As one whose faith harmonizes reasonably closely with Tolkien's, one thing that I see is that humans - in this life (presuming an acceptance of the above mentioned faith) - are both elves and men. We have received the gift of Eru to Men: we shall all die. We have also received the gift of the Elves (after a fashion): we shall continue to exist, always. This is a strange tension for me. And I think Tolkien did us a wonderful service in evoking the two different realities within one cosmos by separating them out and comparing them, not in thesis form (thank the gods), but in story. What is it like, what does it mean, what are the stumbling blocks of the Gift to Man? of the Gift to the Elder Children? It is no easy thing to be human; to be Elven.
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