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Strider_is_the_cats_MEOW
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Post Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 02, 2005 07:13
Where Elros and Elrond identical twins? Just curious. Also, did Tolkien ever make the distinction of the Noldor having dark hair and the Silvan Elves being blonde? What color hair would the Teleri have had?
Does anyone know how many daughters Aragorn had? Or anything about them? As far as I know, Tolkien only told us about Eldarion. For some weird reason seven comes to mind . . . . I dont know why.
Kadaveri
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 02, 2005 07:37
Where Elros and Elrond identical twins? They were twins yes, whether they were identical or not I don't think is ever said (I'm not sure there, could be wrong).
Did Tolkien ever make the distinction of the Noldor having dark hair and the Silvan Elves being blonde? Tolkien never said anything about the Silvan Elves being blonde, the only blonde Elves were the Vanyar and Finarfin's descendents. I seem to remember Legolas having dark hair though genetically he maybe a Sindar Elf so that may not be applicable.
What color hair would the Teleri have had? We don't know for sure. Probably dark, definitely not blonde.
Does anyone know how many daughters Aragorn had? No, Tolkien never said anything about Aragorn's daughters apart from the fact they existed.
atalante_star
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 02, 2005 10:06
Elrond and Elros were *probably* twins - the only actual references to them being twins are in HoME. There's also a few references floating around saying they are just brothers.
celebrin_uial
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 04, 2005 02:26
The Noldor and Sindar hair issue is one that has puzzled me as well. There is some things which tolkien did say that may shed some light upon this issues.

1) As stated before the Vanyar had a tendency to have blonde hair, and the children of Finarfin are a strong evidence of that.

2) Thingol is said to have grey hair, not entirly on subject however Luthien is said to have a dark and yet fair complexion, hence she may have had dark hair. Not to mention that her descendents(elrond, arwen, Elrohir, Elladan) all had dark hair, even though Celebrian had silver hair, prolly taken from her own father Celeborn the only other elf to have such

3) Upon arriving the Noldor called the Sindar Moriquendi, dark elves; while this may be seen as a reference to them not having seen the light of valinor it coud also mean that collectivly they, like Luthien were dark of hair.

4) I believe Jackson placed the Teleri, who are also the Nandor, Galadhrim and Wood-elves as having blonde hair because on camera it looked aesthetically pleasing to have such beings, plus it harkens to Galadriel as being their queen and Lorien being a place of light.

Also one question, Did just the sons of Feanor have red hair or was that a common trait among pure Noldor or something similar
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 05, 2005 03:30
.. Thingol is said to have grey hair, not entirly on subject however Luthien is said to have a dark and yet fair complexion, hence she may have had dark hair. Not to mention that her descendents(elrond, arwen, Elrohir, Elladan) all had dark hair, even though Celebrian had silver hair, prolly taken from her own father Celeborn the only other elf to have such

I would think Lúthien's mother, Melian, had dark hair. Which would explain her hair colouring.

3) Upon arriving the Noldor called the Sindar Moriquendi, dark elves; while this may be seen as a reference to them not having seen the light of valinor it coud also mean that collectivly they, like Luthien were dark of hair.

I'd say they were called the Moriquendi because they personally hadn't seen the light of the 2 trees & not because of their hair colouring. It was only the Vanya that are said to have lighter hair, therefore many other Elves, with darker hair colouring, would have seen the light in Valinor.
..

Also one question, Did just the sons of Feanor have red hair or was that a common trait among pure Noldor or something similar

I don't think so, I've never heard any other Elves being described has having red hair. But of course I could be wrong.
Morwinyoniel
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 05, 2005 08:44
There is some kind of "rule of thumb" regarding the Elves' hair colours:

Vanyar = blond
Noldor = mostly dark, red very rare (some members of one family)
Teleri/Sindar = mostly dark, some silver
Nandor/Wood Elves = mostly dark

But, there sure were marriages between the different cultures in addition to the few royal ones of which we know so, there must have been individuals with an uncharacteristic hair colour in all groups.

