Sea-longing

[Mister Underhill]

Hence, the sea-longing of Legolas or Galadriel appears rather to be the exact opposite of desire for mortality.

I didn't mean literal death, especially with the anti-spiritual connotations of "mortality" -- death as an end, nothingness, oblivion; I meant a symbolic death and subsequent eternal life in what amounts to Elvish Heaven (The Blessed Realm, the Undying Lands), where everyone lives happily with the "gods" and you are reunited with friends and family who departed the world ahead of you.

are you by chance alluding to death-longing resonant with greek and egyptian mythology -- charon and anubis taking the dead by boat to their final destination?

I think the imagery is certainly resonant. See also Boromir's final journey down Anduin.

'Ask not of me where he doth dwell - so many bones there lie
On the white shores and the dark shores under the stormy sky;
So many have passed down Anduin to find the flowing Sea.
Ask of the North Wind news of them the North Wind sends to me!'
'O Boromir! Beyond the gate the seaward road runs south,
But you came not with the wailing gulls from the grey sea's mouth.'


[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: Mister Underhill ]