Talk:Elwing

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Latest comment: 23 July 2018 by Haran in topic Protection of this article

Elwing was not a half-elf

In texts where Tolkien tries to think more profoundly about the half-elven (see below), he doesn’t put Elwing and her brothers as half-elven:

Earendil was thus the second of the Pereldar (Half-elven),(50) the elder being Dior, son of Beren and Luthien Tinuviel daughter of King Elu Thingol. (...) By the marriage of Earendil to Elwing daughter of Dior son of Beren the lines of the Pereldar (Peredil) were united.​ (HoME 12, "The Shibboleth of Feanor")

Pay attention to the fact that Eluréd e Elurín are older than Eärendil, but Tolkien ignores them in the list. Possibly a "half-elf", before the judging of the valar, was only the son/daughter of a union between elf and human, the grandsons and so on weren't half-elven.

Anyway, I couldn't find any canon source in which Tolkien puts Elwing as a half-elf. Sorry my bad english Haran 20:53, 15 August 2014 (UTC)Reply[reply]

I think the confusion here is "Half-elven" as a title (which applied just to Elrond, Elros and Eärendil) and "half-elven" as a genetic fact (which did also apply to Elwing et al.) The Silmarillion is clear that both Eärendil and Elwing (and their sons) were given free choice to decide under which kindred they be judged (this is the chapter "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"). --Mith (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 14:28, 16 August 2014 (UTC)Reply[reply]
But I think "half-elven" as a genetic fact (i.e., before the choice of Eärendil e Elwing) was not applied to Elwing, Eluréd and Elurín, as we see in the text from Shibboleth. And "half-elven" as a title is applied to Elrond, Elros and the sons of Elrond only. Haran 17:18, 16 August 2014 (UTC)Reply[reply]

There is no canon source about Elwing being a half-elf, as I tried to show in 2014. Am I wrong? If I'm not, the encyclopedia should remain neutral about this issue. Haran 02:57, 8 May 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Other texts that corroborate what I said:

Dior their son, it is said, spoke both tongues: his father's, and his mother's, the Sindarin of Doriath. For he said: 'I am the first of the Peredil (Half-elven),. but I am also the heir of King Elwe, the Eluchil.' (The problem of ros.)

And in The Silmarillion:

Bright Eärendil was then lord of the people that dwelt nigh to Sirion's mouths; and he took to wife Elwing the fair, and she bore to him Elrond and Elros, who are called the Half-elven.​
Half-elven: Translation of Sindarin Peredhel, plural Peredhil, applied to Elrond and Elros, 304, 315, 322, 354, 357; and to Eärendil, 298​

We see that Dior says "I am the first of the Peredil", as if it was a self-evident, biological fact. Elrond and Elros, in their turn, are only "called" the half-elven. In the text of the Shibboleth, Eärendil is the second Pereldar, in the first (biological) sense. Therefore, Elured and Elurín (which are older than Eärendil) are not half-elven. What is a little awkward, but not so much - the son of Mithrellas (if her legend is true) probably was a half-elf in that biological sense, but the grandsons and so on weren’t. Therefore, Elwing was not a biological half-elf, and, it seems to me, she wasn't called half-elf either. Haran 20:59, 11 May 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]

This is not what the Other infobox is for. Do not change it again. --Ederchil (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 07:11, 12 May 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Why not? We don't have a perfect classification to Elwing's condition in terms of elf/man/half-elf. "Other" is a way to avoid definite it (after all the "other" label is a neutral label). Anyway, if your problem with my editions is only this point, you shouldn’t have reverted all my edits (in the Elwing article but also in other ones, like Elrond, Elros, etc), where I tried to avoid categorical affirmations that Elwing was a half-elf.... Haran 19:40, 14 May 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Do you dispute that Elwing was able to choose to between the two kindreds? --Mith (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 11:26, 12 May 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
No, of course. Being a so called "half-elf" was not a necessary condition to "choose to between the two kindreds". Perhaps "having mortal blood" was, but wathever, what I affirm is that Elwing was not (as far as we know for sure) considered a "half-elf", in the both senses the word appears in the legendarium. Haran 19:40, 14 May 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Protection of this article

