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The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
Do faded elves get summoned by Mandos?

wriath3000
Registered User

Feb 19 2015, 5:48pm

Post #1 of 6 (842 views)
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Do faded elves get summoned by Mandos? Can't Post

Or do they just stay invisible forever? I'm confused because I think fading is not "dead" because they still have body...


swordwhale
Tol Eressea


Feb 19 2015, 6:33pm

Post #2 of 6 (784 views)
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I seem to remember... [In reply to] Can't Post

Tolkien writing somewhere about Elves lasting as long as the world lasts.

At which point I'd think Mandos would summon them "home".

Without reading all of HoME again, all I can think of is Galadriel's "becoming a rustic folk of dell and cave"...

...which leads me to Tolkien being an Edwardian, right on the heels of the Victorian Age, in which we have flower fairies of the wayside (an actual book). That's a good example of how myths degenerate... we go from the magnificence of the Tuatha deDannaan of the early Irish mythological cycle (see Jim Fitzpatrick) to the Sidhe (of a later period, sort of slightly faded more dangerous faerie) to flower fairies of the wayside. As new cultures, religions and mythologies invade, the old ones diminish.

Tolkien took a lot of those old tales and archetypes and gave them back their power.

I think the "fading" thing was his nod to real world myths and how they change.

As for the elves in his tales, I think they are still those beings who live in the spiritual world as well as Middle Earth, and they can always return to spirit.

Na 'Aear, na 'Aear! Mýl 'lain nallol, I sûl ribiel a i falf 'loss reviol...
To the sea, to the sea, the white gulls are crying, the wind is blowing and the white foam is flying...





Elizabeth
Half-elven


Feb 19 2015, 11:11pm

Post #3 of 6 (759 views)
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Tolkien had in mind a complex "end times" scenario. [In reply to] Can't Post

It's somewhat analogous to the Ragnarok in Nordic mythology. Basically, the Elves are permanently attached to Arda until the end times, when there will be a climactic battle and the world will be "changed".

Some years ago, NZ Strider (a much-esteemed regular in the Reading Room) provided this summary.








(This post was edited by Elizabeth on Feb 19 2015, 11:12pm)


EomundDaughter
Lorien

Feb 20 2015, 12:02am

Post #4 of 6 (745 views)
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thanks...a very nice description [In reply to] Can't Post

 


HeWhoArisesinMight
Rivendell


Feb 20 2015, 1:28am

Post #5 of 6 (741 views)
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Interesting question [In reply to] Can't Post

What do you guys think of the Lost Road? In it, Aelfwine and his son come across faded Elves. It seems that Tolkien would have his faded Elves from the First through Fourth Ages make it at least into Medieval Europe. That was one way he connected the Elves of lore to the "real" world.

Any thoughts?

Might makes Right!


Rembrethil
Tol Eressea


Feb 22 2015, 3:01am

Post #6 of 6 (688 views)
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Well, I'm tempted to think of Miriel.. [In reply to] Can't Post

Finwe's first wife, but since she 'died' of here own free-will, I don;t think her spirit 'wandered' or haunted the land.

Personally, I get the feeling that the spirit is free to do whatever it wants instil the Dagor Dagorath. That Ragnarok-esque type ending is very convenient to tie up loose plot endings.Cool

Call me Rem, and remember, not all who ramble are lost...Uh...where was I?

 
 

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