For in that sleep of death what dreams may come.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

So I wouldn't say that water is always associate with death in Middle-earth, especially since it is the domain of Ulmo. Symbolically it can be purification, rebirth, or baptism, as well as doom. Water is liminal in LotR but not necessarily always perilous.

Perhaps I'll get myself in trouble for following this up, but I feel the baptism/rebirth comment needs expanding on, because saying that water seems linked to rebirth/baptism doesn't so much negate Mith's point about death as underscore it.

In Christian theology, anyway, baptism has always been associated with death. Baptism is the death to self, death to the old self--death that enables rebirth. When someone is pushed under the water (literally or figuratively) within the baptism ritual, this is their death, and the rising from the water is the rebirth.

Within the context of Tolkien's Catholicism, this may in fact be a point wherein his faith shines through the cracks of Middle-earth. My point, regardless, is that insofar as there is something redemptive about water, this does not remove the association with death.

Or, in other words, I agree with Mith.