Do Elves ever get fat?

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by The Fall of Gondolin, The Book of the Lost Tales part II

...but their leader Salgant was a craven, and he fawned upon Meglin. They were dight with tassels of silver and tassels of gold, and a harp of silver shone in their blazonry upon a field of black; but Salgant bore one of gold, and he alone rode into battle of all the sons of the Gondothlim, and he was heavy and squat.

So we have at least one fat elf - if we can take the HoME as a credible source.

This topic was actually discussed some time ago, but unfortunately I'm unable to find the thread on which it was discussed. However, I think someone (might even have been me ) said that possibly a reason for that we see no fat Elves is that many of the Elves we meet are warriors of some kind, and warriors can't be fat. We also meet heroic kings and beautiful maidens, neither of which are usually fat in any kind of tales. Maybe if we would have had more glimpses of commoner Elves, we would have heard of more strudy Elves, but now we can't know. After all, not that many Humans are described as fat either in Tolkien's works.

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

many of the Elves we meet are warriors of some kind, and warriors can't be fat.

I'm going to have to take you up on that - who says warriors can't be fat? It might slow them down, but a lot of heavier people are quite strong and I am sure that not all of the best warriors were thin. However, I guess it also depends on what you call "fat". If we are talking extremely obese, then I concur with your statement. But if you mean some belly fat, I stand by my point.

After all, not that many Humans are described as fat either in Tolkien's works.

True, although I can think of one off the top of my head - Butterbur.

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by MatthewM

I'm going to have to take you up on that - who says warriors can't be fat? It might slow them down, but a lot of heavier people are quite strong and I am sure that not all of the best warriors were thin. However, I guess it also depends on what you call "fat". If we are talking extremely obese, then I concur with your statement. But if you mean some belly fat, I stand by my point.

Fat people are often in bad physical condition, so that's why. But I agree a warrior could be belly fat. And I'm by no means saying warriors should be thin. Let's not confuse being sturdy/heavily built and being fat.

True, although I can think of one off the top of my head - Butterbur.

Of course - I never said there weren't any.

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

And I'm by no means saying warriors should be thin. Let's not confuse being sturdy/heavily built and being fat.

That's exactly why I wasn't too sure how you meant the word "fat" to come across. And by thin, I didn't mean pencil thin. I meant all muscle, built, thin. You could be thin and be built. You could also be considered "fat" by some and still be sturdy/built. See how a computer can come between meanings? Haha

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by MatthewM

You could also be considered "fat" by some and still be sturdy/built. See how a computer can come between meanings? Haha

Yes, I agree. And I think it's not only the computer, but language as well, since I'm not a native English speaker, as you might know.

Thanks Legate, that's exactly the thread I was talking about: your searching skills seem to be superior to mine.

[Aganzir]

I had completely forgot about Salgant. But I remember Lommy has started a thread once about the correspondence of height and power, and I wonder if the same logic could be applied here as well. One can understand if an innkeeper is fat, but a fat elven warrior leaves admittedly a slightly repulsive and weak feeling, which sits quite well with Salgant's later deeds.

Thanks for the link, Legate. I tried search as well but gave up maybe a bit too quickly.

[Lalwendë]

Boromir was described as being a sturdy bloke wasn't he? And Hobbits are fat by nature and preference - Fatty Bolger must have been a really big lad then. Dwarves are also stocky, so I don't think Tolkien built anything into his works about people being fat or thin having any consequence much. Maybe if we imagine Elves as thin that's us as readers projecting ideas about 'perfection' onto them?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Here is the thread, maybe the one you were looking for, Lommy. If nothing else, it touches the matter.

And to quickly add my two cents to the discussion about fat people: don't forget Forlong, and for the Elves we have maybe Galion (I believe there is something about it in the quoted thread, that an elf like him could have been likely fat). Yup, so these were the two cents