: No, I don't "conveniently" forget that at all! :)

: : Does this letter not indicate that both Elves and Hobbits have
: : pointed ears?

: No. There was never any description of Tolkien Elves which put pointed ears on them, and at the time the only reference "Elfin" would have for Houghton Mifflin would have been tradition European folklore Elves.

:
: :
: : : : In one of his history books (Unfinished Tales, one of the books
: : : : in the history of Middle-earth, I can't remember). Tolkien
: : : : described them as leaf-like. He kind of expanded but I can't
: : : : recall right now. But I think the general idea was an oval
: : : : type leaf with some type of point at the end.

: : : Actually, what Tolkien wrote was that Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than ????. Unable to decipher the "????" part, Christopher Tolkien put in "[human]" to indicate he was taking a wild, uncertain guess.

: : : Many people have erroneously used this entry (found in "The Etymologies" in THE LOST ROAD AND OTHER WRITINGS) to argue that Elven ears were pointed. Elves looked just like Men. Men were occasionally mistaken for Elves. No one ever said anything like, "I see by your ears you are an Elf".

: : : So Tolkien Elves do not have noticeably pointed ears, but some people (most, according to the poll I ran on the LOTR/HOBBIT MOVIE site) feel they should have pointed ears.

So does this mean that Hobbits have slightly pointed ears like Elfs? If not what did Tolkien mean by slightly pointed and leaf-shaped, as opposed to regular human shaped? I'm getting a bit confused about the matter. One quote says "Elvish" another say "Elfin". What is the "exact" quote and where can I see it for myself?

Goodgulf