Do Elves ever get fat?

[THE Ka]

Originally Posted by 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?

I like that idea quite a bit.

As for hobbits, I think Tolkien allowed more of a breadth size wise for them, especially when you come upon their actual names they give to one another, like 'fatty'. Then again, what is considered 'overweight' by our standards might mean something quite different to a hobbit of 'good standing'. Thankfully, Tolkien tended to go into more detail with hobbits than some other races, but I don't think he was convicted with a twinge of malice against certain characters based on their physical predicament.

Somewhat facial/eye and mostly mentally wise he certainly does in a way that we know he's talking about someone like Saruman and not Gandalf for example.

As for other forms of 'large', there is the such form of a larger frame, which he uses in Boromir's case. Though, I am not sure, but that is probably more an eludement to his character/mental state and birth, especially how Tolkien compares his height, etc, right next to that of Aragorn via Frodo's observation.

So again, it seems more based upon such as what is used in art history often, the 'psychological portrait' (where the 'inner state' is reflected in the eyes and especially facial form of a person. Done mostly by northern Renaissance artists and later Baroque artists, good example: Rembrandt).

I think it is more of that case, and with that I think Tolkien does an amazing job at, because I don't see him spending too much time on the physical than he has to. Except in certain cases, and it is either to increase the sheer 'light and beauty' or 'darkness/malice' of a being or act.
Which makes sense getting a strong point across.

So yep, there's my little cents on the matter.

~ Ka

[zxcvbn]

Tolkien pictured Elves as an idealised verison of humans, so the thought of fat Elves usually doesn't enter people's minds. Personally, I think that there were overweight Elves, but of the 'cute and chubby' type than 'disgustingly repulsive rolls of fat'. Overweight but still fair to look upon.

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by THE Ka

As for other forms of 'large', there is the such form of a larger frame, which he uses in Boromir's case. Though, I am not sure, but that is probably more an eludement to his character/mental state and birth, especially how Tolkien compares his height, etc, right next to that of Aragorn via Frodo's observation.

So again, it seems more based upon such as what is used in art history often, the 'psychological portrait' (where the 'inner state' is reflected in the eyes and especially facial form of a person. Done mostly by northern Renaissance artists and later Baroque artists, good example: Rembrandt).

That's an interesting take on the matter, and you could surely make a claim for it. However, I feel like Tolkien was, at least in Boromir's case, mainly referring to his physical larger frame. He wanted to clearly distinguish that Aragorn was just a bit taller, yet Boromir was "broader and heavier in build". Even beyond the text of LotR, Tolkien shows further interest in the matter of height between the two in an unpublished note, located at the Bodleian Library in Oxford-

“Aragorn, direct descendant of Elendil and his son Isildur, both of whom had been seven feet tall, must nonetheless have been a very tall man…, probably at least 6 ft. 6; and Boromir, of high Númenorean lineage, not much shorter (say 6 ft. 4).”

So, I do not really think Tolkien meant to reference Boromir's character/mental state and birth while describing his build.

[Gwathagor]

When Tolkien uses the word "slender" to describe the elves, I take it to mean that they were more slender than the average human in Middle-earth. Nowadays, we're pretty hard on fat people; I imagine there would have been less social pressure to be crazy skinny among people of Tolkien's generation. So, it's reasonable that Tolkien's idea of "slender" might actually be closer to our modern idea of "healthy/normal" (at least in States, where there's still a variety of opinion concerning what "normal" is). After all, Tolkien reacted very strongly against the idea that the elves were strangely thin, girly-man lookin' beings (rather like the androgynes of the films). In a letter, he says that Legolas was as tall and strong as a young tree, who was able to string and draw a great bow of the Galadhrim with ease (that's all paraphrase). The "young tree" comparison retains the idea of some slenderness, but places a great deal of emphasis on the obvious strength of the elves. The warriors, at least, aren't thin. If anything, they're probably really big and kind of scary.

However, in my opinion, very rarely should they fat. Not the healthy ones, at any rate. The description of Salgant makes it obvious that Salgant was a scumbag, before it says he was fat. Due to the close proximity of the epithets "craven" and "heavy and squat", I naturally associate the two. So, his appearance reflects his moral state.

The conclusion I draw from all this is that healthy, normal elves are neither too fat, nor too thin. Elves who ARE fat have other, more serious problems...they're either bullies or toadies, and nobody likes them anyway.

Of course, I could be totally wrong. Maybe someone else knows for sure: what DID Tolkien mean by "slender"?

[obloquy]

Here is the thread, maybe the one you were looking for, Lommy.

The thread? Here's the thread.

[THE Ka]

Originally Posted by MathewM

Even beyond the text of LotR, Tolkien shows further interest in the matter of height between the two in an unpublished note, located at the Bodleian Library in Oxford-

“Aragorn, direct descendant of Elendil and his son Isildur, both of whom had been seven feet tall, must nonetheless have been a very tall man…, probably at least 6 ft. 6; and Boromir, of high Númenorean lineage, not much shorter (say 6 ft. 4).”

Thanks for posting that, I've never really had a chance to delve much deeper into Tolkien's notes beyond an Appendix here or there, or things I find in enclycopedias. Gandalf would be ashamed of me, to be frank.
Sometimes I tend to overthink things, or forget that how the elves are imagined is much different than that of men. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Though, thanks again for that, I'm trying to look more into Tolkien now that I have more free time to read what I want, especially at non-main characters. Boromir is an example, though I have had somewhat of a particular interest in his case, since he definately appears more human at times.

~ Ka

[MatthewM]

Ka - Glad to help.

[kementari]

the elves secret is that their bread is fat free!