: : : On the other hand, the only place where Tolkien spoke of the beardlessness of Elves was in a very late essay (written in the last year or two of his life), and it's doubtful he would have retained it once he checked "published" works, but many people still cite this essay as "proof" that Elves were supposed to be beardless.

: : : Snip

: : "once he checked published works"
: : This started me thinking about a question that's been nagging me for some time. How much of his posthomously published writing would J.R.R. Tolkien have approved for publication? Don't get me wrong, I have welcomed these publications, but while they shed light on some things, they also muddy the water on others. When discussing the LOTR, should we limit ourselves to only material approved by Tolkien,or include material he did not approve?

:
: which rises another question: how can we know what is approved and what not?

Approved would include Tolkien's writings published during his lifetime. Since he had nearly finished pre-publicatiion editing of the Quenta Simarillion at the time of his death, it could probably also be considered approved. In my opinion, all subsequent published material would not be approved since Tolkien did not authorize its publication.