Tolkien's "Laws and Customs of the Eldar" essay

[Esteliel]

As that essay answers lots of questions which fic writers need all the time if they want to write about elves, I've decided to post it here so everybody who wants to look some things up can do so. It deals with lots of interesting topics like sex, marriage, pregnancy, childhood, death, rebirth etc.

If you'd like to actually own this essay, you can find it in Volume 10 of the History of Middle-Earth: Morgoth's Ring. :)

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LAWS AND CUSTOMS AMONG THE ELDAR.

As I have explained (p. 199), I have found that the best method of
presenting the material is to give at this point the long essay
concerning the nature and customs of the Eldar, although of course it
cannot be said to be a part of the Quenta Silmarillion.
This work is extant in two versions, a completed manuscript ('A')
and a revision of this in a typescript ('B') made by my father that was
abandoned when somewhat less than halfway through. The two texts
bear different titles, and since both are long I shall use an abbreviated
form, Laws and Customs among the Eldar (in references later, simply
Laws and Customs). From the existence of the two versions arises a
difficulty of presentation frequently encountered in my father's work.
The typescript B, so far as it goes, follows the manuscript A pretty
closely for the most part - too closely to justify printing them both in
full, even if space allowed. On the other hand there are many points in



which B differs significantly from A. The options are therefore to give
A in full with important divergences in B in textual notes, or to give B
as far as it goes with A's divergences in notes, and then the remainder
from A. Since B is a clearer and improved text I have decided on the
latter course.

It is not easy to say from what fictional perspective Laws and
Customs among the Eldar was composed. There is a reference to the
Elves who linger in Middle-earth 'in these after-days' (p. 223); on the
other hand the writer speaks as if the customs of the Noldor were
present and observable ('Among the Noldor it may be seen that the
making of bread is done mostly by women', p. 214) - though this
cannot be pressed. It is clear in any case that it is presented as the
work, not of one of the Eldar, but of a Man: the observation about the
variety of the names borne by the Eldar, 'which ... may to us seem
bewildering' (p. 216; found in both texts, in different words) is
decisive. AElfwine is indeed associated with the work, but in an
extremely puzzling way. He does not appear at all in A as that was
originally written; but among various corrections and alterations
made in red ball-point pen (doubtless as a preliminary to the making
of the typescript) my father wrote 'AElfwine's Preamble' in the margin
against the opening of the text - without however marking where this
'preamble' ended. In B the first two paragraphs are marked 'AElfwine's
Preamble' and placed within ornate brackets, and this very clearly
belongs with the making of the typescript, although it is by no means
obvious why the opening should be thus set apart; while later in B
(p. 224) there is a long observation, set within similar brackets, that
ends with the words 'So spoke AElfwine' - but this passage is absent in
any form from A.
There are no initial drafts or rough writings extant, and if none
existed the manuscript text is remarkably clear and orderly, without
much correction at the time of composition, though a good deal
changed subsequently. It may be that it had been substantially
composed, the product of long thought, before it was first written
down; at the same time, my impression is that my father had not fully
planned its structure when he began. This is suggested by the curious
way in which the judgement of Mandos in the case of Finwe and
Miriel precedes the actual story of what led to the judgement (pp.
225 - 6, 236-9); while after the account of Finwe's marriage to Indis
there follows the Debate of the Valar, although that was held before
'the Statute of Finwe and Miriel' was promulgated. It is hard to believe
that my father can have intended this rather confusing structure, and the
view that the work evolved as he wrote seems borne out by the title in A:

Of the marriage laws and customs of the
Eldar, their children, and other
matters touching thereon

At the same time as the words 'AElfwine's Preamble' and other
corrections in red ball-point pen were made to the manuscript (see
above) he wrote in bold letters beneath the title: 'The Statute of Finwe
and Miriel' - almost as if this was to be the new title of the work as a
whole, although the original one was not struck out.
The typescript B has the long title given at the beginning of the text
below; the text in this version ends before the story of Finwe and
Miriel and the Debate of the Valar is reached. Why my father
abandoned it I cannot say; perhaps he was merely interrupted by some
external cause, perhaps he was dissatisfied by its form.

But all these questions are very secondary to the import of the work
itself: a comprehensive (if sometimes obscure, and tantalising in its
obscurity) declaration of his thought at that time on fundamental
aspects of the nature of the Quendi, distinguishing them from Men:
the power of the incarnate fea (spirit) in relation to the body; the
'consuming' of the body by the fea; the destiny of Elvish spirits,
ordained by Eru, 'to dwell in Arda for all the life of Arda'; the meaning
of death for such beings, and of existence after death; the nature of
Elvish re-birth; and the consequences of the Marring of Arda by
Melkor.

There follows now the typescript version B so far as it goes. At the
end of the text (pp. 228 ff.) are notes largely limited to the textual
relations of the two versions; these are necessarily very selective, and
do not record the very many changes of wording in B that modify or
improve the expression without altering the sense of the original text
in any important way. B itself was scarcely changed after it had been
typed; but a pencilled note on the first page reads 'For hrondo read
hroa', and this change was carried out in the greater part of the text.
The word used in A for the body was hron, which became hrondo in
the course of the writing of the manuscript.

