I'd also like to point out that a large portion of the plot for The Hobbit was written while Tolkien was in the trenches in WWI. So wherever he got his idea for elves from, it most have been something even older. Given his connections to Celtish and Norse mythology, I guess it's possible that they come from those origins.
Just to clarify, I wans't saying Dunsany had any influence on Tolkien. :) Great minds think alike, I suppose. And probably one or both of them got the tall/magical elves idea from the Tuatha de Danann of Celtic mythology--the warrior/godlike immortal first inhabitants of Ireland who hung around Tara and all that, and are asleep under said hill now, according to the mythology. I vaguely remember seeing that written somewhere, and it's quite plausible--they are very similar.
I don't think people would believe in pixies as mystical immortal beings with an innate magic, do you?
Heh. Nope. Although I don't know about Tolkien's elves being innately magical. I don't remember any use of "magic" in anything LOTR-related except for the bit in the FOTR movie where Arwen calls the water horses on the Nazgul. I guess there's also the three elven rings and the silmarils, although they seemed more either elemental (Celebrimbor just happened to capture something powerful) or Valar-related, since Feanor captured the light of the trees, which were created by one of the Valar. Other than that, elves just appear to have really, really good eyesight/hearing/health. Plus the immortality thing, but that isn't exactly magic in my book. I know other authors have had elves be magical, but I don't know if I would really classify Tolkien's elves that way, at least not anyone who doesn't hold a ring (which leaves everyone but Elrond and Galadriel). It's entirely possible that I'm forgetting/misreading something, though.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2004-01-06 05:30 pm (UTC)Just to clarify, I wans't saying Dunsany had any influence on Tolkien. :) Great minds think alike, I suppose. And probably one or both of them got the tall/magical elves idea from the Tuatha de Danann of Celtic mythology--the warrior/godlike immortal first inhabitants of Ireland who hung around Tara and all that, and are asleep under said hill now, according to the mythology. I vaguely remember seeing that written somewhere, and it's quite plausible--they are very similar.
I don't think people would believe in pixies as mystical immortal beings with an innate magic, do you?
Heh. Nope. Although I don't know about Tolkien's elves being innately magical. I don't remember any use of "magic" in anything LOTR-related except for the bit in the FOTR movie where Arwen calls the water horses on the Nazgul. I guess there's also the three elven rings and the silmarils, although they seemed more either elemental (Celebrimbor just happened to capture something powerful) or Valar-related, since Feanor captured the light of the trees, which were created by one of the Valar. Other than that, elves just appear to have really, really good eyesight/hearing/health. Plus the immortality thing, but that isn't exactly magic in my book. I know other authors have had elves be magical, but I don't know if I would really classify Tolkien's elves that way, at least not anyone who doesn't hold a ring (which leaves everyone but Elrond and Galadriel). It's entirely possible that I'm forgetting/misreading something, though.