And yes, Lúthien inherited her hair colour from her mother.
atalante_star
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 05, 2005 11:49
Also one question, Did just the sons of Feanor have red hair or was that a common trait among pure Noldor or something similar

It was inherited from their mother, Nerdanel. Where *she* goe it from, however, isn't known.
TinaHalfelven
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 05, 2005 12:16
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also one question, Did just the sons of Feanor have red hair or was that a common trait among pure Noldor or something similar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


It was inherited from their mother, Nerdanel. Where *she* goe it from, however, isn't known.


Here's a theory: She could have been one of the first elves, so it is possible that she was just created like that from Iluvatar's thought.
truegirl
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 05, 2005 02:26

It was inherited from their mother, Nerdanel. Where *she* goe it from, however, isn't known.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a theory: She could have been one of the first elves, so it is possible that she was just created like that from Iluvatar's thought.
Wasn't Nerdanel's father, Mahtan, also described as having red or reddish-brown hair?
Morwinyoniel
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 06, 2005 07:52
Wasn't Nerdanel's father, Mahtan, also described as having red or reddish-brown hair?

Yes, Mahtan was one of the redheads:
His hair was not as dark or black as was that of most of the Ñoldor, but brown, and had glints of coppery-red in it. Of Nerdanel's seven children the oldest, and the twins (a very rare thing among the Eldar) had hair of this kind. (HoME 12, The Shibboleth of Fëanor, Note 61)
calenlily
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 08, 2005 10:36
Somewhere in HoME it says that the Teleri (of whom the sindar and silvan elves were a part) generally had dark hair and only the vanyar were blonde, however in the Hobbit it says that Thranduil had blond hair (so it was certainly possible that Legolas was also blond) and in FotR it mentions one of the random Lorien elves as as also being blond, and the wording in the Lay of Nimrodel suggests that she was blonde too. My theory on these discrepancies is simply that the Hobbit and LotR were originally not meant to be in the same world as Silm. That doesn't explain Nerdanel's family though.
arwen_telcontari
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: June 10, 2005 10:35
In answer to the question of Aragorn's daughters, it is said in the appendices that they did have them. My cousin theorizes that there were either two or three, but their names are not known.
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: April 03, 2009 05:08
Hmmm...didn't usually half-elven people usually have pointy ears? Elrond was half-elven, and he had pointy ears. So I don't see why not Aragorn and Arwen's offspring wouldn't have pointy ears.

Though this brings up the question: we do know that Arwen gave up her immortality. It is not said but suggested that her children did not have this choice, they were mortal. So if they were mortal, then perhaps maybe they did not have pointy ears?

Something to think about.
Erucenindë
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: April 04, 2009 04:00
lol Elanor!! Thanks for spying for us!

NellasTaralom: For some reason I always imagined their children to be like human in appearance. No pointyness, or anything. Of course, that could be wrong, I'm just saying. Though it seems to me that perhaps they would have had pointy ears, and all the elven traits except for the choice of mortality. Again, I could be wrong. Surely there's someone out there who knows more than us?
Iavas87
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: April 04, 2009 07:59
I'm too lazy to go seek out references, so either take my word on the following or don't. I'm working off of my memory, but I'm pretty sure that it serves me well.

Here are all the Elves for whom I distinctly remember hair color being either mentioned or heavily presumed:


1. Ingwe (Gold)
2. Finwe (Black) + Miriel (Silver)
I. Feanor (Black) + Nerdanel (Red)
i. Maedhros (Red)
ii. Maglor (Black)
iii. Celegorm (Fair)
iv. Caranthir (Black)
v. Curufin (Black)
vi. Amrod (Red - darkened with age)
vii. Amros (Red)
3. Mahtan (Red)
I. Nerdanel (Red)
4. Finwe (Black) + Indis (Gold)
I. Fingolfin (Black) + Anaire (Presumably Black)
i. Fingon (Black)
ii. Turgon (Black) + Elenwe (Gold )
A. Idril (Gold) + Tuor (Gold)
a. Earendil (Gold) + Elwe (Black)
• Elrond (Black) + Celebrian (Presumably Silver)
o Eladan (Black)
o Elrohir (Black)
o Arwen (Black)
• Elros (Black
iii. Aredhel (Black) + Eol (Black)
A. Maeglin (Black)
II. Finarfin (Gold) + Earwen (Silver)
i. Finrod (Gold)
ii. Angrod (Gold)
iii. Orodreth (Gold)
A. Finduilas (Gold)
B. Gil-Galad (Presumably Gold)
iv. Aegnor (Gold)
v. Galadriel (Silver/Gold) + Celeborn (Silver)
A. Celebrian (Presumably Silver)
5. Olwe (Silver)
I. Earwen (Silver)
6. Elwe (Silver) + Melian (Black)
I. Luthien (Black)
7. Elmo (Silver)
I. Galadhon (Presumably Silver)
i. Celeborn (Silver)

Too bad I don't know how to add indents, or that list would be as pretty as it looks in Word.

