Posted: July 07, 1998 at 22:35:37: by Michael Martinez
: : In the History of Middle Earth it says Elves can't contract
: : illness, but Elrond's wife was poisoned which seemsa to
: : contradict this-is there any precedent that an injury to an
: : Elf could cause Brain Damage and mental retardation?: There's a big difference between 'Disease' and 'Poison'! : Elves, since they seem to have been life forms similar to
: mankind, would be subject to damage of the brain, but I do not
: believe you'll find it written anywhere (except maybe, what has
: already been written about the House of Feanor - though perhaps
: 'derranged' would better describe them, than brain damaged).
: Besides the unfortunate sufferers of brain damage seldom make
: great heroes in the fantasy genre. : As for mental retardation, I would suggest that it was very
: unlikely if not non-existant (with the exception of the House
: of Feanor, of course (snigger)) among elves. It seems that the
: elves picked up all the good attributes and men picked up all
: the s**t. I mean, I ask you, what the hell did Eru have in
: mind when he gave man the *gift* of death!!!
:
: Padster I think that many of the Elves who were captured by Morgoth in the First Age may have, in Tolkien's mind, been subject to tortures which could have damaged their minds. I cannot think of any specific passages to refer to, but have a vague recollection of some silent Elves. Nellas, the Elf-woman who watched over Turin during his youth, appears to have been a "backwards" Elf, but Tolkien never really developed her character fully. The most that is revealed about her is a certain shyness around the most advanced Sindar (in Thingol's court) in "Narn i Hin Hurin" (UNFINISHED TALES). Michael
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Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, Revised Edition
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