Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotrelf
What mind change? Will you please elaborate? I think the thoughts mentioned here are what I said in my post. I may be wrong--or I am. *shrug*
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You are not wrong in my opinion Lotrelf, since to my mind this description is very sweeping and very general [Men versus Elves] and I think it means to very generally ward off the idea of a
notable difference in height,
according to modern conceptions [see below].
Also, Arathorn has noted that this text appears in the
Quenta Silmarillion of the later 1930s -- and it does, but it was also never revised by JRRT himself much later...
... the description occurs in
Quenta Silmarillion section 85, and in the 1950s [early 1950s] Tolkien altered the following sentence within this same section:
'Only in the realm of Doriath...' for example, and made another change in wording elsewhere in section 85. And in the later 1950s Tolkien again seemingly looks at this section and brackets in pencil three passages concerning the 'mortality' of the Elves...
... again these revised passages and later bracketing [suggesting further revision at least], made at different times, both appear in section 85, but the passage you quoted about height is left alone and is employed by Christopher Tolkien for the 1977 Silmarillion. One could argue that Tolkien 'missed' this
like height description in section 85, and hadn't truly updated the whole section, or that he hadn't revised it because he hadn't revised it 'yet'...
... but I think it's something that doesn't need correction in any case, and I think it's because...
... Tolkien knows he is working against a modern or Victorian conception of 'Elves' as fairies who can hide behind flower petals, and given that, of 'like height' has
plenty of room for later, more specific details.
I would even suggest that this passage is the result of evolution from the very early comparison:
'Men were almost of a stature at first with Elves, the fairies being far greater and Men smaller than now;...' From
The Book of Lost Tales, which idea changed, but even in the 1960s and early 1970s Tolkien still knows his readers are going to associate, or at least might naturally associate, 'modern ideas' when they encounter the word
Elves.
I note Tolkien's description that the fairies were
far greater, to get them closer to Men, and that Men were smaller than 'now', in other words, we are looking at an alteration from both sides, so to speak, but a notable one on the Elvish side, to get the Elves closer in stature to Men -- even though Men are generally larger than Elves according to certain other texts from this same [generally speaking] 'early' phase, including a notable comparison to the Elves being compared to mannish children!
Leaving aside the Cottage of Lost Play here, of course Tolkien's Elves went [externally speaking] from, if not as small as Victorian fairies, from seemingly somewhat small in
The Book of Lost Tales to rather tall according to later ideas, post-Lord the Rings, but even in
The Lord of the Rings Appendices Tolkien can be seen 'warding off' modern notions connected with the term Elves [his comment about wings for instance]...
... and I think this passage you quoted still has some of that behind it. In my opinion it's not meant to be precise, but to aid in letting the reader know that we are not here dealing with the Elves of popular fancy.