Posted: June 16, 1999 at 00:02:07: by Micahel Martinez
: : I don't know about that, but unless all other inhabitants of
: : Middle-earth DON'T have white around their irises, Tolkien
: : was saying the eyes of these creatures were white -- meaning,
: : they had WHITE EYES. I don't know how to express it any
: : plainer than that. No man has a white eye. I believe that
: : even albinos have pink eyes, though I've never met an albino
: : so I'm not positive (and would all albinos have the same eye
: : colors?).: Off hand I cannot think of any mammal with white irises. I
: always thought that the reference was to the more apparent
: contrast you would get of white sclera against a black skin.
: Albino humans (there are a variety of causes) have pale blue to
: red irises. I've met an albino of the blue-eyed variety, the
: lack of pigment gives a very arresting impression. I grew up in the South (southern United States) which has a large Black American population and there is nothing particularly "white seeming" about their eyes. I suspect this is a myth arising from the old racist minstrel shows. I think the actors used to put white circles around their eyes or something like that after they had applied black makeup to their faces. One of the most famous sayings from American history is, "Hold your fire until you see the whites of their eyes!", supposedly cried out at Breed Hill (more-or-less the Battle of Bunker Hill -- I forget why we call the battle over one hill by the name of another hill). The soldiers whose "whites" were to be watched for were Redcoats -- British regulars. However, if Tolkien can give the Orcs red eyes (I think he did, but I may be mistaken) he can surely give the Troll-men white eyes. : : Also, trolls were very tall. I wouldn't think of the
: : Troll-men as being short and fat. Tolkien apparently decided
: : they resembled trolls in some fashion. They must have
: : therefore been unusually large and strong. : I've always thought of them as being massive in all directions
: - large and squat - like a bipedal humanoid rhino (without the
: nasal attachment). That seems reasonable. : : Perhaps, but as with making the "hobgoblins" large Orcs
: : (essentially Uruks, I propose), he would indeed be twisting
: : the tradition around in using it for his Troll-men. : I have a blue faience Ancient Egyptian amulet (about an inch in
: height) of Bes and he is certainly grotesque enough to be
: called troll-like. I wouldn't like to meet him on a dark
: night! I wonder if I have seen a similar representation? I'm not very familiary with ancient Egyptian mythology and history. I couldn't put a name to very many images at all.
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Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, Revised Edition
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