The Point of the Unions

[Elrian]

Originally Posted by Nilpaurion Felagund

I think Legolas was the last known Elf to leave Middle-earth, and he had to make his own ship--by this time the Grey Havens were closed, and Círdan had already departed.

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Legolas built his ship after the death of Aragorn and sailed with Gimli afterwards. I believe it says somewhere in one of the books that Cirdan did not sail until the 4th century of the 4th age. It also says that Cirdan himself would be the last to sail into the West.

[Dimturiel]

Kath was asking how come Frodo, Sam and Gimli,who were all mortal, could depart for the Undying Lands and why Arwen could not. Well, Frodo and Sam were both Ringbearers, they had both born a very heavy burden, and granting them admittance in Valinor was not only a reward, it was a possibility for them to be healed. Gimli had Galadriel's favour and that is why he could go with Legolas. For the other mortals, I think the road was shut. And Arwen chose not only to be mortal, but to be human also and no human had ever been aloud in the land of Aman.

[Elrian]

Originally Posted by Dimturiel

[B] For the other mortals, I think the road was shut. And Arwen chose not only to be mortal, but to be human also and no human had ever been aloud in the land of Aman.

Tuor had been allowed in, he was human.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

What made Tuor so special that he could become counted among the Elves, when Lúthien and Arwen had to become mortal? (Elianna)

I should just point out that being an Elf is not a reward, and being mortal is not punishment. In a world called Morgoth's Ring, is not Death, freedom from the Circles of a Fallen World, a prized gift, more so than immortality?

It seems Turgon let Tuor marry Idril mostly because he was the son of Huor, who had fought valiantly by Turgon's side in the Dagor Aglareb, and little because of Tuor's own greatness. And Tuor was favored by Ulmo; but why? (Elianna)

Too much Tuor-bashing in one paragraph—I can't take it.

Let's look at that moment when Tuor and Ulmo met:

. . . Ulmo spoke to Tuor of Valinor and its darkening, and the exile of the Noldor, and the Doom of Mandos and the hiding of the Blessed Realm. “But behold!” said he, “in the armour of Fate (as the Children of Earth name it) there is ever a rift, and in the walls of Doom a breach . . . Yet . . . now the Curse of Mandos hastens to its fulfilment, and all the works of the Noldor shall perish, and every hope which they build shall crumble. The last hope alone is left, the hope that they have not looked for and have not prepared. And that hope lieth in thee; for so I have chosen.”

UT I 1

Tuor asks the same question you did—why him?

[Ulmo: ]If I choose to send thee, Tuor son of Huor, then believe not that thy one sword is not worth the sending . . . But it is not for thy valour only that I send thee, but to bring into the world a hope beyond thy sight, and a light that shall pierce the darkness.

ibid

(Take that, anti-Special Freedom of Men people! But that is a topic for another thread.)

It was a plus for Tuor that he was the son of Huor, who was close to Turgon. But he was chosen primarily for being a Man, free from the chains of Fate.

Arwen was the last of the Noldor in ME. All the Noldor left with Elrond. Maybe the Noldor had a special ban or something considering the curse of Mandos. (daeron)

No. By the end of the First Age the Doom of Mandos had been lain to rest.

It seems that I need more resources (and thinking) to answer the other questions. So, again, later!