[NobleBone]

I'm trying to write a fic, and I'm wondering if it's likely, considering elven culture, for them to have any manner of formal schooling. I think that there wouldn't be many parallels to the modern public schooling system, but I need help fixing the setting to make it more realistic. Any ideas about subjects taught, likely student body, etc. would help a ton.

[ellisk]

Tolkien doesn't mention formal 'school' settings as we would think of them amongst elves that I can remember--I'm sure someone will chime in if they can remember anything.

I think education in ME would likely be similar to education in the early modern period in Europe minus the University system.

I think all Elves (but probably not men or hobbits--since Tolkien does mention hobbits and men that don't know their letters) would at least be able to read and write. I imagine they all learned the history of at least the First Age and Second Age through songs from minstrels and loremasters. They probably all learned basic math and geography from their family or hired tutors. I imagine the regular classes then learned an art or trade (or both, as many times as something new strikes their fancy--they live until the end of Arda) from a master of the trade. They also likely occupied their time with doing the necessary tasks for survival--just doing the wash would be literally an all day affair and these people had to hunt or forage, clean, prepare and cook whatever they intended to eat.

The noble class would likely study legal history, languages and war with the court loremaster and with experienced warriors.

I imagine young adults of any class might study to be a healer.

If a court had a large number of noble children at once, I could imagine some scholar being tasked with teaching them as a group. But, elves don't have that many children and those they do have are spaced pretty far apart. I doubt there would be a lot of them around all at the same general age to warrant a large scale tutoring situation. We don't really hear of such things--Elladan and Elrohir were fully adults when Arwen was born and we don't hear of any other noble children in Imladris. Celeborn and Galadriel's children (if you count Amroth as theirs) were likely born in the Second Age and you don't hear of them having a lot of little noble born companions. Even in the First Age when families were much bigger, I doubt all of Feanor's sons were born so closely together as to go to school together.

I think it also depends on the Elven community. I can imagine more formal learning situations in Imladris and Mithlond than I can Mirkwood or Lothlorien.

And I do not believe elflings would be sent away to a school (a la Harry Potter). There is no mention of such a thing in Tolkien and travel was extremely difficult and dangerous. And the logistics of it are very difficult to imagine--who would provide meals for all those kids? Who hunts down enough deer to feed all those children while they do nothing to earn their keep? Possibly Thranduil might send Legolas to Imladris for better tutoring opportunities there but only when he was near the age of majority, I think. I could more easily imagine him studying with Erestor privately than with other Elven children. Possibly, healers from Mirkwood and Lothlorien and Mithlond would go to study under Elrond. (Or maybe there was some one else in an Elven realm with a particularly useful skill that they were renown for--people might go to study under them, in that case.)

Now, all that changes when you think about men--they would have a lot more children around. I think noble class mannish children probably did have a formal tutor in the court and were likely then sent away to learn more. Space Weavil has that sort of a set up in her Witch King series.

I also imagine Hobbits with lots of children and therefore a formal tutoring system for the wealthier ones.

Those are my thoughts about ME education. I hope it helps some.