Did the Eldar eat Dwarves?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Andsigil

I thought Cirdan had a beard (?). Though it was probably less glorious and manly than mine. One would have to go to Erebor or the Iron Hills to find one to match.

Círdan's beard seems to be a special case among the Elves. The possible reasons for its existence notwithstanding, perhaps it was a relatively recent adornment for him (ie, post Second Age or so). First Age Círdan could have been beardless.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Círdan's beard seems to be a special case among the Elves. The possible reasons for its existence notwithstanding, perhaps it was a relatively recent adornment for him (ie, post Second Age or so). First Age Círdan could have been beardless.

The earliest confirmed beard is Mahtan's, who had one before the death of the Trees. If you take Tolkien's weirder writings into account, this grew early in his second stage of life (out of three), and was highly unusual; Cirdan's was an old-age third-stage beard. Tolkien Gateway speculates that the first stage was childhood and adolescence, ending at age 100; that means beards could have been seen on Elves hundreds of (what would later be) Years of the Sun before they left Cuivienen. But I'd hate to lay money on it.

Delving deep into speculation: Tinfang Gelion (AKA Tinfang Warble) appears in the Lay of Leithian, pegged as one of the three greatest musicians of the elves (my pet theory is that he was actually the composer of the Lay, and name-dropped himself into it). His name means 'Spark-beard', and the 'Gelion' suffix suggests he was a native of the lands beyond Gelion - in other words, one of the Nandor of Ossiriand. If his beard was an actual beard, he was either a very elderly musician (and the poem does say 'who STILL the moon/enchants on summer nights of June'), or he was another early-beard-grower.

One final stab in the dark: 'tin-' means 'small star/spark'. It's not a word you'd use to describe a colour, so I wonder whether 'Tinfang' means something like 'star-spangled beard' - in other words, a salt-and-pepper colouring. Given that we've never heard of elves with multicoloured hair (thank the stars!), that would suggest that Tinfang was old, and that his beard appeared even as his hair was turning silver-grey.

hS

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Squatter

Elves eating Dwarves doesn't sound much like Tolkien. He called the Noldor Gnomes for years to emphasise their wisdom, and where they fall into evil he portrays it as tragic. Cannibalism, even the eating of other rational beings, is something he assigns to Gollum and Orcs, and has Saruman ascribe to Wormtongue. It's something bestial, sub rather than superhuman, not consistent with his apparent view of the Eldar. While it might have been as unknowing as Túrin's incest, something tells me that this idea is one so serious that he would have done something with it had it occurred to him.

I agree. It doesn't seem like something he'd have just forgotten to mention.