Introduction

Unlike science fiction, one might suppose that epic fantasy and modern
science have little enough common ground to connect them, and in most cases, the
stretch between the two is too wide for rational discussion. However, I will attempt
to at least leap across with the support of one certain premise, and that is that some
of the Elven genome (in this case, hair color) might be explained through the
science of genetics.

The Sources

The first question should be: what are the sources? There are two categories
of sources. For descriptions of our Elves, we turn to JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the
Rings (LotR) and The Silmarillion (TS), unarguably his two best-known fictional
works. In these books, Tolkien describes the physical genome of his Elves, in some
cases very specifically, and in other cases, rather vaguely. The other source, is of
course, our modern view of basic Mendelian genetics.

The Question of Why

A second question might be, why should this explanation be

attempted? Why should anyone try to compare fictional beings from fantasy to
reality-based and proven science? Three arguments for this comparison present
themselves: the need of some readers to identify coloration to the main character of
Legolas, arguments involving "The Lord of the Rings" movies, and debates
centered on the creation of fan-based Elven characters in online and writing
communities.
Foremost, for readers of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, the author himself is
frustratingly vague in physical description, particularly of one of his main
characters, Legolas Greenleaf. Artists will predominantly portray Legolas with
blond hair, but there has been a stoic group of artists who depict him as dark haired,
despite the popularity of blond Elves. Half of the Elves Tolkien does describe seem
to be light haired, and half seem to be dark-haired, which directly conflict with later
assertions of the common type. This is not unusual to Tolkien in several matters;
he seems to focus on what is uncommon in Middle-earth, not what is common. For
example, he will state that Elves generally marry early in life, but in reviewing many
of his main Elven characters in LotR and TS, it is acknowledged that many of them
remain unmarried until they are older. More appropriate to this particular writing,
however, is Tolkien’s claim that most Elves are dark-haired and gray-eyed, when
in fact many of them are described as golden-haired or silver-haired.
With the advent of the movies directed by Peter Jackson, the question once
again arose. In the “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” the Elves
portrayed are once again popularly blond, including the questionable Legolas. On
a minor note, in Ralph Bakshi’s animated movie “Lord of the Rings,” Legolas was
also blond. Therefore, readers and watchers once again took up the question: are
Elves generally blond? For those movie watchers who had not read the books, that
seemed to be a given fact, while readers laid down claims for and against, using
Tolkien as the source.
 Also, with the introduction of the movies, a resurgence of Tolkien fandom
has taken over the Internet. Tolkien fan art and fan fiction (ie ‘fanfic’) are once
again much sought after, and fans are only too thrilled to provide art and stories
centered on their favorite Tolkien characters, or on characters created for Tolkien’s
fictional world of Middle-earth. Once more, the question is asked, now by fans of
both books and movies, what were the statistics on coloration, not just for Legolas
but for Elves in particular?

The Question of How

The question of why being somewhat resolved, we may now move on to how
one connects realistic human genetics to fictional Elven genetics. Here we take the
largest stretch of believability. In Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Elves and Men (humans)
have the ability to interbreed. Now, in our world, when two animals that appear to
be from different groups are able to interbreed, this indicates that they are generally
of the same species. Different species cannotinterbreed. Here’s the stretch now: if
Elves and humans can interbreed, then by modern genetic standards, they must
share the genes. Therefore what we know of human genetic science may be applied
to describing Elven genetics, since the two are compatible.
 Introduction to Human Genetics Theory

To understand the descriptions and explanations herein, one must first have
an elementary understanding of genetic theory, particularly human genetic theory
concerning hair color.
In the simplest terms, all living animals on our planet have genes, which are
basic components of the chromosomes. Genes dictate our physical traits, ie. hair,
eyes, skin, etc., all those traits that differentiate us from other living things, and
even other human beings.
The four types of genes concerning us are dominant, recessive, incomplete
dominant, and co-recessive. Here are the more common hair colors for the human
genome.

