Anyone else bothered by all the blond elves in the LotR movie?

Dragongirl

First Post
Legolas and all the elves of Lorien that I recall were blond. Most of those elves should have been sindar and I just don't think blond should be so prevelent. Now Galadriel being blonde I could see, she had Vanyar ancestry. The Vanyar were named so because it means fair referring to their hair, so that to me means that the other elves did not have blond as a common hair color. Not saying other elven races could not have blond, but surely they should not ALL of had blond!
 

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Didnn't bother me, but I do remember finding it a bit odd the first time I saw the original trailer and saw Legolas. Kind of a "he has blond hair?" thing for no particular reason.

p.s. Can I have a position in the army General?
 
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there were 2

Hey now, there will be no broad generalizations here!!! Elrond and Arwen did not have blonde hair. There, see, don't you feel foolish now. It was only hundreds of blonde elves, not all of them. :D

Seriously, I do seem to remember somewhere in the Silmarillion it mentioning that some elves had blonde hair and some had dark hair.

Was it possibly Maeglin, the "dark elf", that had darker hair? It also seems that the elves of Mirkwood had dark hair. Didn't some of the sons of Feanor have descriptions mentioning dark hair?

Darn you dragongirl, now I will be forced to look this up. pah!!!
 

found one

My previous post was a bit off. It seems that Eol was the one neamed "dark elf". His son was Maeglin which means "sharp glance".

In any case in the chapter, "of Maeglin" in the Silmarillion it gives a vivid descpription of the son of Eol and Aredhel.

"As Maeglin grew to full stature he resembled in face and form rather his kindred of the Noldor, but in mood and mind he was the son of his father. His words were few save in matters that touched him near, and then his voice had a power to move those that heard him and to overthrow those who withstood him. He was tall and black haired; his eyes were dark, yet bright and keen as the eyes of the Noldor, and his skin white."

From this passage you could argue that the Noldor had, for the most part, dark hair since it states that "in face and form" Maeglin resembled his Noldorin ancestry.

In any case, chalk up one more dark haired elf!!!!

Edit: I always forget to answer the original question of a thread.

Nope, all the blonde elves didn't bother me. Legolas is never described one way or the other and I was under the impression that most of the elves of Lorien were blonde. It was a little strange but I feel it also added a bit to the otherworldly nature of the elves.
 
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Welverin said:

p.s. Can I have a position in the army General?

Didn't you hear? Another board 'out there' promoted all of ENWorld to the rank of General Smartass (I won't even tell you what they promoted the Mods and Admins too :D )


As far as blond elves go I hear they are all going to be extinct by 2250....


Oh wait that's Human blonds! ;)


Personally didn't bother me and I felt it looked really good as it was an easy way for Peter Jackson to differentiate the 'lothlorien' Elves from the 'regular' elves (ie Elrond, Arwen and most of the elves shown in the beginning battle at Mount Doom).

I could never get through the Silmarillion so i don't know about this Sindar/Vanyar thing.
 

Based on my recollection of the Silmarillion and the LotR books, most elves were blonde. The Noldor seemed to have been dark-haired, except for the house of Finwe, particularly the descendants of Fingolfin and Finarfin (such as Galadriel). Half elves like Elrond, his brother Elros (who later chose to be a man rather than an elf) and Arwen seem to have been dark haired.

Most of the elves Tolkien described in LotR seem to have been blonde, such as Glorfindel:

"Glorfindel was tall and straight; his hair was of shining gold, his face fair and young and fearless and full of joy; his eyes were bright and keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and in his hand was strength."

- The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 1: Many Meetings.

"Suddenly into view below came a white horse, gleaming in the shadows, running swiftly. In the dusk its headstall flickered and flashed, as if it were studded with gems like living stars. The rider’s cloak streamed behind him, and his hood was thrown back; his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed. To Frodo it appeared that a white light was shining through the form and raiment of the rider, as if through a veil."

- The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, Chapter XII: Flight to the Ford


This also points up something interesting about elves, possibly just the Noldor. Has nothing to do with the thread topic, but it's cool:

"They bore no lights, yet as they walked a shimmer, like the light of the moon above the rim of the hills before it rises, seemed to fall about their feet."

- The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, Chapter III: Three IS Company

They glow!
 


Well my premise is, that since the Vanyar elves were named because of their light hair that....
1) Most Vanyar must have had light hair.
2) Most Noldor and Sindar elves must not have had blond hair.

By the way blond is the correct spelling for males, blonde for females.
 

They may not have been blonde, but I don't think the Sindar were necessarily dark haired either. Celeborn - a Sinda - wasn't blonde, but...

"...the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them..."

- The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter VII: The Mirror of Galadriel

This doesn't seem to be the silver of old age, obviously. It seems to be a silver much like the color of the metal, as analogous to it as Galadriel's blonde hair color was analogous to gold. Further, Celeborn's hair seemed to suggest that the name for the Sindar - which means "grey ones" - was a reference, at least in part, to their hair. So, while they may not have been blonde, they weren't brunettes.

Another possible clue as to whether most elves were blonde comes indirectly, in reference to blonde hobbits:

"The Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair[...]The Fallohides, the least numerous, were a northerly branch. They were more friendly with Elves than the other Hobbits were..."

- The Fellowship of the Ring, Prologue

Tolkien seems to be suggesting the coloration of the other races via the Hobbit strain that resembled them - the Harfoots, who were friendly with Dwarves, were browner of skin. The Stoors were more friendly with Men, so presumably resembled them. So, if one connects the dots, if the Fallohides are blonde, then it's quite possible that Elves were also, for the most part. If Tolkien's Elves weren't meant by him to be blonde, but darker haired, I would guess he would have described the Fallohides as dark haired.

That's just how I see it.
 
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