Unusual question?

[Faramir Jones]

Originally Posted by Lotrelf

I had the same thinking about the Elves. That they are close to nature and spiritual etc.etc. but the textual evidences proved it otherwise. Hobbits drink, eat and smoke. Among the Hobbits only Frodo is the only one who is not said to be smoking. I think Sam would kill a rabbit, but after rescuing? Can't be sure. It'll be more like "saved to kill you." Who knows if he's not hungry he might not kill or may be...

There is a danger, which we've all fallen into, of projecting our own prejudices, ideals and desires onto characters in fiction, including those in Tolkien's works. Even if Elves were, as you said Lotrelf, 'close to nature and spiritual', this didn't stop them preparing food in a manner mostly recognisable to non-Elves. For example, in The Hobbit, it was clear that the Elves of Mirkwood hunted and ate meat. Obviously, the corn from which lembas was made would have been grown and harvested; so Elves raised crops. I recall (but don't have the book to hand) that in an early version of the tale of Beren and Luthien, Beren noted the fields worked by the Elves of Nargothrond. They also produced alcoholic beverages, as seen by what Gildor's group left for three hobbits.