As you can see, pretty much all of the mentioned (i.e. royal) Vanyar have gold hair, the mentioned Teleri have silver hair, and the mentioned Noldor have mostly black or very occasionally red hair, with the other colors creeping in through intermarriage.

Does this mean that this is the case for every single Elf of that type (not including results of interbreeding)? I highly doubt it. It might be a general trend, but I'm sure that there was plenty of variation, especially in subsequent generations after the first. If the royal families are anything like they are in real life, they would be far more inclined to keep marriage within their 'class' (for lack of a better word), preserving the characteristics of their line stretching up to the different groups that formed at Cuivienen. I suspect that there was much more intermarriage among regular non-royal Elves, giving each 'class' a general trend of hair color with numerous exceptions. Think of it like this - in the real world, certain 'races' have lighter hair (esp. from up north) while others have darker hair (e.g. lineages from around the Equator or Asia), but this is not set in stone, especially in the case of interracial marriage.

Tolkien seemed to particularly mention the hair colors gold, silver, dark, and copper. Note that the most common hair color (i.e. some shade of brown) is not mentioned at all except for the general description of Hobbits. I believe that any time hair color is not explicitly mentioned, it is safe to assume it is brownish or ashy or any of those more common colors that are more difficult to categorize.

Regarding the groups of Elves on Middle-earth (e.g. Sindar, Silvan, Avari), we have less information. We know that Thranduil has gold hair, but that's about it. It is safe to assume that the spectacular golden hair of the Vanyar, all of whom are said to have gone west, was relatively rare in all cases - probably present in a few instances where somebody's great-great-great-etc-grandmother was of the Vanyar. Silver hair must have been more common, especially near the western shores, but relatively rare nevertheless. Dark hair, which was presumably the norm among the Nandor (of whom a large part split off from the Noldor) was more common both for the above reason and that it is the dominant gene (for while I doubt Tolkien scientifically came up with his descriptions, he probably based them on real life trends). Once again, however, I presume that the majority of Elves that stayed in Middle-earth (i.e. Sindar, Silvan, Avari, etc.) had your average brownish hair, some darker, some lighter, but not definite enough to be called black or blond or silver. Red hair seems to be the outlier, cropping up occasionally but being one of the rarest colors overall. This reflects real life as well, where red has been rumored to be 'dying out'. Fact is, red seems to emerge from certain combinations of genes that allow the phenotype to show through. I'm sure that some few Elves around Middle-earth had red hair, even if they were in no way related to Mahtan, just as not all golden haired Elves were related to Ingwe and not all silver hair Elves to Elwe.

[Edited on 4/4/2009 by Iavas87]
cirdaneth
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: April 04, 2009 11:40
My Goodness, Iavas! You have been busy. Thanks for that list. Just shows there is nothing questionable about an elf with red hair.

Merides
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: April 05, 2009 03:11
Just in addition to the comments already made...

Keep in mind that Arwen was only 3/4 elf- the genetic chance for rounded, human ears would have been stronger in her children. It would not surprise me, however, if, for example, one of her children would have had pointed ears, while the rest had rounded ones.

Different traits pass differently to each child. For example, let's say you have your dad's nose, while your brother has your mum's. People carry different traits from each parent, and it varries from child to child. Otherwise, you and your sister would look exactly the same! Instead, you got straight hair, from your father's side, while she got curly hair, like your mum.

The same applies to the hair color. Over each generation, genetic information is lost, so the chances for the rare hair colors grow less and less. Intermarriage boosts these chances, introducing new (lost) genetic information. Thus, though unlikely, since he's from Mirkwood, the red-headed elf in FotR is possible.

