The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - 'Which is as Fate to all Things Else’

I voted for the gift of Death. There was an pretty good explanation in the Akallabeth:

Quote:

'... The Eldar, you say, are unpunished, and even those who revelled do not die. Yet that is to them neither reward nor punishment, but the fulfilment of their being. They cannot escape, and are bound to this world, never to leave it so long as it lasts, for its life is theirs. And you are punished for the rebellion of Men, you say, in which you had small part, and so it is that you die. But that was not at first appointed for a punishment. Thus you escape, and leave the world, and are not bound to it, in hope or in weariness. Which of us therefore should envy the others?' - The Akallabeth, The Silmarillion

There was a much better argument in HOME: Morgoth's Ring, of course. (Self-multilation for misplacement). But it kind of make you wonder... are there other worlds and universes outside of Arda?

I can't contemplate Non-being... but I can swallow the fact that some folk may be able to contemplate non-being. The very fact that I can accept that fact shows that imagination has no limits (mine at least... with the exception of dreaming of foul breathe...). Maybe the gift of Death allowed Men to exit the limitations of the living world, and into something more akin to their imaginations?