[ SECRET POST #2562 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2562 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 044 secrets from Secret Submission Post #366.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[ellethill]

I'm likely remembering more instances of fanon than canon on this topic, but one canon thing I do know for sure is that Elrond's also a healer (is it fanon or canon that he's considered a great one?) while also being a fighter, so would healing and fighting actually be separate tasks for elves in Middle-Earth?

[greenvelvetcake]

I think Elrond is one of the great healers of Middle-Earth, but don't quote me on that. I can see fighting/healing being important for noble elves like Elrond, but Tauriel is one of the "lowly" elves. Would they bother teaching foot soldiers the super special glowing healing arts?

I also got the impression the Mirkwood elves didn't spent a lot of time learning healing, focusing instead on partying and keeping the spiders away from their turf.

[ellethill]

Likely true on both counts.

I guess I was influenced a bit by my own headcanon here, since for some reason I've always assumed that basic elf healing called on whatever strength/grace/thing the Gift of the Eldar gave them (thereby looking glowy) - and that at a very basic level, the average elf would be able to do some healing, whereas some elves would be particularly gifted (like Elrond). That, and the fact that, now that I think about it, I like this trope better than the typical separation of fighting and healing skills.

[(Anonymous)]

I can see fighting/healing being important for noble elves like Elrond, but Tauriel is one of the "lowly" elves. Would they bother teaching foot soldiers the super special glowing healing arts?

Well, in The Silmarillion, there were two characters written as great warriors who were also capable of (at least some) healing ability. They were Beleg and Mablung, Marchwardens of Doriath (high-ranking border guards, basically), decidedly non-noble and actually held somewhat similar rank to Tauriel, since she's supposed to be Thranduil's captain of the guard. So it is not inconceivable that Elven soldiers of lower social status could have healing skills.

Now the really fanon thing here with Tauriel is that she's a woman, and therefore unlikely to be a captain of the guard in the first place. Tolkien seemed to think that the chief domain of Elven women was to be non-fighting healers, though he did also write that they could fight fiercely when the need arose. See what I wrote about that in the reply below. Anyway, I think we already have to accept that Tauriel is special in this regard, being a warrior by profession, so once that is in place there's nothing to stop her from having healing skills as well.

Also, we don't know enough about Elven healing in canon to say for sure whether it was all glowing and magical or not (honestly, I think this is an invention of PJ's). The best source I can think of is the scene in RotK where Aragorn (raised by Elves) healed Eowyn, and it mostly involved him speaking to her. See it here: http://www.henneth-annun.net/resources/events_view.cfm?EVID=1449

[(Anonymous)]

One could see what Tauriel did as the Elven equivalent of basic field medicine. When she gets the herbs, she has to think about it for a sec, like she's trying to remember something she was taught long ago but hasn't ever had to use. Tauriel could have some basic healing abilities by virtue of being an elf and having been taught some first aid, but would still rank well below the abilities of a true elven healer. That means Kili's injury might not be as serious as the movie makes it out to be, but we could be looking at something equivalent to the the difference between whether or not you have antibiotics. There were injuries and illnesses people used to die of all the time that are considered incredibly minor now because they are so easily remedied (unless you are living in an over-taxed refugee camp or something). Kili would have died without Tauriel's help, but for elves what she did might have been the equivalent of slapping on a band-aid.

[(Anonymous)]

What confused me about that scene: If that was an elves-only kind of healing, how did the dwarf (was it Bofur? I can't remember the names) already know which plant to get? Apparently, they already knew that they needed this articular herb (Athelas (?), I think, to counter the poison) and all Tauriel seemed to do was grab it and steal the show. That's probably not what it was supposed to look like, but it definitely how the writing/the cut made it seem.

[(Anonymous)]

It's canon, although this greatness could conceivably be attributed to the fact that Elrond held one of the Elven rings of power.

In Laws and Customs Among the Eldar, Tolkien did write something to the effect that fighting would diminish one's healing capability and vice versa because "the dealing of death, even when lawful or under necessity, diminished the power of healing". Buuuut he also wrote this fairly late in life and it totally contradicts the existence of several Elven warriors who displayed at least limited healing ability (Glorfindel in FotR comes to mind, ditto Beleg in Silmarillion), so I choose to disregard it.