#i specifically believe that ainur and their stuff are magic-radioactive and elves are like those animals in chernobyl that can adapt to it

[an-eldritch-peredhel]

Hair Headcanons: Interlude

Part 1 (Cuivienen) here.

Hair colors! This isn't so much about culture but it's important to my headcanons nonetheless! Cowards are out here drawing elves with boring hair when it could be so much better /lh! I (tragically) can't see hair dying as being very common since: 1) bleaches and chemical dyes (which the Noldor totally could've invented) damage your hair which elves are all about keeping healthy, and 2) that's not applicable for natural dyes, but so many elves have dark hair and I'd imagine having your natural color would be considered more attractive anyways, especially with how long they typically keep it (which would take an absurd amount of dye to color) the roots would grow out like crazy once you stopped keeping it up. But just because they wouldn't dye their hair, doesn't mean they can't have interesting colors! Especially once you take a little poetic license on what Tolkien canonically described... This post was a big inspiration on how elves would think of Aesthetics re: hair, and also just fits the Vibe.

Onto pretending to know stuff about biology! Elves are mammals (I assume) which means that they can't have naturally blue or green hair, since mammals don't produce the right forms of pigment for it (though this is magic so ignore that if it sparks joy) but we get lots of elves described with silver or grey hair, clearly not from age, and Galadriel's hair is described as being both silver and gold- the impression I got was that it was streaked, not all one color, which gave me the idea that elves can have patchwork-hair: not just natural highlights and lowlights but streaks of different colors (Also brought to you by my dad's galaxy brained take of 'elves can see in ultraviolet wavelengths and have patterns in their hair like flowers have to attract bees'). How does this work? Codominance? Doesn't matter, it's cool. Elf genetics don't work like human ones. I also think that elf hair has different- finishes I guess? Not just based on texture. So while Super Shiny is an option, there are also elves with a more diffused shine that looks more matte, and a whole range in between. While Shiny is probably preferred, and more common in those who've spent time around Ainur or their stuff, I do think there are Looks that they'd like more with matte hair. (This is the big difference between "grey" and "silver"- even if they're the same color the shine is different.)

Some notes on the colors: Vanyar/part Vanyar are canonically the only elves with golden-blond hair, but I also think that elves get way more specific with hair colors than we do, so while only Vanyar have golden hair other elves might have colors that we'd consider blonde (i.e. platinum blond, strawberry blond, or dirty blond for Teleri) and some might have gold adjacent (red-gold, bronze, copper for Noldor). Also, I know the only elves explicitly with red hair are Nerdanel's family, but I think taking that at face value is boring (especially since I don't see Mahtan as being Unbegotten). I made sure that all the hair colors were at least mostly-plausible for humans, so if hair is described as "shining blue" I'm just taking poetic license, don't go around imagining them glowing electric-blue (unless that sparks joy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), but rather the blueish shine some black hair has. Same with "greenish"- it means ashy blond/brown, not algae growing on them like a sloth.

Anyway! Onto the overly descriptive headcanons! (With tl;drs at the end of each section)

The Vanyar all have hair like light. Gold is the usual, all different shades from the pale brilliance of the reddest stars to the warm orangey glow of a hot fire, to the pure shine of Laurelin's rays. Some have silver hair as well, like a haze of light breaking through clouds, or Telperion's radiance. They are the only kindred to see the rarest of colors: pure, brilliant white that shines nearly blue, like the crackle of lightning. Their hair is often darker at the roots, like a gradient display of ambient light. (Most common: Thematically Appropriate gold. Fanciest: Pure white thanks to OxiClean (not sponsored). Most attractive feature: the Shinie)

The Noldor have hair like the earth and its treasures. Black seems most common, but often it will look plain at a glance, and in the light its true colors will be revealed- deep greys and rich soil brown and dark dark bronzes and coppers, and sometimes even the barest glint of sapphire- though true black is not uncommon either. All shades of brown and dark-russet red can be seen, sometimes metal-shining, sometimes flat and deep like stone. Silver is rare and prized. Hair often grows out streaked in different shades of their color, or even of others. Silver streaks in dark hair are considered quite attractive, but the rarest and most beautiful color is shining true-reds- like forge fire and magma and molten metal- closely matched by true black subtly streaked with blue-black and red-black and every other color giving a near iridescence like the oil found underground. (Most common: Off-blacks. Fanciest: Fire red but literal. Most attractive feature: Pretty color- shinie like magpie nest, want to touch, Steal.)

