XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: michael.stemper@gmail.com   
      
   On 2018-02-27 14:13, Stan Brown wrote:   
   > On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 13:14:38 -0600, Michael F. Stemper wrote:   
   >> On 2018-02-14 21:21, Stan Brown wrote:   
   >>> On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 11:06:21 -0600, Michael F. Stemper wrote:   
      
   >>>> The Rangers are described as being "darker than the Men of Bree".   
   >>>   
   >>> I think that refers to hair and eyes, not skin tone. It's dark as   
   >>> opposed to fair, not dark as opposed to white.   
   >>   
   >> Would you be willing to explain your reasoning? Is this just a case of   
   >> British English versus American English? Because I've never heard anyone   
   >> say "so-and-so is dark/fair/white" to mean "so-and-so has dark/fair/   
   >> white hair".   
   >   
   > Thank you for challenging me, Michael. (I do not mean any sarcasm by   
   > that.)   
      
   You must have training/education in sciences or engineering. The "four   
   eyes" principle (or "peer review" to academics) is vital.   
      
   >   I was going by memory, but when I searched my copies of LotR   
   > and Silm for "dark" I failed to turn up a single example that matched   
   > my memory. I found it as an explicit modifier for hair or eyes, but   
   > never used in the way I had said. I made a less careful search for   
   > "fair", but again was unable to come up with any support for what I   
   > had written.   
      
   Okay, thanks for re-checking that. I appreciate your taking the time   
   and effort. Usenet could use more of that (and could do so even back   
   before Eternal September).   
      
   > I was wrong, and I thank you for pressing me, because now I know   
   > better than I knew before.   
      
   That's how we learn!   
      
   --   
   Michael F. Stemper   
   Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.   
   Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)