Dominant Recessive Incomplete Co-recessive

Dominant
Black (B) blond (b) Red (R ) some blonds
Brown (Br)

As human beings, we receive two genes for hair color, one from the mother,
and one from the father. However, depending on the type of gene we receive, we
can either inherit one color over another, or a blending of the two.
The four types of genes are expressed in hair color differently, as below.

Dominant Recessive Incomplete Co-recessive

Dominant
Will “take over” Will only show itself Will blend colors with Will blend colors
any other colors when paired with another dominant or with recessives or
except for another recessive or incomplete dominant co-recessives
incomplete a co-recessive
dominants

To illustrate: my friend Mei is Chinese-Irish. From her mother, she received

a dominant black hair gene, and from her father, she received a recessive blond hair
gene. With this combination, there was 100% inevitability (four possible children
out of four) that Mei would get black hair, because the dominant gene, black (B),
will always express itself over a recessive gene, blond (b).

Father Father
blond gene (b) blond gene (b)
Mother Bb Bb
Black gene (B) Child has black Child has black

Mother Bb Bb
Black gene (B) Child has black Child has black
 Another friend, Kristina, is Euro-American. From her brown-haired mother,
she received a recessive blond hair gene (b), and from her blond father, she received
another recessive blond hair gene (b). There was a 50% chance of getting brown
hair, and 50% of getting blond hair. She received blond.

Father Father
blond gene (b) blond gene (b)
Mother Brb Brb
Brown gene Child has Child has
(Br) brown brown
Mother bb bb
blond gene (b) Child has Child has
blond blond

Incomplete dominant genes are interesting, because one color will dominate
another by shading it, not completely taking over. For example: I have a recessive
blond gene (b) from my blond father. I also have an incomplete dominant red gene
(R) from my auburn-haired mother. There was a 50% chance I would get brown
hair, and a 50% chance I would get red-blond hair.

Father Father
blond gene (b) blond gene (b)
Mother Brb Brb
Brown gene Child has Child has
(Br) brown brown
Mother bR bR
Red gene (R) Child has red Child has red
blond blond

Co-recessives are similar to incomplete dominants. Co-recessives happen

when two different recessive genes get together and combine colors. Perhaps if two
kinds of blonds got together, they would be co-recessive. Let’s say the father was
a very light blond (lb) and the mother was a dark blond (db). There’s a100%
inevitability that the children of these parents would have a medium blond color, a
combination of the two recessives.

Father: light Father: light

blond gene (lb) blond gene (lb)
Mother: dark lb/db lb/db
blond gene Child has Child has
(db) medium blond medium blond
Mother: dark db/lb db/lb
blond gene Child has Child has
(db) medium blond medium blond
 Elven and Human Interbreeding

In LotR and TS, Tolkien mentions that the Elves are a dark-haired, gray-eyed
people several times. These Elven genes, when passed down with human genes,
seem to dominate the human genome. This is expressed in examples such as Prince
Imrahil of Dol Amroth and Elrond Half-elven, both of whom have varying degrees
of Elven and human blood, but have inherited the “typical” dominant coloring of
the Elves and are enough Elf-like that even Elves themselves will concede it.
Legolas himself observes that Imrahil obviously has "elven-blood" in him,
even though Imrahil states that such a thing is known in the "lore of the land" only;
he himself has rarely seen Elven kind (TrotK, 181). We can assume the Elven
influence is far past, yet still the genome is obvious enough for Legolas to remark
on it, despite generations of removal from the infusion of Elven blood.
Elrond himself, his sons and daughter, are further proof that the Elven
genome dominates the human, but in the reverse. Elrond has two human ancestors,
while Imrahil potentially has many. But he and his children, like Imrahil and his
people, carry on that dark-haired, gray-eyed Elven appearance. Had the human
genome been dominant, there would have been a more obvious influence on
Elrond's lineage.