We are not having an edit war over this, so this article is now protected until it is resolved considering the edit has been reverted four times by two different administrators. As Ederchil pointed out, if Elwing is not a half-elf then the elf infobox should be used instead. Regardless, the edit summary that was posted "Write an objection", is not helpful when objections have been raised. --Mith (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 20:52, 21 July 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]

"Objections have been raised?" Where? There was no justification about Elwing being a half-elf. Something like "I think Elwing was a half-elf for such and such reasons". You only affirmed, very quickly, as if it was an obvious fact, I posted my view (that, I believe, is strongly based in the Tolkien writings) disagreeing of that, and there was no response.
"As Ederchil pointed out, if Elwing is not a half-elf then the elf infobox should be used instead". Where did he point out this? He barely talked here (and was asked for), only in his personal talk page, one month and a half after his editions... In his personal talk page, Ederchil only evocated very subjective arguments, like percentage of elf-blood. Do you really want to bring these arguments publicly here? Or worse, do you really want to make an "administrator’s decision” basead on this? This is far from canonical, there are not only these two options, and Elwing was a daughter of a mortal, it's strange (at least) put her simply as an elf...
And, that is, it seems to me, only a new way to disagree with my editions, which you both insisted in reverting barely talking about it… Particularly because putting Elwing as a elf is a new point of yours, indeed, you put Eluréd in the elf label, Elwing in the half-elf label, and Elurín in the elf label but also in the Category:Half-Elves…. I mean, you both don’t seem to know what are you standing for…
These were very bad administrator performances... Why not leave the normal users work in the encyclopedia, if an intervention would create the necessity of a dialogue that you both obviously don't want to engage? That was a normal edition and debate scenario, your part as administrators should not play a role here... These are only two users reverting a third user without an apparent basis….. Haran 19:05, 23 July 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
To respond to your points in order:
  1. Objections - yes, I specifically said "I think the confusion here is "Half-elven" as a title (which applied just to Elrond, Elros and Eärendil) and "half-elven" as a genetic fact (which did also apply to Elwing et al.) The Silmarillion is clear that both Eärendil and Elwing (and their sons) were given free choice to decide under which kindred they be judged" I stand by this statement, and supposedly you do too with you comment that it would be strange to list Elwing as an elf being the daughter of a mortal.
  2. Elf infobox - Ederchil made it clear that the Other infobox was not for the purposes you state. Your argument seems to be "Elwing was not an half-elf, she was given the choice between men and elves but that's because she was some other thing but I don't know what that is." By your own admission, putting her simply as an elf would be strange, which was why we included her as a half-elf as someone who had the choice between men and elves.
  3. Reversions - unfortunately, you are simply disorderly here. When someone disagrees you don't just pursue the course regardless - even if you believe yourself to be right - and instead you chose to engage in an edit war. I have ended that scenario and the article will be unlocked when a resolution is reached. You can't just decided "I'm right and they're wrong and because I don't agree with their view I will ignore it."
You affirmed that Elwing was a "genetic half-elf", but didn't justify it. You said that they were given the free choice to decide under which kindred they would be judged. Ok, like I said, I don’t disagree with that... But how this is liked to your earlier affirmation? It isn’t. After all, there is not a necessary condition like "to be given the free choice to decide your own kindred, you must be half-elf"… You seem to assume it is, but didn't justify it. In fact, what the books seems to indicate is that the mere mortal blood is sufficient to the person be mortal, and the valar let Eärendil's family choice their own destiny as a reward by their deeds. We could discuss it, but I don’t see the point, after all I don’t see a strong link between the free choice given to the Eärendil and his family and their half-elf label.
"Ederchil made it clear that the Other infobox was not for the purposes you state". He was very monosyllabic. I was not sure what purpose he believed I had, and what purpose the box was meant for. To me, the use was very appropriate, as a way to avoid put Elwing in terms of elf and half-elf. I asked him more elaboration of his warning, and he didn't answer.
"Your argument seems to be "Elwing was not an half-elf, she was given the choice between men and elves but that's because she was some other thing but I don't know what that is." This was a very marginal point of the discussion. My argument is that Elwing was not a half-elf, because she and her brothers were neither called half-elf in the legendarium nor listed as such (and they should have been listed in the HoME text I quoted). The fact they were given the free choice was (I interpret) a reward by their deeds. Tuor was also indicated to have become an elf, and didn't have immortal blood. Lúthien also have become a mortal, and didn’t have mortal blood... Neither (therefore) they were half-elves…. Moreover, half-elves outside Eärendil's house were not given any choice.
“(…) You can't just decided "I'm right and they're wrong and because I don't agree with their view I will ignore it." You did it, not I. See all the discussion again. In 2014, I wrote a somewhat extensive justification of my opinion. You disagreed and barely justify it, implicitly assuming the justification you should elaborate. I replied your text, elaborating the concepts yourself put in discussion (genetic fact versus title), and showing that both concepts didn’t apply to Elwing. If you have maintained your opinion, you should have replied, don’t you agree? There was an interval of four years (!!!) to elaborate the position of Elwing was a half-elf. After four years, I asked “Am I wrong?”, showing to believe no one thought I was wrong. And I wrote more justifications. If you have maintained your opinion, this was a new great opportunity to speak out. But there was no answer again. Only then I decided to edit the article, and the result was reversions, Edheril saying “don’t do it again” barely explaining his point (!!), and a question of yours that didn't seem to indicate great disagreement to the central point of the editions... Haran 21:08, 23 July 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Source on Elwing being half-elven

