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Old 01-08-2004, 11:53 AM   #12
Sharkû
Hungry Ghoul
 
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Sting

<font size="-2">"On earth [sc. as opposed to Aman. Sharkû] the Quendi suffered no sickness, and the health of their bodies was supported by the might of the longeval fear. But their bodies, being of the stuff of Arda, were nonetheless not so enduring as their spirits; for the longevity of the Quendi was derived primarily from their fear, whose nature or 'doom' was to abide in Arda until its end. Therefore, after the vitality of the hroa 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." (HoME, X,5,xi 'Aman')

More fanciful accounts of dwindled Quendi are given in the earlier incarnations of the Lost Tales. Naturally these have to be handled with care in a discussion.

Suicide does not seem an option for one who is already struggling with the guilt he accumulated in his past.
Anything else appears as idle speculation.
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