OF THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS AMONG THE ELDAR
PERTAINING TO MARRIAGE AND OTHER MATTERS
RELATED THERETO: TOGETHER WITH THE
STATUTE OF FINWE AND MIRIEL AND THE DEBATE
OF THE VALAR AT ITS MAKING.

AElfwine's Preamble.

[The Eldar grew in bodily form slower than Men, but in mind
more swiftly. They learned to speak before they were one year
old; and in the same time they learned to walk and to dance, for
their wills came soon to the mastery of their bodies. Nonetheless
there was less difference between the two Kindreds, Elves and
Men, in early youth; and a man who watched elf-children at

play might well have believed that they were the children of
Men, of some fair and happy people. For in their early days
elf-children delighted still in the world about them, and the fire
of their spirit had not consumed them, and the burden of
memory was still light upon them.(1)
This same watcher might indeed have wondered at the small
limbs and stature of these children, judging their age by their
skill in words and grace in motion. For at the end of the third
year mortal children began to outstrip the Elves, hastening on to
a full stature while the Elves lingered in the first spring of
childhood. Children of Men might reach their full height while
Eldar of the same age were still in body like to mortals of no
more than seven years.(2) Not until the fiftieth year did the Eldar
attain the stature and shape in which their lives would after-
wards endure, and for some a hundred years would pass before
they were full-grown.]

The Eldar wedded for the most part in their youth and soon
after their fiftieth year. They had few children, but these were
very dear to them. Their families, or houses, were held together
by love and a deep feeling for kinship in mind and body; and the
children needed little governing or teaching.(3) There were sel-
dom more than four children in any house, and the number
grew less as ages passed; but even in days of old, while the Eldar
were still few and eager to increase their kind, Feanor was
renowned as the father of seven sons, and the histories record
none that surpassed him.(4)
The Eldar wedded once only in life, and for love or at the least
by free will upon either part. Even when in after days, as the
histories reveal, many of the Eldar in Middle-earth became
corrupted, and their hearts darkened by the shadow that lies
upon Arda, seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among
them.(5)
Marriage, save for rare ill chances or strange fates, was the
natural course of life for all the Eldar. It took place in this way.
Those who would afterwards become wedded might choose
one another early in youth, even as children (and indeed this
happened often in days of peace); but unless they desired soon
to be married and were of fitting age, the betrothal awaited the
judgement of the parents of either party.
In due time the betrothal was announced at a meeting of the
two houses concerned,(6) and the betrothed gave silver rings one

to another. According to the laws of the Eldar this betrothal was
bound then to stand for one year at least, and it often stood for
longer. During this time it could be revoked by a public return
of the rings, the rings then being molten and not again used for a
betrothal. Such was the law; but the right of revoking was
seldom used, for the Eldar do not err lightly in such choice.
They are not easily deceived by their own kind; and their spirits
being masters of their bodies, they are seldom swayed by the
desires of the body only, but are by nature continent and
steadfast.
Nonetheless among the Eldar, even in Aman, the desire for
marriage was not always fulfilled. Love was not always re-
turned; and more than one might desire one other for spouse.
Concerning this, the only cause by which sorrow entered the
bliss of Aman, the Valar were in doubt. Some held that it came
from the marring of Arda, and from the Shadow under which
the Eldar awoke; for thence only (they said) comes grief or
disorder. Some held that it came of love itself, and of the
freedom of each fea, and was a mystery of the nature of the
Children of Eru.
After the betrothal it was the part of the betrothed to appoint
the time of their wedding, when at least one year had passed.
Then at a feast, again (7) shared by the two houses, the marriage
was celebrated. At the end of the feast the betrothed stood forth,
and the mother of the bride and the father of the bridegroom
joined the hands of the pair and blessed them. For this blessing
there was a solemn form, but no mortal has heard it; though the
Eldar say that Varda was named in witness by the mother and
Manwe by the father; and moreover that the name of Eru was
spoken (as was seldom done at any other time). The betrothed
then received back one from the other their silver rings (and
treasured them); but they gave in exchange slender rings of
gold, which were worn upon the index of the right hand.
Among the Noldor also it was a custom that the bride's
mother should give to the bridegroom a jewel upon a chain or
collar; and the bridegroom's father should give a like gift to the
bride. These gifts were sometimes given before the feast. (Thus
the gift of Galadriel to Aragorn, since she was in place of
Arwen's mother, was in part a bridal gift and earnest of the
wedding that was later accomplished.)
But these ceremonies were not rites necessary to marriage;
they were only a gracious mode by which the love of the parents

