Quote:
Originally Posted by Girl in the Grass
If Elves did just "turn to dust" when they died, it seems that depending on the amount of time it took for them to...dissolve (for lack of a better word) the Elves would have a sort of memorial service, and then let the dust be scattered by the wind. It sounds appropriate to me, and accounts for the apparent lacking of burial mounds. If a body was just going to crumble into dust there would be no need for burial, as animals wouldn't be able to desecrate the remains and there would be no chance of disease from rotting flesh. Of course this is just pure opinion.  |
I do agree that it would be an exelent explanation to why there is so few elven graves to be found, but I think one has to take a broader view. This does not explain why there is relatively few human graves mentioned and while this is not part of the question, it might very well be part of the answer.
As I stated before there seems to be a clear tendency to Tolkien leaving burial rituals and such, exept for the ones for the nobility. . .which ofcourse is important for the stories.
Another thing is that if the elves did just turn to dust then there would be no reason at all to save Fingolfins body and give it a burrial.