: Pre-LORD OF THE RINGS Hobbits have slightly pointed, "Elfin" ears. I don't know if Tolkien gave the matter any further thought after that time. I can only find two pictures where Tolkien depicted Hobbit ears. Both were made for the original book long before he was even asked to write a sequel. In the first, Bilbo and the eagle, Bilbo's ears are clearly pointed (the visible ear is long and thin). In the second picture, "The Hall at Bag End", where Bilbo is standing in front of an open door smoking his pipe, I cannot determine if the ears are pointed.

: But if they are, so what? Tolkien changed so much by the time he had finished THE LORD OF THE RINGS the hobbit's world was almost unrecognizable. Are the serious, world-weary Noldor of THE LORD OF THE RINGS to be confused with the goofy Elves who sang "Tra-la-la-lally"?

LOL! Michael, please! I'm on your side. I just want to be sure I have all my ducks in a row. I've posted on AICN arguing that Tolkien said the Hobbits AND Elves both have pointed ears based on what Tolkien wrote. Of course I always tempered my argument with the fact that neither the Hobbit nor the LOTR describe the ears of anyone (aside from perhaps the Oliphant), so if that is the readers only source of information it would be acceptable to have all characters with normal ears. But this does raise a problem about which tidbits of information that Tolkien provides in his letters can or should be used and which items should be ignored or discarded. How do we keep personal biases from influencing such decisions? I don't like pointed ears, and I agree with your opinions, but I am still troubled by those darn quotes and the picture of Bilbo and no clarification in later letters that I'm aware of. Perhaps I'm being too legalistic or pedantic about the matter. At the same time I don't think this topic deserves as much space as we've devoted to it except perhaps that it may lay to rest the ear question for some.