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Tumblr User Explains Why Elves’ Eyes In Lord Of The Rings Shouldn’t Look The Way They Do

J. R. R. Tolkien is, of course, known for his enormous contribution to the fantasy books genre, especially with the epic The Lord of the Rings series that became a sort of staple when talking about high fantasy. Not only did Tolkien put the groundwork for generations of fiction writers (and consumers) to come, he also created some of the most memorable fantasy characters to represent the many different aspects of the genre. We definitely think of the Lord of the Rings character named Gandalf when someone brings up the topic of wizards. The elven world is hardly imaginable without the presence (and shenanigans) of prince Legolas Greenleaf. Throughout Tolkien’s books, this Middle Earther acts as one of the main channels to the elven world and culture that the writer has carefully constructed (he even created a fictional language, just for this race, Quenya).

Tumblr User Explains Why Elves' Eyes In Lord Of The Rings Shouldn't Look The Way They Do

By following the famous characters on their adventures, we find out that Tolkien’s elves are tall, immortal supernatural beings with much keener senses than the common men. One of the more memorable moments of the series, when Legolas uses his elf eyes to see that “[The orcs are] taking the Hobbits to Isengard,” recently became a subject of a Tumblr post that attracted a lot of attention. One user, colonelmagpie, posted their physics homework, where they had to reason how could Legolas see what’s five leagues away. The user soon added their results, and from there… hilarity ensued!

Tumblr User Explains Why Elves' Eyes In Lord Of The Rings Shouldn't Look The Way They Do

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As a writer and image editor for Bored Panda, Giedrė crafts posts on many different topics to push them to their potential. She's also glad that her Bachelor’s degree in English Philology didn’t go to waste (although collecting dust in the attic could also be considered an achievement of aesthetic value!) Giedrė is an avid fan of cats, photography, and mysteries, and a keen observer of the Internet culture which is what she is most excited to write about. Since she's embarked on her journalistic endeavor, Giedrė has over 600 articles under her belt and hopes for twice as much (fingers crossed - half of them are about cats).

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Iván Galarraga 5 years ago

This was just the talk we get in our boardgaming group every meeting, nothing out of normal

17points

Fixin'Ta 5 years ago (edited)

Just for the record, Tolkien created TWO main elvish languages -- Quenya (which is spoken by the High Elves like Galadriel) and Sindarin, which is spoken by most other elves. Quenya is also used in ceremonies, a bit like Latin was for Catholic masses for centuries. It's not so much that I'm a huge Tolkien geek, but my son is, and Tolkien's creation of languages was the catalyst that resulted in my son becoming a linguist.

13points

Tiny Fox 5 years ago

Correct - but I can't give you a point because you didn't start with 'Um, actually...' :D

2points

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Aragorn II Elessar 4 years ago

Sindarin is the common language of Middle Earth, and Quenya is the language of Valinor. That’s correct, most Elves (Thrainduil, Legolas, etc) speak Sindarin, but the old Elves (Elrond, Galadriel, etc) speak both.

1point