Dragaera

Warriors, peasants, and mortality

Tue Oct 5 07:06:51 PDT 2004



>Dennis wrote:

> > On Fri, 1 Oct 2004, Charmian wrote:
> >
> > @> > Steve has copied their willingness to fight (and die), but he has
> > made
> > @> > them sexual beings who can control their reproduction.
> > @>
> > @> Wait, didn't Tolkien's elves sexually reproduce?
> >
> > Not only did they reproduce sexually, their immortality was due to
> > continuous reincarnation. They were not physically immortal, just very
> > long-lived. (Whether that's an intentional reference by Brust or just a
> > coincidence... dunno.)
>
>IIRC, that's not quite correct.  Elvish immortality wasn't due
>specifically to reincarnation.  They could reincarnate and return if they
>were killed--Glorfindel from THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is an example of
>this--but  if they didn't die by violence, they didn't die.  Elves were
>not subject to natural aging or disease.
>
>-Dennis

Glorfindel in LOTR isn't the same Glorfindel as the one in the Silmarillion. 
AFAIK there's no reincarnation at all in Middle Earth.

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