> But if elves can have beards, that doesn't mean everybody with a beard is an elf. That just makes no sense.
That's not what was said, though. The point is that having a beard is not a show-stopper when suspecting that someone is an elf. People could have suspected that Gandalf was an elf for any number of unmentioned reasons having nothing to do with his beard, it's just that his beard did not get in the way of that, so beards are clearly not considered outside of the elvish phenotype.
Exactly. That's what I'm saying. That's not what 0xffff2 is saying, though. The fact that Gandalf could be an elf because Gandalf's beard doesn't rule it out, on account of some elves having beards, does not imply that Gandalf really is an elf. Elves having beards does in no way imply that the people were correct in their belief that Gandalf is an elf.
That's not what was said, though. The point is that having a beard is not a show-stopper when suspecting that someone is an elf. People could have suspected that Gandalf was an elf for any number of unmentioned reasons having nothing to do with his beard, it's just that his beard did not get in the way of that, so beards are clearly not considered outside of the elvish phenotype.