Elven hair in battle?

[Finrod Felagund]

What do you think the elves did with their long hair in battle. since all that hair would make a great handle and they were loathe to cut it, what would be a good way to get it out of harms way?
I was thinking a braid wrapped around the neck... any other suggestions?
Thinking of Mighty Elf warriors with their hair up in a bun makes me laugh for some reason...

[Gil Galad]

haha, this is quite the strange topic,


but id imagine, they would probably leave it lose inside there armour, if they had enough it would negate the need for leather underneath mail lol .
yeh they would prob have it under the armour id guess. id imagine it would be bad on a windy day for the aarchers with it geting into there eyes

[Melian]

I think the reason that the elves (Legolas in particular) have braids at the temple and one braid in the back is because they are all archers. I can't imagine trying to shoot an arrow with the possibility of your hair getting tangled in it. Ouch!!!!

[IronHills Dwarf]

As a male with long hair who take part in many sports and other vigorous activities let me say a few things here.

It would be imperative to get it either 'up' or 'back'. Simplest method is to tuck it under the helm or has been said, braid it.

Typically I just use an elastic, or a cap. However for life or death battle situations I'd actually want it up off my neck completely. I wouldn't want any chance of it getting in my eyes (which with wind would be quite easy). So I'd say most would probably have tucked it under a helm for practical reasons, or simply adopted a hair style similar to Haldir, Legolas or the other Elves shown in the films and just learned to deal with having it swing around behind them. However in the films their hair is a bit to static for my liking. In reality I feel that it would have gotten a little more wind in it, meaning that even the three braid method of Legolas would not really have worked that well (at the back of the neck there's allot of loose that could still swing forward). Even moment (from say a braid) caught in the corner of your eye could ruin a bow shot, or distract your eye from the next Orc.

[Gil Galad]

it is also posible that the Elves were able to deal with these distractions and would be able to control there hair, they are after all very different to us in so many ways that they may have ways which we simply wudnt understand

[IronHills Dwarf]

Possibly Gil Galad.

However my view has always been that Tolkien's world has a very well defined set of rules governing physics and other natural laws. This quite simply what makes it believable as a world. So for me Elven hair is little different from what we have sprouting out of our heads. ;)

[Gil Galad]

Oh yes of course the hair wouldnt be any different, but they may perhaps be able do control it wit a slight flick of their head beter then we could (they do have more time to practise that sort of thing)

but i do thin that tucking it in somewhere would be best

or perhaps they always fought facing the wind so the hair would blow behind them, making quite a dramtic pose to i would imagine

[IronHills Dwarf]

Bit of a tactically unviable solution however. Imagine the diolague.

"Elwe, we must retreat! The wind is in our face."

I'd say various braiding techniques could take care of the problem.

[Lady Ashley]

Do we know that ALL male elves had long hair? I know Celeborn is described as having "long and bright" hair, but how are we to know what 'long' is to the Professor? Perhaps the elves actually had shoulder-length hair or something. :huh: Then again, shoudler-length might get in the way more, because it would be harder to pull back or up.

I would braid it, myself.

[IronHills Dwarf]

Actually my hair is shoulder length. Let me tell you having it longer is actually easier in some ways. With more its easier to braid or pull back.

[Gil Galad]

I think Fingolfin is said to have long hair and Thingol, but good point on what long might be, and id say that if it was very long it would cause much trouble since its own weight would make it harder for the wind to blow it etc plus it would make it easier to tie up

[Laurelin]

As an archer, long hair definitely needs to be tied back (but I've cut mine since then so no worries ;) ). :archer:

[Finrod Felagund]

As for Elf hair length:
It is generally accepted they viewed hair as a symbol of health and beauty. The longer and shinier, the better, both sexes.
As far as I know, all Elves have been described with long hair.

FF

[Gryffonheart]

I think Elven hair might have special qualities. If an orc or something grabs it, it will just slip out of the person/thing's hand. An you know, it mus have something in it to keep it clean, cause no elf's hair that I've seen has been even slightly dirty. Is there any explanation to this?

[IronHills Dwarf]

Perhaps because the images created for the films were just that, for film.

In my mind Elf hair can get just as dirty as human hair. All depends what your doing, and were you're going.

[Merrisil]

I don't think it's a big deal that elven males sported long hair into battle, whether it was braided or merrly tucked into their helms it would have been managable.

Many warrior cultures from our own history depict men with long hair, the Vikings, North American Indians, Sikhs from India, Samaurias from Japan etc.