Elven Dominants and Recessives

Tolkien mentions four distinct hair colors among his Elves. The first is dark
(either black or brown), which he says is the predominant color. Some rare families
have golden hair, usually passed down from the Vanyarin Elves. Then there are the
even rarer occasions of silver in the Teleri lines and, historically, a very rare red.
Now Tolkien himself might not have been highly versed on the scientific
validity of genetic theory, but he most certainly was able to observe hair colors
about him, particularly in his own country of England. In England, he would have
perceived that dark colors were more prevalent, with the occasional blond or red
showing up. Having studied about Finland, he would also know that in certain
families, even certain countries, large populations could sport hair colors that in
England would be considered rare: blond, for instance. He would also be very
much aware of Ireland’s rampant redheaded population.
Did he follow the patterns of what he saw in the world around him to his
Elves? The chances are that he did. English people are generally dark-haired, and
so are his Elves. There are some families with blond hair (in England’s case, these
usually came from the historical influx of Germanic invaders into the English
genome), and of red (from Ireland and from Germanic influx) and so it was the
same in his Elves. Silver was the only color Tolkien explicitly described that has
no true basis in the human genome. It is possible he developed this color for hair
while he was developing his history of Middle-earth, particularly when one recalls
the two great Trees in TS, one silver and one gold, which perpetuated a theme that
extended to the making of the moon (silver) and the sun (gold). Celeborn himself
is named indirectly from the offshoot of that silver Tree. This theme of silver and
gold might have inspired him to continue this coloring in his beloved
Elves. Whatever the case, silver and red are the least mentioned colors.
 In inter-mixed populations, such as England with all of its invasions, the
natural dominants show very easily. The population rapidly becomes dark-haired,
in other words. However, in some sheltered populations with little outside influx,
such as Scandinavia, a recessive can soon seem like a dominant, just from sheer
numbers. If one only knew hair color from Scandinavia, one would suppose blond
was the dominant gene. It is possible, then, to have a large population of recessives
and think them dominant. The true test is when you combine colors and look at the
offspring as the result. A true dominant color will show up in the offspring without
fail. Co-recessives and co-dominants will mix.

Elrond and Celebrían:

Dark-haired Dominance

Here is the square for Elrond and Celebrían. Just to be contrary, let’s assume
that the lighter genes for silver (s) and gold (g) are dominant over the darker
colors. The other assumption is that the human gene (h) Elrond possibly received
from his maternal great-grandfather, Beren, or his fraternal grandfather, Tuor, is
recessive to the Elven genes. There would be a 50% chance that their children
would be silver, and a 50% chance that they would golden haired, which is not the
case in their children, all of whom are dark haired. This particular test failed.

Elrond Elrond
Black gene (B) Human gene (h)
Celebrían Bs sh
Silver gene (s) Child has silver Child has silver or human
Celebrían gB gh
Gold (g) Child has gold Child has gold or human

The results in this next square are much more accurate. This square assumes
that Elrond’s Elven gene for dark hair (for example’s sake, we’ll name it Black) is
dominant over Celebrían’s silver gene (s) and gold gene (g). There is a 50% chance
of black hair, 25% chance of silver hair, and 25% chance of gold hair. This test
showed that those combinations are possible.

Elrond Elrond
Black gene (B) Human gene (h)
Celebrían Bs sh
Silver gene (s) Child has black Child has silver or human
Celebrían gB gh
Gold (g) Child has black Child has gold or human

Therefore, this is what we know about the Elven genome for hair color:
Dominant Recessive Incomplete Co-recessive
Dominant
Black (B) Gold (g)
Brown (Br) Silver (s)
 Galadriel:
Co-recessive