  • J.R.R. Tolkien: "Eärendil is Túor's son & father of Elros (First King of Númenor) and Elrond, their mother being Elwing daughter of Dior, son of Beren and Lúthien: so the problem of the Half-elven becomes united in one line. The view is that the Half-elven have a power of (irrevocable) choice, which may be delayed but not permanently, which kin's fate they will share." - Letter 153 (emphasis my own)
  • J.R.R. Tolkien: "But Elwing was saved and fled with the Silmaril to the havens of the surviving Eldar at the Mouths of Sirion. There she later wedded Eärendil, and so joined the two Half-elven lines." - The Peoples of Middle-earth, p. 369 (emphasis my own)
  • J.R.R. Tolkien: "By the marriage of Dior son of Beren the lines of Pereldar (Pereðil) were united." - The Peoples of Middle-earth, p. 369 (emphasis my own)

I hope that this will put the issue to bed. --Mith (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 19:36, 23 July 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Elwing belonged to Dior's line, this is sufficient to understand these three texts. In fact, the text I mentioned earlier already admitted this fact:
Earendil was thus the second of the Pereldar (Half-elven),(50) the elder being Dior, son of Beren and Luthien Tinuviel daughter of King Elu Thingol. (...) By the marriage of Earendil to Elwing daughter of Dior son of Beren the lines of the Pereldar (Peredil) were united. (HoME 12, "The Shibboleth of Feanor")
The text doesn't consider Elwing, Elured and Elurin as half-elves: pay attention to the fact that Eluréd e Elurín are older than Eärendil, but Tolkien ignores them in the list. And Elwing was the same age than Eärendil. The lines of the Pereldar are the lines of Eärendil and Dior, and such lines were united. Haran 21:08, 23 July 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
And, reinforcing the all objective in discussing it here: I believe Tolkien clearly didn't consider Elwing a half-elf, but what I want since the beginning is not that you agree with me, but that the the encyclopedia be maintained neutral about this issue. Haran 21:24, 23 July 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]