Quote:
Originally Posted by Thinlómien
The Elves seem to feel this the most keenly with their longing for the Sea. (Interesting question though: are they happy by the sea? Is the longing Legolas feels on the Gondorian shores more painful or rewarding? Is it pain or pleasure?)
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Generally, it seems to have been only the Elves as a race who felt a special longing for the Sea.
The Dwarves pretty much shunned it, Orcs feared it, Men either ignored (Bree-men and Rohirrim, fex) it, or used it (the Dúnedain), and Hobbits saw it as a token of death.
For the Elves, it served as a call to them, to draw them to what was really their proper place in the Undying Lands. I don't think that the call of the Sea was necessarily painful or pleasurable; but something that just stayed in their thoughts perpetually once it had got hold.
Dwelling near it and for whatever reason not answering the 'summons', I think would have eased their minds somewhat, in a way that Legolas, say, wouldn't have had the benefit of after hearing the gulls then going back to Mirkwood for another thousand years or so.