was manifested,(8) and the union was recognized which would
join not only the betrothed but their two houses together. It was
the act of bodily union that achieved marriage, and after which
the indissoluble bond was complete. In happy days and times of
peace it was held ungracious and contemptuous of kin to forgo
the ceremonies, but it was at all times lawful for any of the
Eldar, both being unwed, to marry thus of free consent one to
another without ceremony or witness (save blessings exchanged
and the naming of the Name); and the union so joined was alike
indissoluble. In days of old, in times of trouble, in flight and
exile and wandering, such marriages were often made.(9)
As for the begetting and bearing of children: a year passes
between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child, so that the
days of both are the same or nearly so, and it is the day of
begetting that is remembered year by year. For the most part
these days come in the Spring. It might be thought that, since the
Eldar do not (as Men deem) grow old in body, they may bring
forth children at any time in the ages of their lives. But this is not
so. For the Eldar do indeed grow older, even if slowly: the limit
of their lives is the life of Arda, which though long beyond the
reckoning of Men is not endless, and ages also. Moreover their
body and spirit are not separated but coherent. As the weight of
the years, with all their changes of desire and thought, gathers
upon the spirit of the Eldar, so do the impulses and moods of
their bodies change. This the Eldar mean when they speak of
their spirits consuming them; and they say that ere Arda ends all
the Eldalie on earth will have become as spirits invisible to
mortal eyes, unless they will to be seen by some among Men
into whose minds they may enter directly.(10)
Also the Eldar say that in the begetting, and still more in the
bearing of children, greater share and strength of their being, in
mind and in body, goes forth than in the making of mortal
children. For these reasons it came to pass that the Eldar
brought forth few children; and also that their time of genera-
tion was in their youth or earlier life, unless strange and hard
fates befell them. But at whatever age they married, their
children were born within a short space of years after their
wedding.' For with regard to generation the power and the will

' Short as the Eldar reckoned time. In mortal count there was often
a long interval between the wedding and the first child-birth, and even
longer between child and child.

are not among the Eldar distinguishable. Doubtless they would
retain for many ages the power of generation, if the will and
desire were not satisfied; but with the exercise of the power
the desire soon ceases, and the mind turns to other things.(11) The
union of love is indeed to them great delight and joy, and the
'days of the children', as they call them, remain in their memory
as the most merry in life; but they have many other powers of
body and of mind which their nature urges them to fulfil.
Thus, although the wedded remain so for ever, they do not
necessarily dwell or house together at all times; for without
considering the chances and separations of evil days, wife and
husband, albeit united, remain persons individual having each
gifts of mind and body that differ. Yet it would seem to any of
the Eldar a grievous thing if a wedded pair were sundered
during the bearing of a child, or while the first years of its
childhood lasted. For which reason the Eldar would beget
children only in days of happiness and peace if they could.

In all such things, not concerned with the bringing forth of
children, the neri and nissi (12) (that is, the men and women) of the
Eldar are equal - unless it be in this (as they themselves say) that
for the nissi the making of things new is for the most part shown
in the forming of their children, so that invention and change is
otherwise mostly brought about by the neri. There are, how-
ever, no matters which among the Eldar only a ner can think or
do, or others with which only a nis is concerned. There are
indeed some differences between the natural inclinations of neri
and nissi, and other differences that have been established by
custom (varying in place and in time, and in the several races of
the Eldar). For instance, the arts of healing, and all that touches
on the care of the body, are among all the Eldar most practised
by the nissi; whereas it was the elven-men who bore arms at
need. And the Eldar deemed that the dealing of death, even
when lawful or under necessity, diminished the power of
healing, and that the virtue of the nissi in this matter was due
rather to their abstaining from hunting or war than to any
special power that went with their womanhood. Indeed in dire
straits or desperate defence, the nissi fought valiantly, and there
was less difference in strength and speed between elven-men and
elven-women that had not borne child than is seen among
mortals. On the other hand many elven-men were great healers
and skilled in the lore of living bodies, though such men



abstained from hunting, and went not to war until the last need.
As for other matters, we may speak of the customs of the
Noldor (of whom most is known in Middle-earth). Among the
Noldor it may be seen that the making of bread is done mostly
by women; and the making of the lembas is by ancient law
reserved to them. Yet the cooking and preparing of other food is
generally a task and pleasure of men. The nissi are more often
skilled in the tending of fields and gardens, in playing upon
instruments of music, and in the spinning, weaving, fashioning,
and adornment of all threads and cloths; and in matters of lore
they love most the histories of the Eldar and of the houses of the
Noldor; and all matters of kinship and descent are held by them
in memory. But the neri are more skilled as smiths and wrights,
as carvers of wood and stone, and as jewellers. It is they for the
most part who compose musics and make the instruments,
or devise new ones; they are the chief poets and students of
languages and inventors of words. Many of them delight in
forestry and in the lore of the wild, seeking the friendship of all
things that grow or live there in freedom. But all these things,
and other matters of labour and play, or of deeper knowledge
concerning being and the life of the World, may at different
times be pursued by any among the Noldor, be they neri or
nissi.

OF NAMING.

This is the manner in which the naming of children was
achieved among the Noldor. Soon after birth the child was
named. It was the right of the father to devise this first name,(13)
and he it was that announced it to the child's kindred upon
either side. It was called, therefore, the father-name, and it
stood first, if other names were afterwards added. It remained
unaltered,* for it lay not in the choice of the child.
But every child among the Noldor (in which point, maybe,
they differed from the other Eldar) had also the right to name
himself or herself. Now the first ceremony, the announcement
of the father-name, was called the Essecarme or 'Name-
making'. Later there was another ceremony called the Essecilme
or 'Name-choosing'. This took place at no fixed date after the

(* Save for such changes as might befall its spoken form in the
passing of the long years; for (as is elsewhere told) even the tongues of
the Eldar were subject to change.)



