Are Elves vegatarian?

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Lotrelf

I did not argue. I did not know that Professor had explicitly said something about this. I found that out from here. I didn't start this thread to "argue", but to know if They ate meat or not. After first few replies I couldn't make my mind to agree, but now, after, so much has been said I believe Elves ate meat and were non-vegatarians.

And, Yes, I asked this question because in The Hobbit 1, Dwarves are NOT served meat.

I am pretty sure the movie Elves are meant to be vegetarian, yes. As someone said already, this is such a common trope of later fiction that people often just assume it applies to Tolkien's work as well- and I guess Jackson is one of those people.

And I'm using "argue" to mean "put forward a case", not "fight".

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Vegetables are what Elves eat when they can't get hobbit.

More misinformation. There is clear evidence that Elves made and consumed this as a staple.

Originally Posted by Nerwen

I am pretty sure the movie Elves are meant to be vegetarian, yes. As someone said already, this is such a common trope of later fiction that people often just assume it applies to Tolkien's work as well- and I guess Jackson is one of those people.

It does indeed seem to fit the mold of Elves, or other beings associated with "nature" as being incapable of using fellow creatures for anything. Never mind the fact that it's awfully difficult to live on berries and bark, and walk around naked in the woods in winter due to an a refusal to use pelts or hides.

[mhagain]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

It does indeed seem to fit the mold of Elves, or other beings associated with "nature" as being incapable of using fellow creatures for anything.

Trouble is that Elves being particularly close to nature is another of those later tropes that gets retroactively applied to Tolkien.

Tolkien's own Elves had no problems with living in cities, working in mines and quarries, building great roads, etc. Turgon's people were almost exclusively urbanized, and Tumladen must have been very heavily farmed. Círdan's people lived in walled cities.

Sure, there wouldn't be a haze of industrial pollution over Gondolin, but you could pitch it at a similar technology level as the Roman Empire, say. Maybe Elvish aesthetics would balk at raw sewage flowing in the streets, but otherwise it seems to fit.