Yes, the Nerdanel hair issue was recently a massive discussion on the Henneth Annun Yahoo! group. I also always thought her hair to be declared as red in the "Shibboleth," which I have read many times, but apparently not. I reread the "Shibboleth" and found myself thoroughly rebuked!
This, in turn, led to a discussion of Elven hair color genetics, and since we have a retired geneticist in the group, we got a pretty expert opinion that Elven hair color is enormously complicated--well beyond Punnett squares and simple dominant/recessive--and finally all came to the conclusion that it's a fictional race and so we could invent at will! But she did point out that it's a mistaken myth that dark-haired parents can't have fair-haired children, and my Celegorm breathed a sigh of relief....
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rosecarmine
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Date: 2005-07-20 12:49 am (UTC)This, in turn, led to a discussion of Elven hair color genetics, and since we have a retired geneticist in the group, we got a pretty expert opinion that Elven hair color is enormously complicated--well beyond Punnett squares and simple dominant/recessive--and finally all came to the conclusion that it's a fictional race and so we could invent at will! But she did point out that it's a mistaken myth that dark-haired parents can't have fair-haired children, and my Celegorm breathed a sigh of relief....