Essecarme, but could not take place before the child was deemed
ready and capable of lamatyave, as the Noldor called it: that is,
of individual pleasure in the sounds and forms of words. The
Noldor were of all the Eldar the swiftest in acquiring word-
mastery; but even among them few before at least the seventh
year had become fully aware of their own individual lamatyave,
or had gained a complete mastery of the inherited language and
its structure, so as to express this tyave skilfully within its limits.
The Essecilme, therefore, the object of which was the expression
of this personal characteristic,' usually took place at or about
the end of the tenth year.
In elder times the 'Chosen Name', or second name, was
usually freshly devised, and though framed according to the
structure of the language of the day, it often had no previous
significance. In later ages, when there was a great abundance of
names already in existence, it was more often selected from
names that were known. But even so some modification of the
old name might be made.(14)
Now both these names, the father-name and the chosen
name, were 'true names', not nicknames; but the father-name
was public, and the chosen name was private, especially when
used alone. Private, not secret. The chosen names were regarded
by the Noldor as part of their personal property, like (say) their
rings, cups, or knives, or other possessions which they could
lend, or share with kindred and friends, but which could not be
taken without leave. The use of the chosen name, except by
members of the same house (parents, sisters, and brothers), was
a token of closest intimacy and love, when permitted. It
was, therefore, presumptuous or insulting to use it without
permission.**(15)
Since, however, the Eldar were by nature immortal within
Arda, but were by no means changeless, after a time one might
wish for a new name.+(16) He might then devise for himself a new
chosen name. But this did not abrogate the former name, which

(* This lamatyave was held a mark of individuality, and more
important indeed than others, such as stature, colour, and features of
face.

(** This sentiment had thus nothing to do with 'magic' or with
taboos, such as are found among Men.)

(+ The Eldar hold that, apart from ill chances and the destruction of
their bodies, they may in the course of their years each exercise and)

remained part of the 'full title' of any Noldo: that is the
sequence of all the names that had been acquired in the course
of life.(17)
These deliberate changes of chosen name were not frequent.
'There was another source of the variety of names borne by any
one of the Eldar, which in the reading of their histories may to
us seem bewildering. This was found in the Anessi: the given (or
added) names. Of these the most important were the so-called
'mother-names'.(18) Mothers often gave to their children special
names of their own choosing. The most notable of these were
the 'names of insight', essi tercenye, or of 'foresight', apacenye.
In the hour of birth, or on some other occasion of moment,
the mother might give a name to her child, indicating some
dominant feature of its nature as perceived by her, or some
foresight of its special fate.' These names had authority, and
were regarded as true names when solemnly given, and were
public not private if placed (as was sometimes done) immedi-
ately after the father-name.
All other 'given names' were not true names, and indeed
might not be recognized by the person to whom they were
applied, unless they were actually adopted or self-given. Names,
or nicknames, of this kind might be given by anyone, not
necessarily by members of the same house or kin, in memory of
some deed, or event, or in token of some marked feature of
body or mind. They were seldom included in the 'full title', but
when they were, because of their wide use and fame, they were
set at the end in some form such as this: 'by some called
Telcontar' (that is Strider); or 'sometimes known as Mormacil'
(that is Blacksword).

enjoy all the varied talents of their kind, whether of skill or of lore,
though in different order and in different degrees. With such changes
of 'mind-mood' or inwisti their lamatyaver might also change. But
such changes or progressions were in fact seen most among the neri,
for the nissi, even as they came sooner to maturity, remained then
more steadfast and were less desirous of change. [According to the
Eldar, the only 'character' of any person that was not subject to
change was the difference of sex. For this they held to belong not only
to the body (hrondo) [> (hroa)] but also to the mind (inno) [> (indo)]
equally: that is, to the person as a whole. This person or individual
they often called esse' (that is 'name'), but it was also called erde, or
'singularity'. Those who returned from Mandos, therefore, after the
death of their first body, returned always to the same name and to the
same sex as formerly.]

The amilessi tercenye, or mother-names of insight, had a high
position, and in general use sometimes replaced, both within the
family and without, the father-name and chosen name, though
the father-name (and the chosen among those of the Eldar that
had the custom of the essecilme) remained ever the true or
primary name, and a necessary part of any 'full title'. The
'names of insight' were more often given in the early days of the
Eldar, and in that time they came more readily into public use,
because it was then still the custom for the father-name of a son
to be a modification of the father's name (as Finwe' I Curufinwe)
or a patronymic (as Finwion 'son of Finwe'). The father-name
of a daughter would likewise often be derived from the name of
the mother.
Renowned examples of these things are found in the early
histories. Thus Finwe, first lord of the Noldor, first named his
eldest son Finwion;(20) but later when his talent was revealed this
was modified to Curufinwe.(21) But the name of insight which his
mother Miriel gave to him in the hour of birth was Feanaro
'Spirit of Fire';* and by this name he became known to all, and
he is so called in all the histories. (It is said that he also took this
name as his chosen name, in honour of his mother, whom he
never saw.)(22) Elwe, lord of the Teleri, became widely known by
the anesse or given name Sindicollo 'Greycloak', and hence
later, in the changed form of the Sindarin tongue, he was called
Elu Thingol. Thingol indeed was the name most used for him by
others, though Elu or Elu-thingol remained his right title in his
own realm.