Galadriel’s heritage might help explain how recessives work in Elven

heredity. Galadriel is golden-silver, and according to Tolkien this combination is so
rare that her coloration is compared poetically to the mingling of the lights of the
two Trees. Her father, Finarfin, was golden-haired, and her mother, Eärwen, was
silver-haired. Each of her parents came from families predominantly of those
particular colors.
Because of the combination of the two colors in Galadriel’s hair, at least one
of these two colors must be either an incomplete dominant or co-recessive to be
able to blend in that particular way. The question is, which color is the one
blending, and is it either an incomplete dominant (one of the colors shades all colors
except for those darker than it) or a co-recessive (one of the colors shades only other
recessives)? At least one of Galadriel’s brothers, Finrod, proved to be golden haired,
and knowing this will help determine the validity of certain combinations.
To test this theory, we will look at different possible gene combinations for
Galadriel’s parents, which might have resulted in their hair coloring and the hair
coloring of Galadriel herself.

The first assumption is that both parents have two genes for the same color,
since they both descend from families dominated by their genome.

Finarfin Finarfin
gold gene (g) gold gene (g)
Eärwen gs gs
silver gene (s)

Eärwen sg sg
silver gene (s)

Taking these combinations of genes into consideration, these possible

interpretations show that Galadriel and her brothers could not result from both
parents carrying two genes for the same color. This test failed.
1. Gold is dominant; silver is recessive or co-recessive – 100% gold FAIL
2. Silver is dominant; gold is recessive or co-recessive – 100% silver FAIL
3. Gold is recessive; silver is co-recessive – 100% silver-gold or gold-silver FAIL
4. Silver is recessive; gold is co-recessive – 100% gold-silver or silver-gold. FAIL
5. Gold is dominant and silver is dominant – varying ratios of gold and silver FAIL
6. Gold is incomplete dominant – 100% golden silver FAIL
7. Silver is incomplete dominant – 100% silvered gold FAIL
Finarfin might have had a recessive silver gene.
Finarfin Finarfin
gold gene (g) silver gene (s)
Eärwen gs ss
silver gene (s)
 Eärwen sg ss
silver gene (s)

Once again, the possible combinations do not result in the ratios we’re looking for.
8. Gold is dominant; silver is recessive or co-recessive – 50% gold and 50% silver
FAIL
9. Gold is dominant and silver is dominant – varying ratios of gold and silver FAIL
10. Gold is recessive; silver is co-recessive – 50% gold-silver and 50% silver FAIL
11. Silver is recessive; gold is co-recessive – 50% gold-silver and 50% silver FAIL
12. Silver is incomplete dominant – 50% silvered golden and 50% silver FAIL

Finarfin had at least one co-recessive gold gene (g*)

Finarfin Finarfin
gold gene (g) gold gene (g*)
Eärwen gs g*s
silver gene (s)

Eärwen sg sg*
silver gene (s)

13. Gold is dominant over silver – 50% gold and 50% gold-silver POSSIBLE
14. Silver is dominant over gold – 50% silver and 50% gold-silver FAIL

Eärwen had at least one co-recessive silver gene.

Finarfin Finarfin
gold gene (g) gold gene (g)
Eärwen gs gs
silver gene (s)

Eärwen s*g s*g

silver gene (s*)

15. Gold is dominant over silver – 50% gold and 50% silver-gold POSSIBLE
16. Silver is dominant over gold – 50% silver and 50% silvered gold FAIL

So far, the Elven hair color genome looks like this, then:

Dominant Recessive Incomplete Co-recessive

Dominant
Black (B) Gold (g) Gold or silver (g*) or
(s*)
Brown (Br) Silver (s)
 The Sons of Fëanor:
Incomplete Dominant Red

