lord of the rings - some writing about the elves news

The very first thing that they saw were the stars, and for that reason the elves revere them and also Varda, known as Elbereth in the Sindarin tongue, their creator. The first sound that they heard was of the sea, and therefore the elves have alove and a longing for the sea. Tolkien's elves later lived in the forests away from the water, because they feared if they heard the sea, they would no longer be content in Middle-Earth.The races of elves became divided when some journeyed from the east where Lake Cuivienen was into the land of the Valar (the 14 powerful spirits who entered into Arda). Some elves stayed in the east, while others began the journey to the West, but then strayed in the forests and lingered there. Some of the elves who did make the journey into the West decided to return to Middle-Earth and they are those that are known as the high elves. They are similar to man in appearance, but not in lifespan. Elves are immortal beings and do not die in the same sense as humans do. They can live for many thousands of years and when they tire of life can chose to go to Valinor, the land of the Valar, or remain in Middle-Earth, bodiless. They do not suffer ill health or disease as humans do and therefore cannot die from these afflictions, but they can be killed.The elves possessed three great and powerful rings which helped them to keep their lands safe. They were forged by Celbrimbor, who was born in Valinor. Apart from Feanor, his grandfather who created the Silmarils, Celebrimbor was the greatest craftsmen in Middle-Earth. The chief power of these rings was to prevent or slow decay in their lands and the things that they loved. There were other rings given to the dwarves and to the kings of men, but the greatest of these were Narya, Nenya, and Vilya, the rings posessed by the elves. ' As Tolkien himself said of The Lord of the Rings, "The real theme for me is about something much more permanent and difficult: Death and Immortality: the mystery of the love of the world in the hearts of a race 'doomed' to leave and seemingly lose it; the anguish in the hearts of a race 'doomed' not to leave it, until its whole evil-aroused story is complete." (Letters 246) Obviously, death is an important concept within Tolkien's legendarium. It provides a backdrop to his stories that gives them much of their flavor. For one to properly understand Tolkien's stories, it is essential that one has a knowledge of what death means for the peoples of Arda. Death in Arda is a complex concept and is different for Elves and Men; it plays an important part in Tolkien's legendarium. The peoples of Arda each have different fates. Death's meaning varies between races. Elves are immortal, while Men are mortal. "[T]he point of view of this mythology is that 'mortality' or a short span, and 'immortality' or an indefinite span was part of what we might call the biological and spiritual nature of the Children of God, Men and Elves (the firstborn) respectively..." (Tolkien, Letters 204) The peoples of Arda are made up of a fëa and a hröa that roughly correspond to soul and body, respectively. For the Elves, the hröa is made to fit the fëa and it is unnatural for them to be separated. The fëar of Men, however, become separated from their hröar at death, and in this case separation is natural because it is in accordance with the nature of Men.