OF DEATH AND THE SEVERANCE OF FEA
AND HRONDO [> HROA].(23)

It must be understood that what has yet been said concerning
Eldarin marriage refers to its right course and nature in a world
unmarred, or to the manners of those uncorrupted by the
Shadow and to days of peace and order. But nothing, as has
been said, utterly avoids the Shadow upon Arda or is wholly
unmarred, so as to proceed unhindered upon its right courses.
In the Elder Days, and in the ages before the Dominion of Men,
there were times of great trouble and many griefs and evil

(* Though the form Feanor which it took later in the speech of
Beleriand is more often used. [> (later) Though the form Feanor,
which is more often used, was a blend of Q[uenya] Feanaro and
S[indarin] Faenor.])



chances; and Death (24) afflicted all the Eldar, as it did all other
living things in Arda save the Valar only: for the visible form of
the Valar proceeds from their own will and with regard to their
true being is to be likened rather to the chosen raiment of Elves
and Men than to their bodies.
Now the Eldar are immortal within Arda according to their
right nature. But if a fea (or spirit) indwells in and coheres with
a hrondo [> hroa] (or bodily form) that is not of its own choice
but ordained, and is made of the flesh or substance of Arda
itself,(25) then the fortune of this union must be vulnerable by the
evils that do hurt to Arda, even if that union be by nature and
purpose permanent. For in spite of this union, which is of such a
kind that according to unmarred nature no living person
incarnate may be without a fea, nor without a hrondo [> hroa],
yet fea and hrondo [> hroa] are not the same things; and
though the fea cannot be broken or disintegrated by any
violence from without, the hrondo [> hroa] can be hurt and
may be utterly destroyed.
If then the hrondo [> hroa] be destroyed, or so hurt that
it ceases to have health, sooner or later it 'dies'. That is: it
becomes painful for the fea to dwell in it, being neither a help to
life and will nor a delight to use, so that the fea departs from it,
and its function being at an end its coherence is unloosed, and it
returns again to the general hron [> orma] of Arda.(26) Then the
fea is, as it were, houseless, and it becomes invisible to bodily
eyes (though clearly perceptible by direct awareness to other
fear).
This destruction of the hrondo [> hroa], causing death or the
unhousing of the fea, was soon experienced by the immortal
Eldar, when they awoke in the marred and overshadowed realm
of Arda. Indeed in their earlier days death came more readily;
for their bodies were then less different (27) from the bodies of
Men, and the command of their spirits over their bodies less
complete.
This command was, nonetheless, at all times greater than it
has ever been among Men. From their beginnings the chief
difference between Elves and Men lay in the fate and nature of
their spirits. The fear of the Elves were destined to dwell in Arda
for all the life of Arda, and the death of the flesh did not
abrogate that destiny. Their fear were tenacious therefore of life
'in the raiment of Arda', and far excelled the spirits of Men in
power over that 'raiment', even from the first days (28) protecting



their bodies from many ills and assaults (such as disease), and
healing them swiftly of injuries, so that they recovered from
wounds that would have proved fatal to Men.
As ages passed the dominance of their fear ever increased,
'consuming' their bodies (as has been noted). The end of this
process is their 'fading', as Men have called it; for the body
becomes at last, as it were, a mere memory held by the fea; and
that end has already been achieved in many regions of Middle-
earth, so that the Elves are indeed deathless and may not be
destroyed or changed.(30) Thus it is that the further we go back in
the histories, the more often do we read of the death of the Elves
of old; and in the days when the minds of the Eldalie were
young and not yet fully awake death among them seemed to
differ little from the death of Men.
What then happened to the houseless fea? The answer to this
question the Elves did not know by nature. In their beginning
(so they report) they believed, or guessed, that they 'entered into
Nothing', and ended like other living things that they knew,
even as a tree that was felled and burned. Others guessed more
darkly that they passed into 'the Realm of Night' and into the
power of the 'Lord of Night'.(31) These opinions were plainly
derived from the Shadow under which they awoke; and it was
to deliver them from this shadow upon their minds, more even
than from the dangers of Arda marred, that the Valar desired to
bring them to the light of Aman.
It was in Aman that they learned of Manwe that each fea was
imperishable within the life of Arda, and that its fate was to
inhabit Arda to its end. Those fear, therefore, that in the
marring of Arda suffered unnaturally a divorce from their
hrondor [> hroar] remained still in Arda and in Time. But in
this state they were open to the direct instruction and command
of the Valar. As soon as they were disbodied they were
summoned to leave the places of their life and death and go to
the 'Halls of Waiting': Mandos, in the realm of the Valar.
If they obeyed this summons different opportunities lay
before them.(32) The length of time that they dwelt in Waiting
was partly at the will of Namo the Judge, lord of Mandos,
partly at their own will. The happiest fortune, they deemed, was
after the Waiting to be re-born, for so the evil and grief that they
had suffered in the curtailment of their natural course might be
redressed.