I hope I wrote that out so that it made sense. Genetics are quite fascinating to me!
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: April 05, 2009 04:05
Yes, that is very possible And I sort of like that Tolkien never described the daughters of Aragorn....it gives us the liberty of picturing them any way we want! Who knows what they looked like? For all we know, one of the daughters may have inherited Celebrian's silver hair!
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: October 26, 2009 09:07
We need to remember that Cirdan's beardedness was what Sam reported he saw, at dusk, on a windy quay, while under extreme emotional stress. With Cirdan's long silver hair blowing about his face it would be hard to be certain about a beard.
Elthir
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: October 26, 2009 11:20
In Unfinished Tales maybe JRRT meant something like: Men with an Elvish strain were beardless because even this characteristic did not show up in Elves until after thousands of years of living (possibly as long as it takes for an Elf to make it to his third cycle, or second, if exceptional). The description reads: '(it was a characteristic of all Elves to be beardless)'

'All Elves' could be technically true, just not all Elves after thousands of years of life -- but perhaps this latter technical point had no real impact concerning the observation in Men so descended (short-lived by comparison).

Maybe (and if the idea works in other ways, that is)




[Edited on 27/10/2009 by Elthir]
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: October 26, 2009 09:25
It is currently characteristic of middle-aged men in England to be bald ... but only because they shave their heads.

... so just because a group of people don't grow beards it doesn't mean they can't.
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: November 01, 2009 03:11
I'm going with the 'third stage of life' explanation for Cirdan's beard. Perhaps their were so few other beards on Elves as old as he due to the control they exerted over their bodies allowing them to inhibit beard growth. Cirdan may simply have liked the wise and distinguished way he looked with a beard and allowed or encouraged his to grow.
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: November 04, 2009 09:47
OK all you other folks! Just talk quietly among yourselves until these two have finished their deeply academic conversation ... which, incidentally, is sliding seriously off-topic.
Elthir
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: November 04, 2009 10:19
In the thread it is said that Nerdanel had red hair, however there's a marginal note describing that Nerdanel: 'herself had brown hair and a ruddy complexion'

(Vinyar Tengwar 41)

[Edited on 30/9/2011 by Elthir]
Elthir
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: November 05, 2009 05:32
iii. Celegorm (Fair)
iv. Caranthir (Black)


In the Shibboleth of Feanor Caranthir Morifinwe was said to be black-haired like his grandfather -- but under 'mother-names': 'he was dark (brown) haired but had the ruddy complexion of his mother'.

Celegorm is an interesting case: in the 1930s Quenta Silmarillion (The Lost Road): 'golden was his long hair' (in the Lay he has 'gleaming hair', and his Old English name was Cynegrim Fægerfeax 'Fair-hair').

Christopher Tolkien explains that the phrase was removed for the published Silmarillion, however: 'on account of the dark hair of the Noldorin princes other than in the golden house of Finarfin.. but he remains 'Celegorm the fair'.

[Edited on 30/9/2011 by Elthir]
Elthir
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: November 07, 2009 10:45
Here's a more general note on hair colour concerning the Eldar (not cited in the thread yet, I think, so I just thought I would add it):

'... and among them the Eldar were as kings, who are now gone: the People of the Great Journey, the People of the Stars. They were tall, fair of skin and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finarfin...'

Appendix F, On Translation
cirdaneth
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 14, 2011 09:39
*bump
asea_aranion
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 23, 2011 10:52
After reading this thread, all I want to do is make Punnet Squares of elven traits... anyone know whether pointy ears are dominant or recessive?
Elthir
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 24, 2011 06:30
I don't know about dominant or recessive... but pointed ears for Elves are unattested to date -- from the 1950s onward anyway.

Did the Quendi have 'em... as in really really have 'em?
cirdaneth
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 25, 2011 04:59
The element LAS (Etymologies) means 1)ear and 2) leaf. I read somewhere that one was named for the other because of their pointed shape.

(Yes, I know some leaves are round, but let's not be picky!)
Elthir
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 25, 2011 06:46
Cirdaneth wrote: The element LAS (Etymologies) means 1) ear and 2) leaf. I read somewhere that one was named for the other because of their pointed shape. (Yes, I know some leaves are round, but let's not be picky!)


