Elrond or Elros?

[xMellrynxMaidenx]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

Perhaps not. I think the "getting bored" that men feel is (at least in Tolkien's secondary subcreation) primarily due to the world-weariness, the seeking elsewither which was one with the "Gift of the One to Men" - that is, it is a natural consequence of the peculiar nature of Men.

Other creatures whose fate is tied to Arda would simply not have that "seeking elsewither" and so, I think, would not grow bored - may not even understand the concept. What is boredom but a sense or feeling that "there is nothing to do". The world, however, is so varied and full and intricate it is hard to imagine that any creature could "really" run out of things to learn and do - if they wanted to. The "feeling" of boredom then, I suggest, is not based in fact, but in tiredness and desire to "move on" - and *THAT* is the essential distinction and gifting of Atani alone. Not shared by Eldar, nor by Ents, nor by Istari/Maier, nor (apparently) by Bombadil, etc.

After reading this, I sat down to think for a moment about, Elves in specific, becoming bored. They never really did become bored because they always busied themselves with something else. I remember reading (and I THINK it was something Tolkien had written concerning elves and reproduction), and I have to digress slightly for just a moment, that it was said elves would usually have few children, one to two ( it could be more, I cannot remember, I would have to dig through my saved sites again) children and would then lose interest and busy themselves with other things like crafting different things or how to become a warrior (it most likely didn't say this exactly, but rather they learned how to use swords and shoot bows amongst other weapons).

Having thought about this it has changed my perspective on the longevity of the Elven race; I don't know what side to choose now! Either side has its own ups and downs to take into account.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by xMellrynxMaidenx

Having thought about this it has changed my perspective on the longevity of the Elven race; I don't know what side to choose now! Either side has its own ups and downs to take into account.

That's why this is such an interesting question!
I'll still go for mortality, though. You could also have children, and learn how to use weapons, etc. You just have less time. I think that the significance of humans leaving the world means that they finish their task there. Even if the task itself remains unfinished, the part/role the person plays is complete. Once Men die, they are not connected to the world anymore. Elves never leave the world, even when they die. Their job is never finished/completed fully, no matter how many different things they do (make, destroy, change, learn, etc).

[Pitchwife]

Interesting question! Time was when I would have chosen immortality (or, to be precise, 'longevity coextensive with the duration of Arda') for sheer curiosity. As a teenager, I was intensely curious about the distant past and the far future and found it somewhat unfair that I would never get a chance to witness more than a few decades of history - hence the fascination of time travel stories like Wells' Time Machine, especially the last few pages describing the traveller's last trip to a dying Earth populated by utterly alien creatures. Nowadays, however, I suspect that there's a lot more fun in imagining such things than in actually being there.

I don't think I'd become bored for a couple of millennia - not before I'd have travelled all over the planet, learned to speak every language ever spoken fluently, play the guitar to my satisfaction and improvise verse in every metre ever invented, and that's just for starters. (Give me enough time, and who knows, I might even study mathematics in the end!) If there's one thing I envy the Elves for, it's this - time to learn a craft or art to perfection, and then another, and yet another. I also imagine that, knowing they literally have all the time in the world, they would be able to immerse themselves completely into whatever they're doing at the moment, without the fear of missing something else; whereas we mortals always tend to have too many things going at the same time (unless you're a Zen master or some such).

On the other hand, the older I get the more I become curious about what JK Rowlings' Dumbledore called "the next great adventure" - and regardless of whether there is any such thing, I feel it's a bit greedy to want more and more and more of this life, and OK to give it back when I've had my fill.

So where does that leave me? It would be nice to share the fate of Elrond's children and get the best of both worlds, so to speak - live for a few thousand years, and then move on. But if that's not an option, Elros' choice is allright for me.

[Galadriel55]

I've been rereading The Sil again, and I found one of Earendil's lines particularly interesting: "You choose, for I am weary of the world." Similar lines have been said about other elves, but I can't think of any other specific quotes. Your life can be full of whatever you think a "perfect life" should consist of - and yet you can become tired of existence. Makes any sense?

[Galadriel55]

I asked my mom this question, and she said she'd be an Elf. Her reasoning was that she already knows how to be human, so it would be interesting to experience soething new for a change. It wasn't easy to get that straightforward answer out of her. She said that:
1) We are not Halfelven to decide that
2) We don't know how the Halfelven feel and live, and we can't really decide without knowing that
3) We don't know how Elves live - maybe they are actually miserable about their lives
4) We are humans, but humans in ME could be a totally different thing, and we can't make decisions based on that or judge their lives by our lives
5) I'm pondering about unexisting questions of an unexisting world, when I have plenty "real" things to think about

In the end, she decided on Elf, though.

I guess I'm just gonna have to avoid Tolkien discussions with her for a while...

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Do we get this choice in Middle-Earth or in our world?

The point has been made that it would not be desirable to outlive your friends and therefore the decision of Elros is superior. However this only goes if everybody around us gets to live as long as we, so in Middle-Earth the choice of Elros would be nice, but in our world it suffers from the same disadvantages as the choice of Elrond.

Anyways, I'd take the elven path all the way. . . It is the only choice where you are fairly certain what you sign up for, also Elves are simply superior. (Brilliant argument, isn't it?)

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Rune Son of Bjarne

Do we get this choice in Middle-Earth or in our world?

Well, since I still haven't met any halfelven in our world, I suppose the choice belongs in ME.