The Straight Road

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Then finally there's this "flesh unaided cannot endure" line. Here I'm thinking around the issue wildly but bear with me.....The Elves, we know, can exist as a fea without a hroa, but Men cannot - though Sauron may have found a way with his Ringwraiths. Do Elves simply forgo their hroa as they pass the Straight Road, knowing they can have another once they get to the Halls of Mandos? The mortals we know for certain who travel the Straight Road at the end of the Third Age are all Ringbearers, and the Ring definitely has some effect on the hroa and either removes it or absorbs it or makes it disappear (however it does it, it definitely does do something to it). Does something about the Ringbearers and what they have experienced make it likely that the Straight Road works by doing something to fea/hroa?

Slightly mad, I know, but I have to examine why and how it works

An intriguing theory, Lal, and perhaps the correct view -- if it weren't for Tolkien's insistence on muddying up the waters. For instance, there's that hint that Legolas and Gimli rowed their boat ashore (alleluia!), and made it to Aman. Of course, we aren't necessarily positive that they made it, but it seems the sentimental Tolkien adds these little nuances for the express purpose of assuring us that they did indeed arrive.