#cuivienen cuestions

[ceescedasticity]

Another thought (actually the reason I got on lead poisoning in the first place): Did the elves use metal in Cuiviénen?

There are three… three and a half? options here:

No, not at all

Yes, but only metals found in mostly-pure "native" form, chiefly gold, silver, copper

Yes, they'd invented smelting

Yes, they'd also started producing alloys

The argument against smelting is that it doesn't really fit with the one-with-the-world, pastoral vibe of Cuiviénen. Smelting takes a lot of fuel (axes! oh noes!), it often produces toxic byproducts, it's kinda (shudder) industrial. On the other hand, on Earth it developed a very long time ago it's not the only kind of early material culture production process that gets icky… (Tanning, prominently, but you can use hides without tanning them if you maintain them carefully so that's not necessarily present.)

Most important teaching the Valar offered: the cheat codes to engage in metallurgy, tanning, etc. without poisoning themselves and their surroundings? Or you could say the elves already knew how to get metal to do what they wanted without all that.

So:

Kinda want to do another poll on tanning now…

#a tolkien tag #my polls #reckless application of spackle #yes I did go down this rabbit hole because of the sources of status thing #cuivienen cuestions

[ceescedasticity]

#reckless application of spackle #a tolkien tag #my polls #cuivienen cuestions

[ceescedasticity]

an incomplete list of things elves may or may not have had at Cuiviénen

(some of them there's not explicit textual evidence of them having them ever I guess?)

Any metalworking

Metal smelting

Creation of alloys

Creation of steel

Domestic dogs

Differentiated breeds of dog

Horses

Horse riding

Horse collars

Domestic cattle

Domestic poultry

Domestic sheep

Wool

Flax

Spindles

Spinning wheels

Pottery

Kilns

Potter's wheel

Wheeled carts

Sledges

Weaving

Looms

Flying shuttle

Tanned leather

Agriculture

Grain (what kind?)

Bread

Dairy

Alcohol

Cheese

Yeast

Plows

Needles

Smokehouses

Glassmaking

Salt

Mining (of metals, ores, clay, salt, etc…)

Scissors

Lathes

Organic dyes (which ones?)

Not-so-organic dyes (which ones?)

Saws

Honey

Apiculture

Small boats

Large boats

Pipes (for moving liquid)

(I am pretty goddamn sure they had knives, spears, bows, drums, musical pipes, probably proto-harps, some sort of fiber use if only for piecing things together, and some sort of hide preparation though not necessarily tanning.)

(Not that I have any good argument against pottery or salt or honey or some of the others, either, they just don't feel as necessary.)

#a tolkien tag #reckless application of spackle #unsolicited fandom opinions #cuivienen cuestions