The Elves indeed die of old age.
Edit: Sorry, forgot to write page and book:
Myths transformed, page 427 in Morgoth's Ring:
Quote:
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[...]On earth the Quendi suffered no sickness and the health of their bodies was supported by the might of the longeval fëar. But their bodies, being of the stuff of Arda, were nontheless not so enduring as their spirits; for the longvity of the Quendi was derived primarily from their fëar, whose nature or 'doom' was to abide in Arda until its end. Therefore, after the vitality of the hröa was expended in achieving full growth, it began to weaken or grow weary. Very slowly indeed, but to all the Quendi perceptibly. For a while it would be fortified and maintained by its indwelling fëa, and then its vitality would begin to ebb, and its desire for physical life and joy in it would pass ever more swiftly away. Then an Elf would begin (as they say now, for these things did not fully appear in the Elder Days) to 'fade', until the fëa as it were consumed the hröa until it remained only in the love and memory of the spirit that had inhabited it. But in Aman, since its blessing descended upon the hröar of the Eldar, as upon all other bodies, the hröar aged only apace with the fëar, and the Eldar that remained in the Blessed Realm endured in full maturity and in undimmed power of body and spirit conjoined for ages beyond our mortal comprehension.
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So they may 'die' (we'll need an clear definition of 'die', here it is in the sense of loosing ones body), it just takes a couple of 1000...1000000...years [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
[ June 03, 2003: Message edited by: Falagar ]