Quote:
|
Originally Posted by davem
It seems that Elves wedded as soon as they reached adulthood, had children of their own soon after, & then got on with more interesting things  . Tolkien at first applied the same condition to Numenorean children, due to their longer life, as to Elves - this extension of 'childhhood' - but later changed his mind. |
That's very, very interesting when compared to the human tendency to marry within a "time limit" of sorts. The average age that we get married these days is higher than it was centuries ago. This, as opposed to the Elvish reasons, derives from the average lifespan of a human. As that increases, it becomes less urgent for children to marry as soon as they hit sixteen or eighteen. Humans marry and reproduce as soon as needed so that they can have procreated before they grow too old or die. Meanwhile, Elves married and procreated so they wouldn't have to "think about it", practically, for the rest of their confinement on Middle Earth.
But you know, it would also imply that the average Elvish female probably had longer times between cycles than Human women. If they had as many children as they wanted, and then just got on with their lives, you would think that siblings you hear about would be born closer together. Elladan and Elrohir were born 111 years before Arwen - a very interesting number, actually. Unless Elves would have a child or two, let that one grow up and have their own lives, then wait a while, then realize, "Wait: I want another little bundle of joy to nurse for fifty years," have another many years later and so on.
ETA: Bethy, but imagine round-up time at the Feanor household? "We have six...who are we missing? Why can't I
remember these things?!" Finarfin and Earwen probably also had a party when the kids got out of the house.