Aragorn and Arwen's children's ears

[Ivorwen]

Idd Arwen's ears change when she became mortal?
If not, what would her children's ears be like?

[Elrian]

Arwen's ears, nor her physical appearance changed after she married Aragorn. The childrens ears could have been pointed or could not depending on what genes they inherited from the parents.

[ElanorGamgee]

I'm not sure, but I don't think there is any evidence in the books to suggest that Elves had pointy ears to begin with.

[Niere-Teleliniel]

This is an interesting article (http://tolkien.cro.net/elves/ears.html) on pointy elf ears.

[ May 05, 2002: Message edited by: Niere-Teleliniel ]

[Elven-Maiden]

hmmm.... interesting topic. sorry I can't add anything to it, but since Aragorn has elven blood in him, I'd assume their kids have semi-pointy ears. smilies/biggrin.gif

[The Silver-shod Muse]

Semi-pointy? Hmmmm... smilies/tongue.gif

[Kalessin]

This is clearly a key topic for all Tolkien enthusiasts smilies/smile.gif

Perhaps out there in the big wide world is someone who by appearance could be the love child of Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortensen ... the steely blue eyes, the delicate pout, perfectly manicured nails (OK, perhaps I've watched the movie too many times), a muscled swordarm, and eternally and decidedly stubbly cheekbones. Perhaps she's an East German swimmer smilies/biggrin.gif

Peace

[ May 13, 2002: Message edited by: Kalessin ]

[Shadow of Udûn]

well, look at children who have parents from different races, and i've seen a few. It would probably be pretty random. Some might look almost entirely elvish, while others might be far more human. I assume that most would have ears that were pointier than usual, but not as pointy as a normal elf. Somehow, i can't imagine JRR Tolkein lying awake at night thinking about it.

[Gimli Son Of Gloin]

Maybe one ear was pointed and the other ear was normal... No?... Guess not...

[mystra]

ok.... biology kicking in here! mr hockley would be proud! smilies/biggrin.gif
okay...... i thought about ti and gave up. its sposed to work so u end up wiv this:
PP, Pp, Pp, pp.
P being pointy, p being non-pointy. it just doesnt work out for them. if it was as the grid above suggests, the child would have a one in four chance of not having pointy ears. if i work it out properly, ill re-post smilies/biggrin.gif

[Anna Licumo]

Hmmm, assuming they did:
Aragorn would have 'ee' ears, both recessive since he had human ears. Arwen would have 'EE' both dominant since she had Elf ears. If you do a Punnit square, you get Ee, every time. The same is true if human ears are dominant and elf ears are recessive. Thus, they would have the forementioned slightly pointed ears. Ee.
No more genetics class for me.

[Maédhros]

but I don't think there is any evidence in the books to suggest that Elves had pointy ears to begin with.
Aside from the other contribution in this thread about elf ears, I have found this: From the Letters of JRRT: 27
I picture a fairly human figure, not a kind of 'fairy' rabbit as some of my British reviewers seem to fancy: fattish in the stomach, shortish in the leg. A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'
I think that their ears would be a little pointed.

[Thulorongil]

First of all, I think that Ivorwen has a little too much free time to spend pondering hereditary ear-shape. Second, it would depend which characteristic would be the recessive gene and which would be the dominant. Then it would depend on which gene would be passed on from each parent. But also, if Aragorn has elvish blood in him, then he would have more than zero pointy-ear genes.
Semi-pointy ears?

[Belin]

Very true, Thulorongil. I might also add that Arwen also has some human blood.

[ July 03, 2002: Message edited by: Belin ]

[Calencoire]

lol imaginative question. I think it depends on who they get there looks after.

[Anna Licumo]

Hmmm, bother. If they had genetics from the other side, it would be EEee, or EEEe. Since one has to be dominant, and I don't feel like doing such a complicated Punnit's square on summer break, I would say it depends on who's ears are dominants. If Elven ears would be- then yeah, they'd be pointed. And vice versa.
But! Since we are not technically sure they even have pointed ears, (ie it's a culture thing) and another 'culture idea' is that pretty much anytime you run into a half-elf they have pointed ears, I would say they were dominant. So, the children would have pointed ears.
Whew. I'm reading too much into this!

[Anorien]

Where does it say that Aragorn has elvish blood in him?? That's cool! i didn't know that. I'd always asumed that the elves had pointy ears. They's probably have a little bit of pointyness (is that even a word?) to them... smilies/tongue.gif

[Anna Licumo]

Anorien, Aragorn was Numórean (sp?) which had Elvish blood in it. Not too exact, I know, but it may perhaps be in the appendix.

I like pointy ears too. Hey, why not? smilies/biggrin.gif

[Daniel Telcontar]

Aragorn's elvish blood is through his forefather Earendil (half-elven) and his wife, Elwing, who were a mix of human, elf and maia. But the elvish blood is through all the kings of Numenor, and then the kings of Arnor, and then the chieftains of the northern Dunedain. So I doubt that any elvish genes would effect Aragorn in any way.

[Lady_Galadriel]

Hmmm... This is an interesting topic... I'd assume that they would be semi-pointy, but that's also assuming that elves do have pointy ears. But then again, who knows. Maybe they would come out not pointy or like human ears. Maybe they would be like some dog ears. My pigenese (sp?) has long floppy ears. They could be like that, if that's what Tolkien wanted. right?
but pointy ears are cool. I want pointy ears...

[Ivorwen]

Thank you, everyone for posting, though I hoped for a more definate answer. Most of what you've said I've already thought of.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This topic has been moved to the Novices and Newcomers forum. Please read and post there.

[Galadel Vinorel]

Yes, I thnk that the children of Aragorn and Arwen would have semi-pointy ears.