Why D'you all want to be Elves?

[Elvedans]

But orcs arent fair and lovely.

[afro-elf]

That implication is not in my post.

[TinuvielChild]

Elves:

* Can only die in battle or of grief
* Are stunningly beautiful
* Have incredible vision/hearing
* Are excellent archers
* Speak a beautiful language
* Live in trees


Who wouldn't want to be an Elf?

[Elvedans]

I totally agree TC, its gotta be better than being a human on Earth. Still, you must get a bit weary of the world, and life wouldnt be so precious would it? You might end up doing stupid things because you wouldnt have that same feeling of making the most of a short life (live for the day, you know!)

[Elf Girl]

Originally posted by TinuvielChild
* Can only die in battle or of grief

[nitpick]Actually, they don't really die, they go to the Halls of Mandos and could be reborn. [/nitpick]

[Falagar]

Of course, after some 10000 or 100000 years, you would have lost your body, and flickered around as a spirit (or you could go to the Halls of Mandos). Don't know if you'd call that "dying", they lost their body, but their spirit (Fëa) still lived on (as it also did when they were slain, or died in other ways).

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Elf Girl
[nitpick]Actually, they don't really die, they go to the Halls of Mandos and could be reborn. [/nitpick]

As far as we know, they died. Their spirits continued, but supposedly do the spirits of Men. Men were just not bound to the world. The fate of the Elves after death was to either answer the summons of Mandos, and to be judged and re-embodied, or to refuse the summons, thus continuing as a houseless spirit. Then you had Elves that answered the summons of Mandos, and chose not to be re-embodied and would stay in Mandos until the end of Arda. When you think about it, Men were essentially in the end more immortal than the Elves, because when the end of Arda comes, that is the end of the Elves. Not so for Men. We just don't know their fate after death.

[Falagar]

Then we need to define "death". Is death the loss of your body? If so, then both Elves and Men die. But if death is that your soul (fëa, in this case) leaves the world, then only Men dies.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Falagar
Then we need to define "death". Is death the loss of your body? If so, then both Elves and Men die. But if death is that your soul (fëa, in this case) leaves the world, then only Men dies.

I think in Tolkien's world that death is the loss of the body. Remember in the Athrabeth when Finrod and Andreth were discussing this? He told her that the Elves also knew death.

We have seen it, and we fear it, answered Finrod. We too may die Andreth, and we have died. My father's fater was cruelly slain, and many have followed him, exiles in the night, in the cruel ice, in the insatiable sea. And in Middle-earth we have died, by fire and by smoke, by venom and the cruel blades of battle. Feanor is dead, and Fingolfin was trodden under the feet of Morgoth.

The difference in death for Elves and Men is that one is bound to the world, and the other is not. It was a grievious thing for Elves to be seperated from the body because of their restriction to Arda, but Men went beyond and therefore had no need for their body after death.

[Falagar]

I think in Tolkien's world that death is the loss of the body. Remember in the Athrabeth when Finrod and Andreth were discussing this? He told her that the Elves also knew death.

Well, then Elves do die. It just takes a while

Edit: I just noticed that this post makes no sense at all...

[Elf Girl]

Originally posted by Sister Golden Hair
As far as we know, they died. Their spirits continued, but supposedly do the spirits of Men.

In The Letters, Tolkien says that for the Elves death meant "liberation from the circles of the world", which they could never have.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Elf Girl
In The Letters, Tolkien says that for the Elves death meant "liberation from the circles of the world", which they could never have.

See my post above Falagar's

[Artanis]

Originally posted by Sister Golden Hair
... because when the end of Arda comes, that is the end of the Elves.

Is it really? I thought the Elves did not know what plans Eru had for them after the end of the world.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Artanis
Is it really? I thought the Elves did not know what plans Eru had for them after the end of the world.

True, but that is a hope of the Elves that they may exist again in Arda Remade, but as far as they knew for certian, they were bound to the world and died at the end of Arda.

[Ruinel]

There are arguments here for both Men and Elves. However, the history of Men (in Tolkien's world) has so much destruction (both self destruction and destruction of others including the Earth) that I identify with the Elves more.

Other than the Noldor, I have not come across any stories in which they murder each other for personal gain. I have not come across stories in which forests were wiped out to supply wood for a fleet of ships. The Elves respect the earth and life.

*** its a good thing that smell does not cross through a phone line during the internet connection... a week in the wild without a shower can curl your nose hair.... but listening to the coyotes every night was refreshing.... ***

[Elvedans]

I think reading the silmarillion has tainted my view of the elves, mainly because it seems to concentrate on the Noldor, who are the main culprits of the Kinslaying etc. If it had concentrated more on the elves who remained in the west or those who had never seen the undying lands i don't think i would feel this way, but i still think that the elves are wiser and fairer than men and are less prone to killing eachother.

[Ruinel]

Originally posted by Elvedans
I think reading the silmarillion has tainted my view of the elves, mainly because it seems to concentrate on the Noldor, who are the main culprits of the Kinslaying etc. If it had concentrated more on the elves who remained in the west or those who had never seen the undying lands i don't think i would feel this way, but i still think that the elves are wiser and fairer than men and are less prone to killing eachother.

There is more to the Elves than Feanor and his sons. When the word was out about the Kinslaying at Alaqualonde, the Noldor were shunned by the other Elves in ME. Only those Noldor that did not participate in the Kinslaying or tried (in vain) to help the Teleri were truely accepted in ME.

There is more said about the other Elves (who did not see the Undying Lands) but you have to pay attention when you read the Sil. In addition, the Elves have deviants from the normal ways also... but not to the extreme of Men. Men were easier to corrupt by Melkor. Elves could not be completely corrupted.

[JCL2]

ELVES ARE AGILE AND VERY GOOD WITH BOWS PLUS THEY HAVE VERY LONG LIVES. ELVES ROCK!!

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by JCL2
ELVES ARE AGILE AND VERY GOOD WITH BOWS PLUS THEY HAVE VERY LONG LIVES. ELVES ROCK!!

You might want to turn off your cap lock.

[Kalile]

Elves do live for a very long time, but that does not concern me. Others are attracted to the grace and beauty of all elves. I, however, would like the steady hand and outdoor lifestyle of the elves. They seem to be certain of what they so, or at least more so than other races.
On the shallow side, beauty is good, and I'd love to "blend living world and deep dream" during algebra