Choices of the Peredhil -- Yet Another Tolkien Thread

Cafe Society
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With apologies to those who hate reading stuff on LOTR (so why did you open this one, anyway?:)), I just realized this morning that there’s a sort of open question, at least in my reading of Tolkien, on the choices those of Elf-human ancestry were to make to be of one “kind” or the other:

Luthien, Elf on her father’s side and Maia on her mother’s, chose to become a human being in order to be with Beren whatever betided. By a special grace, this was granted her.

Tuor, husband of Idril Celebrindal, by a similar special grace, was permitted to be joined to the Eldar, though human, and to go to the West.

Earendel, son of Tuor and Idril, and Elwing, granddaughter of Luthien and Beren, ended up transformed mythically into the Morning Star and a sea bird. (No wonder Elrond has issues; imagine living 7,000 years knowing that that’s what’d happened to your parents when you were little! :))

After various violent deaths, their descendants of all of these eventually dwindled to Elrond and Elros, the “Halfelven,” who were given the irrevocable choice of to which kindred they would belong. We are told that Elros chose to be human, was granted a lifespan of 500 years, and became the first King of Numenor – and, eventually, the ancestor of Aragorn. Elrond, on the other hand, chose to be of elvenkind, married Celeborn and Galadriel’s daughter Celebrindal, and had three kids.

Okay, there is no question in canonical Tolkien but that Vardamir Nolimon and all the heirs of Elros are considered human and nothing but. The trace of elf-blood that remains ennobles them but apparently has no effect.

But the three children of Elrond are given the same choice as he and his brother had – though they can “delay the choice” – and the books leave Arwen choosing to be of humankind out of love for Aragorn, and the brothers continuing not to make a final choice.

There appears to be a contradiction here – you can, apparently, opt out of Elfdom but not out of Humanness. That doesn’t sound like it fits the philosophical underpinnings of the Tolkien universe. Any Tolkien geeks who care to explain what’s going on?

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Mortality is the “Gift of Men” that sets them apart from the Eldar. Instead of a curse or punishment, it’s looked at by the Wise as a positive thing, a gift. Being able to die frees the soul from the unimaginable weight of world-weariness of years after immortal years in Middle-earth. On the one hand, death brings grief and separation, but the pain of it brings a definite appreciation of the preciousness of this brief life. On the other hand, Elven immortality allows a profound depth of memory, intelligence, and creativity, although when the years stretch on and on endlessly, it can be wearying to even think about, let alone endure, as the beauty of the world they once knew slowly crumbles around them.

So it’s a tradeoff. Which side gets the better bargain? That’s a question each individual has to answer for herself or himself. Thus the free choice given to the Half-Elven.

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I cannot explain, only hypothesize.

First let us recognize that Tuor’s being judged of the firstborn was merely a rumor passed down via JRRT, and he never stated explicitely that it had occurred in any of his writings. I would tend to think it probably did not actually happen in JRRT’s sub-creation universe.

Second, the elves fate was bound entirely within Arda, and completely subject to the music of the Ainur.

Third, consider that mortality was Eru’s “gift” to men. They were not bound to the music of the Ainur, and their exact end was unknown to all but Eru. Their spirits were born, then they lived, died, and went to parts unknown.

Now I posit it is much easier to extend this “gift of death” to a few select individuals, such as Luthien, Elros, et. al. than it is to revoke said gift, and force an unconstrained spirit (mortal) back into a constricting schema (Arda and the music).

Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

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Qadgop, that theory sounds good to me.

I still want to know what happened to the few half-elves who died before Elrond and Elros were given the Choice. (e.g. Luthien and Beren’s kid, whatsisname?) They seem to have been considered Elves during their lifetimes; is that the default option for the half-elven?

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I think elf is the default mode for all Peredhil; they have to make a conscious choice to give it up. Why this should be, I have no idea. I agree with Quadgop’s theory, though. I suppose even for Eru and the Valar, it’s easier to just let somebody die than try to give someone else eternal life.

Another thing about “the gift of Men”; it may be counted as a gift in more ways than one. Tolkien was a very devout Catholic, and this did influence his writing. He seemed at times to posit the existence of a sort of heaven for Men that Elves could neither understand nor enter. Aragorn makes a comment like this to Arwen on his deathbed, and he says practically the same thing to his mother Gilraen when she’s dying. My books are elsewhere, so I can’t check right now, but he mentions something like “a light beyond the darkness” and “more than memory”. This indicates that he’s refrring to his own spiritual beliefs about what becomes of the souls of men after death.

Tolkien also stated once that Eru gave the gift of death to men so that they might more quickly return to him, and so they might long to “return” to their “true home” beyond the Circles of the World. I can only interpret this as some kind of heaven. The elves seem to have some inkling of this- they seem to grasp that men were not put on Arda to stay, and they call them “Strangers” and “Guests”. There is even a belief among some that men will join in the Second Music with Iluvatar and the Ainur after Arda ends.

What will happen to the elves at this point is anyone’s guess, since Tolkien never really tells us. It may be that when Arda ends, so do the elves. This is kind of referred to in The Silmarillion, when it’s remarked that “men have a shadow behind them, but the elves have a shadow before”. A few times certain human characters mention some terrible thing that happened to men soon after they awoke in the east; this may be Tolkien’s round-about way of referring to the myth of humanity’s fall in the garden of Eden. But the shadow before the elves could mean their ultimate destruction at the end of time, so that no matter how many millenia they have left, it’s not going to last forever, and there’s no clue what, if anything, might happen afterwards.

Iluvatar seems to have created the two races in order to see how they each dealt with the concept of death. One lives until the end of time, the other only a very short while- but each must face their ultimate end, with the uncertainty and fear that that entails.

Whoa. Massive hijack. Sorry. :o