About Tol Eressea

[zxcvbn]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

That sounds like a particularly nasty and fiendish version of Hell to me. Where's the "peace" if sight of Heaven/perfection/happiness is out there but beyond reach?

Yeah. The Noldor must have had it even worse than the Numenoreans. They were even closer to Valinor than Numenor was, but they couldn't go there. But they showed a lot more self-control than the Numenoreans did.

Of, course, they were probably allowed to atleast visit Valinor, so that would help ease their longing.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by zxcvbn

Of, course, they were probably allowed to atleast visit Valinor, so that would help ease their longing.

I suppose that's the reason why many job contracts include paid holidays, assuming of course that vacations in exotic places, pastoral settings, adventure tours, etc, would in fact provide some recompense for being 'close but no cigar.' Close, I'm told, counts only in horseshoes and grenades.

Originally Posted by Ghazi

This is what I love about Tolkien's creation. Answers just create more questions and as Tolkien himself has written (I think) it just sheds a dim light on things still further in the distance that need to be explored.

I suppose this is Tolkien's view of himself as Sub-creator, sub-creating the conditions of the Original Creator, whose own works provide such stimula to making sense of it.

[Galin]

Generally speaking, Tolkien was not necessarily consistent from letter to letter. And Readers naturally post pieces of letters as significant pieces of 'lore' (if so) but Tolkien in 1965 may not even remember what he wrote in a letter more than ten years earlier, for example. Did JRRT think his letters would someday help Readers answer questions with respect to his mythic history? I doubt that, but we make do, as we must, with 'unpublished' tales, notes, letters, and TV interviews, and author-published works of course.

In the case of The Lord of the Rings we have (in my opinion) a source that easily outweighs a letter, and also a late date for Amroth And Nimrodel that appears to indicate that the East-elves of Galadriel's Realm can sail West just like the Sindar. According to The Lord of the Rings itself...

'... and Anduin flows into the Bay of Belfalas whence the Elves of Lórien set sail.' The Fellowship of the Ring

'It is long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of Lórien, and yet still one may see that not all sailed from Amroth's haven west over water.' The Last Debate

1981 '(...) Many of the Silvan Elves of Lórien flee South. Amroth and Nimrodel are lost.' Appendix B

Or also published by Tolkien...

'In the Langstrand and Dol Amroth there were many traditions of the ancient Elvish dwellings, and of the haven at the mouth of the Morthond from which 'westward ships' had sailed as far back as the fall of Eregion in the Second Age.' The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

Taking these 'as a team' I must include the Silvan Elves with the Sindar as far as sailing Over Sea; and so far I can't think of any good reason to restrict them to Tol Eressea.

[skip spence]

One thing that disturbs me about Valinor and Tol Eressea is the limited space offered for the Eldar coupled with their immmortality. Now, Tol Eressea was presumably not a very large island. In Valinor itself there should be much more room for them but still not nearly as much as in the vast reaches of ME.

So in Aman the remaining Eldar still dwell. Although the elves might not have many, if any, children in ME any longer, it's very possible they still do in Aman where there's no withering or decay. As they don't fall ill, or are expected to fight amongst themselves any longer, it's likely that they proliferate, albeit slowly. Adding to the population: the world-weary refugees on their great ships. And if that wasn't enough, every slain elf ends up with Mandos, and unless their sins were grim indeed, they would be allowed to return to incarnate life eventually.

In conclusion, I'm guessing that Aman is pretty crowded by now.

[Ghazi]

Originally Posted by skip spence

In conclusion, I'm guessing that Aman is pretty crowded by now.

I'm sure Aule could always add some more land mass in a pinch.

[skip spence]

^So the lonely isle isn't lonely no more?

Another possibility is that the late arrivals would have to settle in Aman but outside of the actual Valinor. You know, up north right next to the grinding ice or down south in the old abode of Ungoliant. Hardly paradise...

And can you imagine what it would cost to rent an apartment in downtown Tirion with a sea view?