The Falmari have hair like the sea shore. Silver like light glinting off water, or the morning mists over the sea. Greys like clouds rolling in- near white to deep and dark like a brewing storm. Pale creams and browns are most often seen, like sand or driftwood, some nearly greenish like seafoam. Their hair can be darker too: the deeper greys and browns of a stormy sea, sometimes greenish again, and rarely blue-black. The favorite colors, though, are those like seashells- the Falmari's hair tends to streak like the Noldor's, which lends itself well to the artistic stripes and gradations that inspired the comparison. Cream and tan, grey with silvers, and most attractively a pinky-yellow and rosy brown. The rarest is a shiny off-white mixed with the lightest creams and silvers and almost-pinks, the iridescent pearl to contrast Noldorin oil-slick. (Most common: Ashy/dirty blond. Fanciest: Light pinky strawberry blond with rose brown streaks (ideally in a pattern). Most attractive feature: Pinterest cottagecore colors.)

The Sindar have hair like their forest. It's similar to the Falmari who split from them, but frequently darker and with less of a shine. Star-silver is rare- far more common is tones of grey like stones and tree bark, often with streaks in varying shades- most beautifully demonstrated in "birch hair": near-white patterned with near-black. Grey-and-silver like aged wood is equally prized. Green tones appear as well- in greys like lichen and in browns like the forest floor. Browns in general are often seen, from fresh-fallen timber to dying leaves to mushroom brown-and-cream, though the more saturated shades of chestnut appear more frequently to the east, among the ranks of the Laiquendi. The Iathrim typically have both the lightest and darkest hair: stars and loamy soil are more frequent within Melian's boundaries, though among those with purely Sindarin heritage, true hair like shadows was only found in her descendants. (Most common: Grey like Thingol's lack of humor. Fanciest: Very light silver (bonus if it's got a subtle pattern). Most attractive feature: Patternpatternpatternpatternpa-)

The Nandor have hair like trees. All shades of greys and browns like branches and bark and the creatures that live between them: most beautiful when they mimic the animal, gradient like squirrels and streaked off-whites like deer and striped darker like owls. Also often found are creams and tans and yellows like raw wood, sometimes tinted greenish with growth, sometimes silvery with age. And vibrant reds and oranges and yellows and browns like nuts and fruits and berries, which rarely dapple and stripe together into the brilliant blaze of an autumn forest. (Most common: Brown. Fanciest: Chlorophyllic forest-fire cosplay, the more colors the better. Most attractive feature: Pattern pattern CARNIVAL!)

The Avari-true Avari, who have remained East and Easter still- have hair like hidden things. Blood and bones and obsidian stones. Browns and reds and yellows striped like jasper, the grey of cave walls and still deep water, the pale cream of polished ivory left forgotten, the near-green tan of an antler weathered on the ground. Their hair does not often shine like those who followed the gods, or pattern the same as the groups who have remained as one over the long-years, but the colors in shadows that some wear are no less beautiful for it. (Most common: Dark reds probably. Fanciest: Black with very thin stripes of color. Most attractive feature: The AestheticTM)

#tolkien #elf biology #hair headcanons #my headcanons #i refuse to tag all the kindreds #the elf classifications are a little wonky here-laiquendi counted as sindar instead of nandor and the avari not divided #but thats because i was running out of appropriately poetic comparisons #also i really dont know enough about the avari ;-; #JIRT WHERE ARE THE AGNOSTICS. WHERE ARE THEY JIRT. #absolutely gonna draw the most common vs fanciest hair at some point because my ideas slap #also very iconic of thingol to go from 'literally the most boring nelyarin hair color' to 'hot damn thats FANCY' because his wife is magic #i specifically believe that ainur and their stuff are magic-radioactive and elves are like those animals in chernobyl that can adapt to it #not like the black mushrooms because those thrive while there are probably some consequences for the quendi #not like. necessarily bad ones. but you cant get dunked face first in concentrated magic without changing a bit #so thats where stuff like the shiny hair and glowy eyes come from #actually SHOOT thats giving me really cool ideas for elves being shaped by the ainur they interact with most #like thats why orcs are the way they are: because they were shaped by morgoth and his beasties #imagine a devotee of orome with teeth-too-sharp growing keener and faster and ever more thirsty for the hunt #a devotee to varda whos eyes shine even more than the amanyar- who can see too far and hear their name from a distance they shouldnt #the noldor in their discipleship to aule are hard to burn and quick to craft- their projects consume them and metal-song is a second speech #ok that got off topic and i really dont need another long headcanons post to work on. but. later maybe.