Thank you for that very clear summary.
I think it is one of the curious and kind of endearing things about Tolkien:
How often he changed his mind about even fundamental things like this. I does
drive crazy those of us who hate loose ends, or who are trying to form a
coherent view of magic or the differences between Elves and Men, etc. Tolkien
seemed to be, at heart, someone who could "hold with" exceptions to every rule!
And it's fun to see his creative mind at work in inconsistencies like this:
Tinkering with different parts of his creation, trying out the implications of
various "rules" and "exceptions." So thank
you.
They were still a tribe, only connected to each other by their visions rather than their genes.
--Charles de Lint,
"Forests of the Heart"
