Dragaera

Warriors, peasants, and mortality

Tue Oct 5 12:51:05 PDT 2004

> I'm pretty sure. Also, the half-elf thing isn't exactly 
> right. All of them get to decide whether they'd rather be 
> mortal or immortal; 

That isn't quite how I understood things. 

The choice was forced once-only, when Aerindel and Gulwing landed on the
shores of Valinor bearing the Silmaril. The Valar, being faced with the
quandry of figuring out whether he should be allowed to leave alive or not,
solved the problem by making him choose whether he would be counted as an
elf or a man. The rest of the half-elven were given the same choice and that
was what sundered Elrond from his brother Elros, as each chose a different
allegiance.

After that, there were only elves and men. Genetics aside, Elrond and his
descendants were all elves, not half-elves.

Arwen's choice to follow Luthien's path was, perhaps, one that any Elf could
have made given sufficient incentive. Certainly, very few ever had that
incentive once the Valar ruled that marrying a Man would result in the loss
of your immortality and place in the Halls of Mandos.