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Not only did they live much longer, they didn't suffer the effects of aging until nearly the end of their life. I don't believe in any supernatural phenomena,
by jakebasile 9y ago
Not only did they live much longer, they didn't suffer the effects of aging until nearly the end of their life.
I don't believe in any supernatural phenomena, the afterlife, or fate etc., but I find his concept of the Gift of Men to be a fascinating look at death.
See:
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Gift_of_Men http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Gift_of_Men
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Immortality http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Immortality
- jacobush 9y agoI found that too. I read these as a child, and I remember siding with those elves who thought Illuvatars Gift to Men to be a hard one to accept. Still, I tried to understand it a gift and not a curse, at last in later years, thinking that there must be something to it, when some elves chose to become mortal and receive this gift. When I thought of the elves perspective, I can see that while they are super cool, they can't live the lives the way we of mankind do. We have the ability to appreciate life and feel life very intensely, precisely because we know with certainty an upper bound to our expiration date. (For full disclosure I lean more towards the afterlife being a reality than not, this has of course affected how I read Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis, for that matter...)