Heaven and the ocean

[Thinlómien]

The thread title could totally be the title of a Florence + the Machine song. I feel obliged to participate.

I'm actually pretty intrigued about the sea/ocean thematics in Tolkien's work. The sea - maybe because of the land beyond it - seems to represent all the "bigger than life" feelings. The Elves' longing, and Frodo's, as well as Faramir's fear of the world ending. Come to think of it, it's a huge element in all Tolkien's stories. It is also a threshold between the mundane world and the mythical west. So as it is a kind of boundary between worlds, you could say that "heaven" (aka the West) is closer when you're by the sea. Maybe even mere mortals can feel it in a way.

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?)

[Inziladun]

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?)

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.