To be completely fair they lived in a world where there actually were real differences between the races. In our world racism is silly because there aren’t any actually relevant differences between the races, but the differences between elves, men, and dwarves are very real in middle earth. Not enough to pull everyone over a comb (to use a swedish proverb), but at least there’s some substance to it.
I thought the latest research was pointing more toward homogenisation of the species through interbreeding rather than strictly competition or other factors.
Not necessarily. Elves and Humans would be classified as being part of the same genus of species, in this case homo, and members of the same genus can sometimes breed together under abnormal circumstances.
This is how you get ligers, a cross between a lion and a tiger. Both different species, but part of the panthera genus. Or mules, also a cross between two species, but part of the equus genus.
To be completely fair they lived in a world where there actually were real differences between the races. In our world racism is silly because there aren’t any actually relevant differences between the races, but the differences between elves, men, and dwarves are very real in middle earth. Not enough to pull everyone over a comb (to use a swedish proverb), but at least there’s some substance to it.
There used to be different types of people on earth but we likely killed them all cause of racism 😞
Imagine if we still had other humanoids walking around
I thought the latest research was pointing more toward homogenisation of the species through interbreeding rather than strictly competition or other factors.
OK so I was way off. This has info I was thinking of.
It’d be more accurate to call them species. Elves are specist.
But they can still produce offspring with humans (e.g. Elrond is half-elven), which is usually what defines a species.
Not necessarily. Elves and Humans would be classified as being part of the same genus of species, in this case homo, and members of the same genus can sometimes breed together under abnormal circumstances.
This is how you get ligers, a cross between a lion and a tiger. Both different species, but part of the panthera genus. Or mules, also a cross between two species, but part of the equus genus.