OF RE-BIRTH AND OTHER DOOMS OF THOSE
THAT GO TO MANDOS.(33)

Now the Eldar hold that to each elf-child a new fea is given, not
akin to the fear of the parents (save in belonging to the same
order and nature); and this fea either did not exist before birth,
or is the fea of one that is re-born.
The new fea, and therefore in their beginning all fear, they
believe to come direct from Eru and from beyond Ea. Therefore
many of them hold that it cannot be asserted that the fate of the
Elves is to be confined within Arda for ever and with it to cease.
This last opinion they draw from their own thought, for the
Valar, having had no part in the devising of the Children of Eru,
do not know fully the purposes of Eru concerning them, nor the
final ends that he prepares for them.
But they did not reach these opinions at once or without
dissent. In their youth, while their knowledge and experience
were small and they had not yet received the instruction of the
Valar (or had not yet fully understood it), many still held that in
the creation of their kind Eru had committed this power to
them: to beget children in all ways like to themselves, body and
indwelling spirit; and that therefore the fea of a child came from
its parents as did its hrondo.(34)
Yet always some dissented, saying: 'Indeed a living person
may resemble the parents and be perceived as a blending, in
various degrees, of these two; but this resemblance is most
reasonably related to the hrondo. It is strongest and clearest in
early youth, while the body is dominant and most like the
bodies of its parents.' (This is true of all elf-children.)(35) 'Where-
as in all children, though in some it may be more marked and
sooner apparent, there is a part of character not to be under-
stood from parentage, to which it may indeed be quite contrary.
This difference is most reasonably attributed to the fea, new and
not akin to the parents; for it becomes clearer and stronger as
life proceeds and the fea increases in mastery.'
Later when the Elves became aware of re-birth this argument
was added: 'If the fear of children were normally derived from
the parents and akin to them, then re-birth would be unnatural
and unjust. For it would deprive the second parents, without
consent, of one half of their parentage, intruding into their kin a
child half alien.'
Nonetheless, the older opinion was not wholly void. For all



the Eldar, being aware of it in themselves, spoke of the passing
of much strength, both of mind and of body, into their children,
in bearing and begetting. Therefore they hold that the fea,
though unbegotten, draws nourishment from the parents before
the birth of the child: directly from the fea of the mother while
she bears and nourishes the hrondo, and mediately but equally
from the father, whose fea is bound in union with the mother's
and supports it.
It was for this reason that all parents desired to dwell together
during the year of bearing, and regarded separation at that time
as a grief and injury, depriving the child of some part of its
fathering. 'For,' said they, 'though the union of the fear of the
wedded is not broken by distance of place, yet in creatures that
live as spirits embodied fea communes with fea in full only when
the bodies dwell together.'

A houseless fea that chose or was permitted to return to life
re-entered the incarnate world through child-birth. Only thus
could it return.(*) For it is plain that the provision of a bodily
house for a fea, and the union of fea with hrondo, was
committed by Eru to the Children, to be achieved in the act of
begetting.

As for this re-birth, it was not an opinion, but known and
certain. For the fea re-born became a child indeed, enjoying
once more all the wonder and newness of childhood; but
slowly, and only after it had acquired a knowledge of the world
and mastery of itself, its memory would awake; until, when the
re-born elf was full-grown, it recalled all its former life, and then
the old life, and the 'waiting', and the new life became one
ordered history and identity. This memory would thus hold a
double joy of childhood, and also an experience and knowledge
greater than the years of its body. In this way the violence or
grief that the re-born had suffered was redressed and its being

(* Save in rare and strange cases: that is, where the body that the fea
had forsaken was whole, and remained still coherent and incorrupt.
But this could seldom happen; for death unwilling could occur only
when great violence was done to the body; and in death by will, such
as at times befell because of utter weariness or great grief, the fea
would not desire to return, until the body, deserted by the spirit, was
dissolved. This happened swiftly in Middle-earth. In Aman only was
there no decay. Thus Miriel was there rehoused in her own body, as is
hereafter told.)



was enriched. For the Re-born are twice nourished, and twice
parented,* and have two memories of the joy of awaking and
discovering the world of living and the splendour of Arda. Their
life is, therefore, as if a year had two springs and though an
untimely frost followed after the first, the second spring and all
the summer after were fairer and more blessed.
The Eldar say that more than one re-birth is seldom recorded.
But the reasons for this they do not fully know. Maybe, it is so
ordered by the will of Eru; while the Re-born (they say) are
stronger, having greater mastery of their bodies and being more
patient of griefs. But many, doubtless, that have twice died do
not wish to return.(36)

Re-birth is not the only fate of the houseless fear. The Shadow
upon Arda caused not only misfortune and injury to the body. It
could corrupt the mind; and those among the Eldar who were
darkened in spirit did unnatural deeds, and were capable of
hatred and malice. Not all who died suffered innocently.
Moreover, some fear in grief or weariness gave up hope, and
turning away from life relinquished their bodies, even though
these might have been healed or were indeed unhurt.+(37) Few of
these latter desired to be re-born, not at least until they had been
long in 'waiting'; some never returned. Of the others, the
wrong-doers, many were held long in 'waiting', and some were
not permitted to take up their lives again.
For there was, for all the fear of the Dead, a time of Waiting,
in which, howsoever they had died, they were corrected,
instructed, strengthened, or comforted, according to their needs
or deserts. If they would consent to this. But the fea in its
nakedness is obdurate, and remains long in the bondage of
its memory and old purposes (especially if these were evil).
Those who were healed could be re-born, if they desired it:

(* In some cases a fea re-born might have the same parents again. For
instance, if its first body had died in early youth. But this did not often
happen; neither did a fea necessarily re-enter its own former kin, for
often a great length of time passed before it wished or was permitted
to return.)

