I know I got some downvotes and you think I'm wrong, but I assure you that everything you've said is false. The really hurtful part is that I'm going to break down your comment one paragraph at a time now so you can see the error of your ways. I hope that I the end of this you apologize to me.

I said: "In Germanic mythological folklore, there was no such thing as "half-elven". The half-elves came from Norse mythology sometime after."

This doesn't even make sense.

This comes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-elf, which says "A half-elf, known today mainly through J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings but with origins in Norse mythology..."

There is no "canon" in folklore or pre-literate mythology, to start with. The mythological traditions in question abound with wild contradictions and competing versions of the same story.

Canon is like the 10 commandments. Thou shall not steal. It is already written. Any alteration to this material does no confine to the canon. For example, it's not "thou shall not steal on Tuesdays". No. It means you shall never steal. In Germanic mythological folklore, the origin of elves and fairies, elf meant "a supernatural creature of folk tales, typically represented as a small, elusive figure in human form with pointed ears, magical powers, and a capricious nature." However, authors like Tolkien warped the idea with his own creativity. So what you should have gotten from my original comment is that Tolkien warped the original meaning of elves, and he did. There's no reason why you need to disagree with me.

Drawing a sharp dividing line between "Germanic" and "Norse" mythology is also just nonsensical. Norse mythology is a Germanic mythology. Saying "norse mythology vs germanic mythology" just doesn't mean anything (other than that you might not know what you're talking about :-/).

Why do you think so? And why do you call everything "nonsense"? It seems to me you are processing this information in the moment, and you cannot come up with a reason to find common ground with my logical response. Why wouldn't Norse and Germanic folklore be different? These are different people from different cultures. When I said the Norse added halflings, it's because they added upon the Germanic folklore to create their own mythology.

Beyond that, Tolkien wasn't pinning himself to any particular mythological tradition at all. Where do you even get that idea from, I've never even heard it before and I studied this at university? The Scandinavian epic sagas were a clear inspiration (possibly the most significant inspiration..), and half elves abound.

I never said he was pinning mythological traditions. I said he was pinning halflings with pure elves. He shouldn't have added half-elves to his stories. All they do is create unnecessary drama.

I mean for f---- sake, Tolkien studied Anglo Saxon literature and language, not "Norse" or "Germanic".

Yes, and therein lies the problem. He essentially bastardized the folklore with his own interpretation of the source material. He even came up with Orcs and other such races to create an even wider fantasy ecosystem. As a consequence, he trampled all over the original simple Germanic folklore.

You can dip into the Anglo Saxon literary tradition and find plenty of half elves. Hrólfs saga prominently features a half elf, and comes from exactly the same literary tradition as Beowulf, the work Tolkien concerned himself with more than any other. Þiðreks saga is one of the single most important sources for very early Germanic myth traditions that still survives. It is undeniably "Germanic" by any definition of the term. It has a half elf.

Half-elves were added later. Again, I am speaking of the original material.

I really don't know where you got any of this stuff from, but I wouldn't go back there for more of it.

Right...