I suppose you could look at it in the same analogy as 'half full, half empty....'
I always thought Elrond to be more like a Man that is very Elvish, rather than a very Man like Elf. Aragorn we know and all the Dunedain are Men that are Elvish, though to a much lesser degree, so it appear more genetically than physically.
Here is Encyclopedia of Arda's Note to Elrond's ancestery:
Quote:
1 Though he is known as 'Half-elven', Elrond's lineage is much more complicated than that title suggests. He could claim descent from all the main branches of the Eldar, each of the Three Houses of the Edain, and even from the Maiar. To be completely correct, he was slightly more than half-elven: actually nine sixteenths of his ancestors were Elves. A full breakdown of his descent works out like this:
-Three eighths Edain, through two lines: his grandfather Tuor of the House of Hador, and his great-grandfather Beren of the House of B?or. He was also descended from the third House of the Edain, the Haladin, through Tuor's grandmother Hareth.
-Five sixteenths Sindar, again through two lines: his grandmother Nimloth and his great-great-grandfather Thingol.
-Five thirty-seconds Vanyar, through his great-grandmother Elenw?, and also through his great-great-great-grandmother, Indis the second wife of Finw?.
-Three thirty-seconds Noldor, through his great-grandfather, Turgon (who himself had only three-quarters Noldorin blood).
-One sixteenth Maiar, through his great-great-grandmother Melian.
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But that makes Elrond 18/32 Elf and 12/32 Elf, and 2/32 Maia.
I think that Tolkien might have wanted it to be viewed was as Elvish strain entering the blood of Men, not Men into Elves.
-Men were granted longer lives, not Elves granted the Gift; but they were still MEN, because they could not reach Uttermost West and stay in the Circles
forever.
-I also think that in Middle-Earth genetics, the addition of Man-genes makes a more dominant physical appearance. Elros was half-elven and chose to be a Man, but the Choice is interesting. Once again, I see it more like 'choose to STAY elven or BECOME man, more than fifty-fifty. Consider: Before the choice, like when the Sons found them, did they look like elves or men to them? Well, Elrond was '
Elf of the Cave and Elros
Elf of the Spray (these are likely interpretations, but since the other interp. didnt have the implication of MAN...) Therefore their physical appearance did not change, until Elros married and begat Vardamir...
So i find it funny that Aragorn would say this, unless he was reffereing Elrond as a Dunedain (which would still be odd) or himself as an Elf.....So maybe it was either a slip of Tolkiens mind, or Aragorns....Like 'nobody uses his(Saurons) name' even though The Mouth did and the Messenger to Erebor did (if they were the same dude) but then Aragorns info might have been outdated. Who knows?
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