(+ Though the griefs might be great and wholly unmerited, and death
(or rather the abandonment of life) might be, therefore, understand-
able and innocent, it was held that the refusal to return to life, after
repose in Mandos, was a fault, showing a weakness or lack of courage
in the fea.)

none are re-born or sent back into life unwilling. The others
remained, by desire or command, fear unbodied, and they could
only observe the unfolding of the Tale of Arda from afar, having
no effect therein. For it was a doom of Mandos that only those
who took up life again might operate in Arda, or commune with
the fear of the Living, even with those that had once been dear
to them.(38)
Concerning the fate of other elves, especially of the Dark-
elves who refused the summons to Aman, the Eldar know little.
The Re-born report that in Mandos there are many elves, and
among them many of the Alamanyar,(39) but that there is in the
Halls of Waiting little mingling or communing of kind with
kind, or indeed of any one fea with another. For the houseless
fea is solitary by nature, and turns only towards those with
whom, maybe, it formed strong bonds of love in life.

The fea is single, and in the last impregnable. It cannot be
brought to Mandos. It is summoned; and the summons pro-
ceeds from just authority, and is imperative; yet it may be
refused. Among those who refused the summons (or rather
invitation) of the Valar to Aman in the first years of the Elves,
refusal of the summons to Mandos and the Halls of Waiting is,
the Eldar say, frequent. It was less frequent, however, in ancient
days, while Morgoth was in Arda, or his servant Sauron after
him; for then the fea unbodied would flee in terror of the
Shadow to any refuge - unless it were already committed to the
Darkness and passed then into its dominion. In like manner
even of the Eldar some who had become corrupted refused the
summons, and then had little power to resist the counter-
summons of Morgoth.
But it would seem that in these after-days more and more of
the Elves, be they of the Eldalie in origin or be they of other
kinds, who linger in Middle-earth now refuse the summons of
Mandos, and wander houseless in the world,* unwilling to
leave it (40) and unable to inhabit it, haunting trees or springs or
hidden places that once they knew. Not all of these are kindly or

(* For only those who willingly go to Mandos may be re-born.
Re-birth is a grace, and comes of the power that Eru committed to the
Valar for the ruling of Arda and the redress of its marring. It does not
lie in the power of any fea in itself. Only those return whom, after
Mandos has spoken the doom of release, Manwe and Varda bless.)

unstained by the Shadow. Indeed the refusal of the summons is
in itself a sign of taint.
It is therefore a foolish and perilous thing, besides being a
wrong deed forbidden justly by the appointed Rulers of Arda, if
the Living seek to commune with the Unbodied, though the
houseless may desire it, especially the most unworthy among
them. For the Unbodied, wandering in the world, are those who
at the least have refused the door of life and remain in regret and
self-pity. Some are filled with bitterness, grievance, and envy.
Some were enslaved by the Dark Lord and do his work still,
though he himself is gone. They will not speak truth or wisdom.
To call on them is folly. To attempt to master them and to make
them servants of one own's will is wickedness. Such practices
are of Morgoth; and the necromancers are of the host of Sauron
his servant.
Some say that the Houseless desire bodies, though they are
not willing to seek them lawfully by submission to the judge-
ment of Mandos. The wicked among them will take bodies, if
they can, unlawfully. The peril of communing with them is,
therefore, not only the peril of being deluded by fantasies or lies:
there is peril also of destruction. For one of the hungry
Houseless, if it is admitted to the friendship of the Living, may
seek to eject the fea from its body; and in the contest for mastery
the body may be gravely injured, even if it he not wrested from
its rightful habitant. Or the Houseless may plead for shelter,
and if it is admitted, then it will seek to enslave its host and use
both his will and his body for its own purposes. It is said that
Sauron did these things, and taught his followers how to achieve
them.

[Thus it may be seen that those who in latter days hold that
the Elves are dangerous to Men and that it is folly or wickedness
to seek converse with them do not speak without reason. For
how, it may be asked, shall a mortal distinguish the kinds? On
the one hand, the Houseless, rebels at least against the Rulers,
and maybe even deeper under the Shadow; on the other, the
Lingerers, whose bodily forms may no longer be seen by us
mortals, or seen only dimly and fitfully. Yet the answer is not in
truth difficult. Evil is not one thing among Elves and another
among Men. Those who give evil counsel, or speak against the
Rulers (or if they dare, against the One), are evil, and should be
shunned whether bodied or unbodied. Moreover, the Lingerers

are not houseless, though they may seem to be. They do not
desire bodies, neither do they seek shelter, nor strive for mastery
over body or mind. Indeed they do not seek converse with Men
at all, save maybe rarely, either for the doing of some good, or
because they perceive in a Man's spirit some love of things
ancient and fair. Then they may reveal to him their forms
(through his mind working outwardly, maybe), and he will
behold them in their beauty. Of such he may have no fear,
though he may feel awe of them. For the Houseless have no
forms to reveal, and even if it were within their power (as some
Men say) to counterfeit elvish forms, deluding the minds of Men
with fantasies, such visions would be marred by the evil of their
intent. For the hearts of true Men uprise in joy to behold the
true likenesses of the First-born, their elder kindred; and this joy
nothing evil can counterfeit. So spoke AElfwine.](41)

OF THE SEVERANCE OF MARRIAGE.