But Tolkien abandoned Etymologies, which is why I noted 1950s and after; and later -- after The Lord of the Rings was published -- he looked at these words again.

And if one compares the later entries to the abandoned Etymologies entries, one can note that the direct comparison of Quendian ears to human ears is 'missing' (Elvish ears being noted in Etymologies as more pointed and leaf-shaped than human ears). This is what JRRT wrote in any case, from the relatively recent publication of Words, Phrases, and Passages (Parma Eldalamberon 17):

Q lasse 'leaf' (S las); pl. lassi (S lais). It is only applied to certain kinds of leaves, especially those of trees, and would not e.g. be used of leaf of a hyacinth (linque). It is thus possibly related to LAS 'listen', and S-LAS stem of Elvish words for 'ear'; Q hlas, dual hlaru. Sindarin dual lhaw, singular lhewig.

lasse 'leaf'.



So as I say, we still have a possible relationship, as we had back in Etymologies, but now we are 'missing' the little aside that the Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than human ears.


Why not include it again, if it is certain? and even if there is a relationship, does this necessarily mean the Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than human ears? Tolkien had already published words like: lasto, lassi, lhaw, so he could hardly get around the actual forms of the words, and what they meant; but I think he could get around an idea that he held in the late 1930s or early 1940s (Etymologies), if he really desired to.

Could Tolkien at least make the matter ambiguous even if suggestive -- with respect to a popular notion that Men might have about Elves? And could this serve as the fictive origin of the 'mistaken' idea about 'Elves' having pointed ears?

I admit the suggestion of leaf-shaped ears still remains, but I would say that it is (so far anyway) still more of a suggestion than a fact...

... thus my 'really really' earlier

[Edited on 25/9/2011 by Elthir]
cirdaneth
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 25, 2011 09:12
... ah ... if only we knew how Tolkien induced in himself the trance he used for finding out "what really happened".

Actually I don't really mind what shape their ears are. What I'd hate is the thought of a corpulent elf with uneven teeth. Hair, now, is another matter.
Elthir
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 25, 2011 11:50
Back to hair, I don't think these statements from Words, Phrases, Passages have been noted here yet.

'The Noldor were generally hróva or morna' [these Elvish words are noted] 'morna black of hair: hróva 'dark, dark brown' -- although in another entry JRRT seemed to think absolute black was not the case (same source): 'The predominant colour of Noldorin hair was very dark brown (no Elf had absolute black hair: morna)'

Yet JRRT appears to revise that no Elf was black of hair (morna) in The Shibboleth of Feanor, dated 1968 or later -- for example, there Finwe has 'black' hair (note 19). Or concerning Urundil (note 61): 'His hair was not as dark or black as was that of most of the Noldor, but brown, and had glints of coppery red in it.'
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 27, 2011 06:16
It's interesting that hair-colour comes from just two types of melanin ... Dark which gives black to brown, and light, which gives gold to reddish. Hair greys when melanin production is reduced or ceases, while completely white hair comes from air within the hair-shaft.

Since most people have single hairs of several different colours I'm assuming we are mostly blends, which alter down the generations depending on the dominance of a gene or the predominance of that gene in our parents.

So wouldn't elves have a wide variety of shades, with the original pure shades (black/white/gold) remaining purer in the leading families, and a general mix of browns in the rest of the population?
Elthir
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Post RE: Elros, Elves' hair, and Aragorn's daughters
on: September 30, 2011 05:43
Tolkien's perspective and the dark haired Vanyar?

I would like to toss in a distinction that I think is interesting (even though no one else will probably care or comment), and that is, the author-published corpus versus posthumously published text. From Tolkien's perspective, he was arguably only bound by what he himself had published, and so he would be quite free to change other notions that we read in material only made known to the public through Christopher Tolkien.

It may be suggested that whereas my father set great store by consistency at all points with The Lord of the Rings and the Appendices, so little concerning the First Age had appeared in print that he was under far less constraint. I am inclined to think, however, that the primary explanation of these differences lies rather in his writing largely from memory. The histories of the First Age would always remain in a somewhat fluid state so long as they were not fixed in published work; and he certainly did not have all the relevant manuscripts clearly arranged and set out before him. But it remains in any case an open question, whether (to give a single example) in the essay Of Dwarves and Men he had definitely rejected the greatly elaborated account of the houses of the Edain that had entered the Quenta Silmarillion in about 1958, or whether it had passed from his mind.'