Red hair has very rarely been mentioned, and when it has, it has been in
supplementary materials provided by Tolkien’s successor, Christopher
Tolkien. However, what little we know about the red genome might help us
understand its tendencies. As far as we know, the only Elves mentioned
specifically with red hair are the sons of Fëanor and Nerdanel: Maedhros, Amrod
and Amros. Their brother Caranthir is another candidate, because “caran” in
Tolkien’s Elvish means “red.” Nerdanel is said to have "auburn" hair (ie. red and
brown).
TS is at least faithful in documenting the descent of Finwë, Fëanor's father,
through Fëanor himself and his sons. (see table 1) Three sons were red-haired
(possibly four), and one was "dark." The hair color of Fëanor's sons seems to point
to a dominant red gene, since it seems so prevalent over Feanor’s black hair gene.
This square is for Fëanor and Nerdanel, putting in ? marks where the gene is
unknown. For auburn hair, we have to assume Nerdanel’s red gene (R) had to be
incomplete dominant with brown.

Fëanor Fëanor
Black gene (B) ? gene (?)
Nerdanel RB R(?)
Red gene (R)

Nerdanel BrB Br(?)

Br gene (Br)

1. Black is dominant, red is incomplete dominant, brown is recessive to them –

50% black, 25% red-? and 25% brown-?
2. Brown is dominant, red is incomplete dominant, black is recessive to them –
25% black, 25% brown, 25% red-? and 25% brown-?
3. Red is dominant over black and incomplete dominant over brown – 25% red,
25% black, 25% red-? and 25% brown-?

Fëanor has a recessive silver from Finwë.

Fëanor Fëanor
Black gene (B) silver gene (s)
Nerdanel RB Rs
Red gene (R)

Nerdanel BrB Brs

Br gene (Br)

4. Red is incomplete dominant; black dominant – 50% black, 25% red or red-
silver, and 25% brown.
5. Silver is incomplete dominant – 50% black, 25% red-silver, and 25% brown-
silver.
6. Red is dominant over black and incomplete dominant over other colors – 25%
red, 25% black, 25% red-silver and 25% brown.
7. Red is incomplete dominant with brown and dominant over other colors –
50% red, 25% black and 25% brown. POSSIBLE

Fëanor’s recessive was gold instead of silver:

Fëanor Fëanor
Black gene (B) gold gene (g)
Nerdanel RB Rg
Red gene (R)

Nerdanel BrB Brg

Brown (Br)

8. Red is incomplete dominant; black is dominant – 50% black, 25% red-gold, and
25% brown.
9. Red is incomplete dominant, black is dominant, and gold is incomplete
dominant – 50% black, 25% red-gold and 25% brown-gold.
10. Red is dominant over black and incomplete dominant over other colors –
25% red, 25% red-gold, 25% black and 25% brown (or brown-gold if gold
is incomplete dominant). POSSIBLE
11. Red is incomplete dominant with brown and dominant over other colors –
50% red, 25% black and 25% brown (or brown-gold is gold is incomplete
dominant). POSSIBLE

Feanor’s other gene was black (B)

Fëanor Fëanor
Black gene (B) Black gene (B)
Nerdanel RB RB
Red gene (R)

Nerdanel BrB BrB

Brown (Br)

12. Red is incomplete dominant, black is dominant – 100% black.

13. Red is dominant over black and incomplete dominant over other colors –
50% red and 50% black. POSSIBLE
14. Red is incomplete dominant with brown and dominant over other colors –
50% red and 50% black. POSSIBLE
 What if Feanor’s other gene was a red one?
Fëanor Fëanor
Black gene (B) gold gene (R)
Nerdanel RB RR
Red gene (R)

Nerdanel BrB BrR

Brown (Br)

15. Red is incomplete dominant, black is dominant – 50% black, 25% red and
25% auburn. POSSIBLE
16. Red is dominant over black and incomplete dominant over other colors –
50% red, 25% black and 25% auburn. POSSIBLE

All possible combinations definitely point out that red is dominant or incomplete
dominant. So now our genome looks like this:
Dominant Recessive Incomplete Co-recessive
Dominant
Black (B) Gold (g) Red (R) Gold (g*) or silver
(s*)
Brown (Br) Silver (s)
Red (R) ?

