Unusual question?

[Lotrelf]

Originally Posted by Faramir Jones

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.

I don't know if I really have fallen into the danger you're talking about, Faramir Jones. I had seen that in the first Hobbit movie and when I read the book, I wondered if I missed something. That made me start the thread. Nothing more than that.