[Альре Сноу]

Интересный пост с тумбочки: хэдканон про эльфийские прически, преимущественно Предначальной и Первой эпох.

Поскольку тумбочка обладает способностью неожиданно съедать посты, я даже стащу это сюда, чтобы не пропало:

дофига букв на английском, извините, если что

SPECULATION ON ELVES AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HAIR
I think that short hair was absolutely the norm for the elves at Cuiviénen, but then in Aman it became suddenly fashionable to grow it out, simply because they could. Now they had time and resources to care for long hair, and lived more stable lives (with less running from things that might be chasing them) so to mark their status in this “safe” new world, the Amanyar grew their hair long.
For the Ñoldor, the trend was influenced by the genetic fluke that their royal house had particularly thick, luxuriant hair (Finwë was even named for it!) and so beautiful hair had connotations of high status, with the general Ñoldorin taste for shiny things and fashions favoured by the royal family (Fingon I’m looking at you, you probably-only-semi-unwitting style icon) driving demand for increasingly elaborate braided styles and stylised, ceremonial hair decorations.
For the Vanyar, who were golden-haired in general, there was a certain amount of spiritual significance to it. Gold was the colour of Laurelin, and light, and warmth, and all that they had come to this side of the sea for, (the description of Galadriel’s hair and the emphasis placed on the “light” in it was a very Vanyarin way to describe someone, and the Ñoldor adopted it from the influx of Vanyarin lords and ladies that came to court with Queen Indis, I think) and the Vanyar most definitely viewed themselves as the “chosen” people of the Valar. Thus I think they regarded their hair as a marker of this and it became almost a sacred act to grow it very long.
(As for the Teleri, I’m going to tentatively headcanon that long hair wasn’t held in such high regard. I think they were a little bemused at times by the Ñoldorin and Vanyarin fashions for it, as with Ñoldorin and Vanyarin fashions in general.)
Back across the sea, I think that long hair was never really much of a thing except in Doriath, specifically in court fashion. I think that it appeared in much the same way as for the Ñoldor (though independently) as a status symbol and a mark of the relative safety of their realm behind the girdle. Long hair is bad for fighting, but the royal court was as well protected and warded as anywhere on the continent.
I think though, that long hair never really gained prevalence in much of the rest of Beleriand, either amongst the Falathrim, the Mithrim Sindar, or the Nandor. Instead, beads and little braids and various dreadlock type things (style depending on hair type) were fashionable, with most people being able to identify someone’s exact ethnic origin/community from the style of their hair.
When the Ñoldor came to Beleriand and there was mixing between the populations, I think some of the Sindar grew their hair long, especially the ones who went into the service of Ñoldorin lords. But there was also lots of clumsy adoption of the local hairstyles by the Ñoldor, with some truly awful and offensive cultural appropriation and general misunderstanding going on.
In additon, the romanticised idea of “New Cuiviénen” had not entirely been destroyed in the crossing from Aman, and so many Ñoldor cut their hair in order to recall those times, or for an effective “fresh start”. For those who had crossed the Ice, some kept their hair short even after, as a reminder of what they had endured. (Long hair went brittle and weak from malnutrition on the Ice and was hard to maintain when it was that cold, so most people cut it.) I think a few eyebrows were raised when members of Fëanor’s host started adopting this style, though. It was viewed as pretty inappropriate, and there was still a fair amount of tension over things like this, although cultural insensitivity towards the Sindar was mostly overlooked.
I think after the end of the first age, long hair was more popular, the old traditions had largely been lost in all the chaos and upheaval of war, but short hair eventually became more of a thing again. I really like the idea that in Eregion at least, short, simple hairstyles with very little decoration were prevalent. There was effectively a cult of innovation and craft and the making of new things, and long hair gets in the way when one is working. To show their devotion to their craft, the Gwaith-i-Mírdain often cut their hair short.
Peter Jackson’s headcanons aside, I think short to medium length hair persisted well into the third age (with occasional “nostalgic” resurgences of very long hair) and then when elves started being reimbodied, or crossing the sea in ships they encountered all these Amanyar with really long hair, and there was a lot more cultural mixing at this point in general, with many styles being fashionable.
Anyway, I definitely like the canonical fact that hair was at least very important and culturally significant to the elves, whether worn long or short.

Переводить лень, поэтому перескажу (=.
Если кратенько: после переселения в Аман эльфы взяли моду отращивать волосы (возле Куйвэнен было как-то некогда, жизнь очень уж опасная). Таким образом среди нолдор длинные волосы и замысловатые прически очень быстро стали показателем статуса; ваньяр к тому же ассоциировали свои золотые волосы со светом Лаурэлин, благодаря чему они приобретали еще больше символического значения. Зато тэлери на весь этот выпендреж большей частью забивали (=. В Белерианде тех времен населению было как-то не до причесок - некогда косы укладывать, когда ты не знаешь, с какой стороны орки набегут; исключение - безопасный Дориат, где длинные волосы тоже считались статусной заморочкой. После Исхода некоторые синдар начали отращивать хайры на нолдорский манер - впрочем, нолдор тоже перенимали синдарские стили, с косичками, бусинами и всем таким. Еще среди нолдорский молодежи перед Исходом была распространена идея "нового Куйвиэнен", в которую входила мода на относительно короткие стрижки. Нолдор Второго и Третьего домов нередко обрезали волосы в память о Хэлкараксэ. После Первой эпохи уже, конечно, смешались все стили и культурные предпочтения; в Эрегионе разве что предпочитали короткие волосы - символизируя таким образом прогресс (и в работе не мешают, а нолдор - народ практичный).

@темы: эпический дискурс

Comments

[*Ривер*]

Заплетённые в косу хайры работе мешают не больше, чем короткая стрижка. А иногда - и меньше: вряд ли эльфы стриглись совсем уж под ёжик - а если остричься под каре, волосы сбоку вполне могут залезть в глаза.

[Альре Сноу]

Хэлле
Я-то в курсе, проверял (=. Возможно, автор хэдканона не знает или забыл.

[*Ривер*]

Альре Сноу, а по моему опыту вообще самая удобная причёска - та, которую фанон приписывает Фингону В смысле заплести в косички волосы по сторонам от лица, а остальное оставить свободным.