Did Arwen long for the sea?
 

Or did being a peredhel allow her to ignore the call? Legolas said:

Elladan and Elrohir made the same journey. Would they have felt the same?

I don't like to think of Arwen shut up in a stone city pining for the Sea the way Finduilas of Dol Amroth did.

What do you think?

-Lily

But Finduilas grew up by the sea, Arwen did not. Why would she be fated to pine away for it?

I'm sure that Arwen longed for it some times, but with a husband like Aragorn, she was probably distracted. [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] Just look at all the kids they had!!!!

I think that she realized that her choice was made, and that she should just enjoy what blessings she had, the love of a wonderful man, and being mother to some wonderful children. She probably knew that it was too late to revoke her choice, and pining away wouldn't accomplish anything. It would just ruin her life and the lives of her loved ones. So I assume she just "sucked it up" and went on being Queen.

Arwen could have longed for the sea even without living near it.
It seems to me that after Aragorn died and she went to Lorien, she missed her people and maybe half wished there would be a ship to take her to Valinor.

At least the Sindar-elves like Legolas longed for the sea (when they 'felt the calling of the sea').
But did other elves have that feeling without seeing the sea?

Thanks for the answers, everyone!

Meela, I don't quite understand it, but it seems that for elves, the Sea stirs in them an unquenchable desire to sail into the West. It's like they have this involuntary, inborn desire that they don't know they possess until something triggers it, at which point it becomes *really strong*. Legolas was perfectly happy in Middle Earth until he heard the cry of the gulls on the Anduin, which conjured up the "sea-longing" in him. Galadriel told him that if he heard them, his "heart would dwell in the forests no more", and so it came to be. Even though he stayed in ME until after Aragorn's death, he always longed to sail into the West.

Arwen could live in Minas Tirith without seeing the Sea, but I bet she still heard gulls. (I'm 40 miles or more inland, but there are gulls here, albeit standing quietly in the McDonalds' parking lot waiting for fries and not crying...)

Elvisse, do you know why it is that the sea-longing is "perilous" to elves? Do they actually become physically ill from it, or does it make them have a tendency to just drop everything and go?

Cheers!

-Lily

Sea longing: It has been suggested that it represents a longing for the past - when all Elves dwelt in Valinor (because Ulmo's voice is heard as the music of water); also that it may be a metaphor for death-longing, when the burden of life becomes to heavy to bear - or, the opposite, a longing for immortality.

Here is a thread where you can find these ideas, and more: sea longing

i think the sea-longing was both a longing for Valinor, and a longing to be near the sea itself. apart from all godly interference, it is possible that elves would feel it strongest because it's nature is very similar to thiers. it is constant and undieing as they are, yet it changes as they do in thier constant search for knowledge and beauty. if you think about it, nothing in nature is really as constant as the ocean. rocks are worn down, earth changes shape, while water does change (in therms of state or mood and kinf of movement) it always returns to the way it was before. it is constant, which is very attractive, especially to immortal elves. anyway, that's the way it seems to me, if it makes any sense.

She was Noldorin, not Telerin in origin. She probably longed for a nice big rock.

What a good thing Minas Tirith is basically a big rock, then!

But is the sea-longing restricted to the Teleri? I was under the impression all elves suffered from it.

On the "sea-longing" thread, Gwaihir said:

-Lily

To some extent, I think all Elves long for the Sea, but Arwen's love for Aragorn made her forget that, at least temporarily. There was no way for her to return to Valinor afterwards anyway, so she probably didn't dwell on that choice.

Elenquesse, I agree, but let me expand a little. Did not Arwen give up her immortality? Did she not give up what made her an Elf? (Correct me if I am wrong.) She could no longer sail to Valinor. I think that with all that went the sea-longing.