The big question is that if the red gene (R) is dominant or incomplete
dominant, than why is it so very rare among Tolkien’s Elves? The answer might
be the intervention of history. Tolkien says little about the marriages/offspring of
Fëanor’s sons. A few are even conspicuously single in later chapters of TS, and all
of them die before old age. That unfortunate red gene might have met a similar
fate.
 Legolas: Vague Conclusions

Unfortunately, there will never be proof, one way or another, to Legolas's

hair color because there is too much ambiguity. His father is said to be golden
haired in The Hobbit, but this book's assertions to anything were pretty much
amended by Tolkien himself in later writings, when he began to seriously world-
build for LotR and TS. Legolas's people were of a huge branch of Elven folk who
never left Middle-earth for Valinor, called "dark" Elves, but this is a misleading
nomenclature. They are only "dark" because they have not seen the light of the
Trees of Valinor, not due to coloration. Certain sections of these people, the Teleri,
were silver-haired (ie. Thingol and Celeborn), but here again there is much to
debate, since the parts that seem to support the silver genome are a distinct section
of the Teleri in Beleriand and Doriath, and these are not the people from whom
Legolas descended.
Legolas's people have been somewhat isolated over the generations, which
could allow for any number of dominants and recessives to take hold. Having
established our genome, however, the most likely explanation is that he is dark-
haired and gray eyed, like most of his kind. If he were a recessive, the odds would
be more in favor of silver than gold.
Tolkien's vagueness can be interpreted in other ways, as well. Tolkien was
always very quick to point out golden and silver-haired Elves, and anywhere where
the coloration was not to the dark-haired standard. If one is to go with this
interpretation, then once again, we would have to bet on Legolas's hair being dark.

Movie Blond Elves

Obviously there are golden haired Elves, as we have seen. There are silver
haired Elves. But are the majority of them, as portrayed in random media, blond?
The answer is resoundingly no. Wherever the Elven genome has been
passed, dark hair has been the rule.
There is a mistaken impression from the movies that only human-blooded
Elves such as Elrond and his children have dark hair. However, it is not the human
side of the half-elven that lends the dark locks to Elrond and Imrahil; it is, in fact
the Elven influence that gives the dark hair.
The portrayal of the Galadhrim (Galadriel's people in Lothlorien) as
predominantly blond is also inaccurate. Galadriel herself is gold-silver and her
husband, Celeborn is silver. Gildor Inglorien might have been gold. And that's
it. Gold and silver being recessive, they could not have traveled so far afield into
the gene pool as to produce an entire colony of golden-haired Elves, particularly
since the Elves of the Galadhrim are followers of Galadriel's, not her relatives. All
of Galadriel's relatives in Middle-earth are deceased down to the second generation
below hers, with the exception of her grandchildren, Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen,
all of whom are dark-haired.
 Elves, Generally

In calculating the odds of coloration for any Elven character based on

Tolkien’s Elves, one must take in several influences: branch of Elves, geography,
family and history.
For instance, gold descends usually from rare offspring of Vanyarin
Elves. Silver seems to run in Teleri family lines, particularly the Grey Elves related
to Thingol. Red has only ever showed up in Valinor and in Nerdanel's family
line. Half-elvens will inevitably inherit the coloration of their Elven
predecessors. One might assume Elessar’s line would show only dark-haired
dominance through Arwen’s coloring, but if Elven genes are always dominant to
Human ones, there are some hope that those golds and silvers remained even as the
Eldar left Middle-earth.

Arwen Arwen
Black gene (B) Silver gene (s)
Elessar hB hs
Human (h) Child has black Child has silver

Elessar hB hs
Human (h) Child has black Child has silver

OR

Arwen Arwen
Black gene (B) Gold gene (g)
Elessar hB hg
Human (h) Child has black Child has gold

Elessar hB hg
Human (h) Child has black Child has gold