Christopher Tolkien, Foreword, The Peoples of Middle-Earth



Two issues of interest here: already published work, and Tolkien's memory. Looking at hair-colour, if we consider author-published text and the 'definition' of the word Eldar, we have:

Published by JRRT

Eldar

Despite various sites on the web, and enough forum threads on the subject, according to The Lord of the Rings itself, the Eldar of Middle-earth are the Noldor and Sindar only. Here the Eldar are the West-elves, not the East-elves of Mirkwood and Lorien. Thus:

A) That the Eldar are noted as dark-haired except for the House of Finarfin (Appendix F) includes the Noldor and Sindar, but not the Non-Eldarin Elves of Mirkwood and Lorien.

A1) someone already noted the golden-haired Elf of Lorien, and the implication that Nimrodel was golden-haired -- these examples need not be in discord with Appendix F, as both could be golden-haired (not Eldarin) East-elves. In other words, this option is not only open to the reader, but to Tolkien as well.


B) The Vanyar: the term Vanyar does not (as far as I'm aware anyway) appear in anything Tolkien himself published, but if we imagine them as part of those Elves who sailed West Over Sea, then they are Eldar -- and thus by implication at least mostly dark-haired.

B1) Christopher Tolkien himself objected to this in comparison to specific description (in other places) concerning the Vanyar, most of it post-dating the publication of The Lord of the Rings I think -- but as he also notes that his father carefully remodelled the passage in Appendix F to refer to the 'Eldar', he is thus unable to explain this (although again, description of the Vanyar was never published by JRRT himself, if I recall correctly).


B2) Tolkien not only altered early draft versions of Appendix F to refer to the Eldar as dark-haired (instead of just the Noldor), but much later for the second edition of The Lord of the Rings, he even changed the name Finrod in the same passage, and didn't 'fix' the reference to the Eldar, if it needed fixing. Maybe he didn't notice anything except the name, but still it's quite interesting.

Posthumously published texts

This situation is a bit different in this context, and it would seem that 'mostly' dark-hair for the Eldar takes on a different, more expansive meaning.

Eldar revisited

In late, posthumously published texts the Elves of Mirkwood and Lorien, outside of possibly mixing with some Avari, are considered Eldar -- as now the Eldar are those that took up the Great Journey, not simply the West-elves. Did Tolkien forget what he had published? possibly, but for my purpose here it doesn't really matter too much -- the point here is, if so, now dark-hair would seem to include them.

Moreover certain texts from The War of the Jewels seem to imply that the Vanyar, the First Clan and the smallest of the three clans, were notably yellow or golden-haired even before they passed Over Sea -- leaving the suggestion that they were different in this respect from the other two clans at an early point in history -- that is, at a time when all three clans could be compared to each other.

And in seeming agreement with this, the Sindar were said to generally resemble the dark-haired Noldor with respect to hair colour (the Noldor hail from the Second Clan) -- and the Sindar ultimately hail from the Third Clan, from whence came the Teleri of course -- with the Elves of Mirkwood and Lorien also hailing from the Teleri according to late texts. And why should those of the Third Clan who became Avari be golden-haired?

Actually 'Eldar' seems to matter less now, as the implication includes that not only are the Second and Third clan mostly dark-haired, but the Avari as well, since all of the First Clan passed Over Sea, providing no Avarin Elves. Thus golden hair would seem to be relatively very rare in Middle-earth!


A comparison of sorts

Author-published: arguably at least, the Vanyar 'should' be dark-haired -- but all Elves who are not Eldar are open to a general description -- thus including the possibility of golden hair among the East-elves and Avari!

Posthumously published: here we have the Vanyar as the mostly golden-haired Elves, while the rest of the Elves of Middle-earth (not simply the Noldor and Sindar) are implied to be mostly dark-haired.


Also, I keep saying 'mostly' because, while I know that exceptions can, and do, occur, here I am considering more sweeping statements about large numbers of Elves.
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