From: mschiffer@engin.umich.edu (Michael S. Schiffer, LHN)
Subject: Re: Half-elves becoming elves
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 92 12:09:35 EST
Organization: Campus Computing Sites, University of Michigan

In article <1992Dec20.072444.20575@news.acns.nwu.edu> j-germuska@nwu.edu (Joe Germuska) writes:
>Don't forget Tolkien's persistent "classism": The elves were the firstborn,
>and in all ways the first beloved of Eru and the Valar (except for some
>exceptions).  For an elf to give up eternal life and accept death and the
>Halls of Mandos was a sacrifice, and one no doubt strange to some crotchety
>old elves muttering about miscegenation -- but humans were not "granted the
>gifts" that the elves were, and not entitled to simply choose certain
>destinies.  

That doesn't really jibe with what I recall from the Silmarillion and
related works.  Death is the _gift_ of Men to the Elves, and they
often seem perplexed at how hard Men seem to find that to understand.
(Of course, part of that is sheer ignorance and self-righteousness,
as the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen makes clear, but there seems to
be a core of at least some truth to it.)  While the elves are arguably
the favorites of the Valar, insofar as Illuvatar plays favorites the
Elves seem convinced it's Men who're it.  Remember, it's the history of
the younger kindred which wasn't revealed entirely to the Valar, and
it's they who inherit Middle-Earth after all the tribulations of the
first three ages.  And to the Elves, who do grow very weary of the world
after a few millennia of seeing sorrow and decay, the gift of death
seems like a pretty good deal compared with staying in the eternal
twilight of Aman until the breaking of the world.  That's a _long_ time
to spend on the coasts of one country with the same people, even if
those people are the Valar, Maiar and Eldar.  Add to that the weight
of sorrows of the Elder Days-- only the Vanyar came out of that relatively
unscathed-- the Teleri of Aman lost folk in the Kinslaying, and the
Noldor and the Teleri of Middle Earth lost a great deal during the War of
the Jewels and (for those who stayed after the First Age) subsequent
events.  While Men live under the Sun and Moon and inherit the lands
of Middle Earth which once belonged to the Eldar, and go to join
Illuvatar beyond the circles of the world after a few decades, centuries
at most.  There are probably many elves who would choose mortality
if they had the option.  But no full-blood elf was ever given it
that I recall.  (Luthien is an interesting case, since she should
have been _doubly_ bound to the world as a half-Maia, half-Elf.)

Still, I can understand giving the choice to Earendil, given both his
ancestry and his deed.  Elwing is more questionable, since Dior Eluchil
seemed to choose his elf heritage solely (strange enough, since he was
only a quarter-Elf) but since she chose to be an Elf anyway her choice
hardly matters.  Elros and Elrond were both approximately half-elven
(Elwing was, by my calculation, 5/8 elf, 1/4 man, 1/8 Maia, which makes them
both somewhat more elf than man) and the Valar felt they had to make
some sort of decision regarding them, fine.  But one of these decisions
should have been final.  Would Elladan and Elrohir's kids be allowed
to choose mortality?  Could Elrond have chosen to die after the War of
the Ring?

If all this isn't complicated enough, I'm moderately curious aboutthe
line of the Princes of Dol Amroth.  That was a pairing of a wood-elf
(and hence Avari) and a human, if I recall correctly, which means the
Valar probably never took jurisdiction.  Could the first offspring
of that marriage have chosen either kindred?  For that matter, I sort
of wonder how one went about choosing-- just a matter of will, or
some sort of procedure?  Ah, well, the answer to pretty much all the
questions I ask is "We'll never know."  Sigh.

Mike