Well, as far as the Elves feeling that leaving Middle earth wasn't really heartbreaking, I'm not sure. I think Galadriel's great struggle against taking the Ring was precisely down to her desire to remain in Middle Earth, in her position of wisdom & authority. After all, who would she be in Aman? Just another Elf. (Or am I being cynical again ? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] ) Seriously, though. The Elves had a deep love for Arda, that's beyond question, but you have to wonder to what extent it was based on a true understanding of Arda & its nature & to what extent they loved what they made Arda into. They seem to have difficulty just leaving the natural world alone, of not 'doing something' to it, even though their motivation seems to have been to 'improve' it.
Other races seem to have had a more 'utilitarian' approach to their relationship with the natural world. Whereas for the Elves it seems their prime motivation was to turn the whole of Arda into a work of art.
I do think that by the end of the Third age most of the Elves had realised that they were out of place in Middle Earth, & that they had no option but to leave. As for the Elves singing their hymns & songs about Aman, I wonder whether their real desire wasn't to return there, but rather to make Middle Earth a carbon (or idealised) copy of Aman, an Aman where they would be in charge rather than the Valar. After all, wasn't that part of what drove the Noldor to return to Middle Earth?
|