posted
Elrond's whole family was granted the choice of selecting immortality or not, because of the actions and victories of his parents. Every offspring born to an immortal in that family would get the same choice (like Arwen and her brothers, although they remained immortal and left the world for Valinor after the War of the Ring), but if you chose mortality your offspring would not get the choice, so the line of Elros merged with the surviving higher families of humans fleeing the destruction of their old world and became the Numenoreans, the best of both worlds, having some of both human, elven and maiar blood.
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
Interesting. I wonder how that worked...did you mail in your choice to 1 Valinor Place or what?
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I think it worked the same way the Ring's shapeshifting feature and Star Trek's teleport compensators work; why very well, thank you. :.)
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WizArtist II
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posted
Gotta love those Pro-Choice Half-Elven. Did anyone catch the documentary on the Hobbit that was found in (I believe) Indonesia? From the little I saw (no pun intended) they found a full female skeleton about 3'-6" tall of a female but most closely related to Homo Sapiens rather than the more distant variants. I believe they also said they found others that meant this wasn't a one-off. Now if they find mounds with round doors....
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
I've heard that skeleton has since been declared a Homo sapiens with a genetic or nutritional defect, i.e., some kind of dwarf or midget.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
If it's the same one's I read about then according to the locals there was a whole tribe of them just a few hundred years back. Apparently they were wiped out after being caught stealing babies.
It's not surprising to find there are different "breeds" of humans, given how much migrating we've done over the last few million years. look into any culture and you'll find references to little people and whatnot. I think even Genesis has a line about giants existing at some point, Exodus too if I'm not mistakes. Of course terms like "Giant" and "Little" are a matter of perspective. For all we know the legends about giant men come from very short people and visa versa.
posted
Part of that is PR. "Why is that shrimpy guy King again?" "Because he slew a giant!" "What, that friendly, slightly simple guy you used to sell carpets? Wasn't he more like four and a half Cubits?" "A MURDEROUS GIANT I TELL YOU!!!"
Of course if the average height at that time and in that place was only around 4' then 6'6" would be close enough to giant as to make no difference.
Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
Well, just because the Bible mentions giants is no reason to believe there were really tall people. I mean, not all myths and stories are based on truth. Maybe people just like the idea of giants and dwarves, creatures similar to humans but different in size, the same way they like humanoid 'aliens' in sci-fi today.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
You'd be surprised how accurate the old testament can be for recording the formerly oral traditions of the ancient Hebrews and that's coming from an agnostic. Point is there's plenty of giant related stories in cultures all around the world, most of which probably have some vague basis in fact. Also keep in mind that our perception of a "Giant" is coloured by the fe-fi-fo-fum variety, when really it just means really tall bloke. Tall tales and all that.
Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
Well...I mean, of course it's good for recording the previously oral tradition of the ancient Hebrews...the Hebrews *wrote* it. But that doesn't mean their formerly oral traditions were necessarily based on fact, i.e., that their formerly oral legends about the Canaanites were based on an actual race of giants.
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quote:Originally posted by Reverend: Of course if the average height at that time and in that place was only around 4' then 6'6" would be close enough to giant as to make no difference.
I think most historical evidence says that the average height of the human race hasn't actually changed that much over the centuries. Over the last 1,000 years, it's only fluctuated by a few inches. Certainly not a couple of feet.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
True, but you still get isolated pockets of extremes. Ever met someone from the Philippines or notice that most basketball players are of African decent? Averages can only tell you so much. All it takes is a tribe of short people to meet a tribe of tall people and you got yourself tales of giants and little people...just from opposite perspectives.
posted
Stories of giants in the Earth might have originated with the bones of mammoths and such dug up by the Greeks. Certainly, a mammoth skull looks like that of a cyclops.
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