducing the weight placed on the surface and leaving only a light impact. My guess is that this would require a conscious effort, since there might be occasions when they would wish to step more heavily.

Laying in the snow, an Elf would have nowhere to redistribute the weight of his body to, and so I would conclude that an Elf's snow angel would be as deep and marked as a man's.

I believe that this issue (Legolas' light step) is addressed in the book on the Science of Middle-earth that I noted a while back. Lalwendë, you have the book don't you? Does it shed any light on this question?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

perhaps Elves would make "sand angels" on the shores of the Grey Havens before leaving Middle-Earth?

Here again I might be thinking too exclusively in terms of late Silm elves rather than early Legendarium elves, but I suspect that elves would not build sand angels, nor in fact sand castles, as the prospect of seeing them washed away by the tide would be too much for elves to bear, unless they were deeply into mortification, which could of course be a possibility. Do they willfully deny themselves the custard?

EDIT: cross posting with SpM.

Originally Posted by SpM

That tells us four things:

1. This is an ability of Elves generally, not just Legolas.
2. It involves running lightly.
3. It involves being nimble.
4. His feet did make some imprint in the snow, but not much.

I draw from this that Elves, being lithe and nimble, were able to redistribute their weight so that they ran lightly, reducing the weight placed on the surface and leaving only a light impact. My guess is that this would require a conscious effort, since there might be occasions when they would wish to step more heavily.

Excuse me, but there is a fifth point, one which I posited up above: that elven slippers are made from the same material as their cloaks and herein lies their gravity-defying capability.