Much has now been said concerning death and re-birth among
the Elves. It may be asked: of what effect were these upon their
marriage?
Since death and the sundering of spirit and body was one of
the griefs of Arda Marred, it came inevitably to pass that death
at times came between two that were wedded. Then the Eldar
were in doubt, since this was an evil unnatural. Permanent
marriage was in accordance with elvish nature, and they never
had need of any law to teach this or to enforce it; hut if a
'permanent' marriage was in fact broken, as when one of the
partners was slain, then they did not know what should he done
or thought.
In this matter they turned to Manwe for counsel, and, as is
recorded in the case of Finwe, Lord of the Noldor, Manwe
delivered his ruling through the mouth of Namo Mandos, the
Judge.
'Marriage of the Eldar,' he said, 'is by and for the Living, and
for the duration of life. Since the Elves are by nature permanent
in life within Arda, so also is their unmarred marriage. But if
their life is interrupted or ended, then their marriage must be
likewise. Now marriage is chiefly of the body, hut it is nonethe-
less not of the body only but of the spirit and body together, for
it begins and endures in the will of the fea. Therefore when one
of the partners of a marriage dies the marriage is not yet ended,



but is in abeyance. For those that were joined are now sundered;
but their union remains still a union of will.
'How then can a marriage be ended and the union be
dissolved? For unless this be done, there can be no second
marriage. By the law of the nature of the Elves, the neri and the
nissi being equal, there can be union only of one with one.(42)
Plainly an end can be made only by the ending of the will; and
this must proceed from the Dead, or be by doom. By the ending
of the will, when the Dead are not willing ever to return to life in
the body; by doom, when they are not permitted to return. For a
union that is for the life of Arda is ended, if it cannot be resumed
within the life of Arda.
'We say that the ending of will must proceed from the Dead,
for the Living may not for their own purposes compel the Dead
to remain thus, nor deny to them re-birth, if they desire it. And
it must be clearly understood that this will of the Dead not to
return, when it has been solemnly declared and is ratified
by Mandos, shall then become a doom: the Dead will not be
permitted ever to return to the life of the body.'
The Eldar then asked: 'How shall the will or doom be
known?' It was answered: 'Only by recourse to Manwe and
by the pronouncement of Namo. In this matter it shall not be
lawful for any of the Eldar to judge his own case. For who
among the Living can discern the thoughts of the Dead, or
presume the dooms of Mandos?'

Upon this pronouncement of Mandos, which is called the
'Doom of Finwe and Miriel'(43) for reasons to be told, there are
many commentaries that record the explanation of points
arising from its consideration, some given by the Valar, some
later reasoned by the Eldar. Of these the more important are
here added.
1. It was asked: 'What is meant by the saying that marriage
is chiefly of the body, and yet is both of spirit and body?'
It was answered: 'Marriage is chiefly of the body, for it is
achieved by bodily union, and its first operation is the begetting
of the bodies of children, even though it endures beyond this
and has other operations. And the union of bodies in marriage is
unique, and no other union resembles it. Whereas the union of
fear in marriage differs from other unions of love and friendship
not so much in kind as in its closeness and permanence, which
are derived partly from the bodies in their union and in their
dwelling together.

'Nonetheless marriage concerns also the fear. For the fear of
the Elves are of their nature male and female, and not their
hrondor (44) only. And the beginning of marriage is in the affinity
of the fear, and in the love arising therefrom. And this love
includes in it, from its first awakening, the desire for marriage,
and is therefore like to but not in all ways the same as other
motions of love and friendship, even those between Elves of
male and female nature who do not have this inclination.

[Esteliel]

It is
therefore true to say that, though achieved by and in the body,
marriage proceeds from the fea and resides ultimately in its will.
For which reason it cannot be ended, as has been declared,
while that will remains.'
2. It was asked: 'If the Dead return to the Living, are
the sundered spouses still wedded? And how may that be, if
marriage is chiefly of the body, whereas the body of one part of
the union is destroyed? Must the sundered be again married,
if they wish? Or whether they wish it or no?'
It was answered: 'It has been said that marriage resides
ultimately in the will of the fear. Also the identity of person
resides wholly in the fea,(45) and the re-born is the same person as
the one who died. It is the purpose of the grace of re-birth that
the unnatural breach in the continuity of life should be re-
dressed; and none of the Dead will be permitted to be re-born
until and unless they desire to take up their former life and
continue it. Indeed they cannot escape it, for the re-born soon
recover full memory of all their past.
'If then marriage is not ended while the Dead are in the Halls
of Waiting, in hope or purpose to return, but is only in
aheyance, how then shall it be ended, when the fea is again in
the land of the living?
'But herein there is indeed a difficulty, that reveals to us that
death is a thing unnatural. It may be amended, but it cannot,
while Arda lasts, be wholly undone or made as if it had not
been. What shall come to pass as the Eldar grow older cannot be
wholly foreseen. But perceiving their nature, as we now do, we
hold that the love of the

Here the typescript version B breaks off, with much of the content
of the essay as declared in the title unfulfilled (see p. 209). The text
ends at the foot of a page, but I think it virtually certain that this was
where my father abandoned it.

NOTES
l. In A the opening paragraph ended: 'the fire of their spirit had not
consumed them, nor their minds turned inwards', subsequently
changed to the text of B.
2. Added here later in A: 'Yet the Elf-child would have more
knowledge and skill.' This was not taken up in B.
3. A: 'They had few children, but these were dear to them beyond any number more than seven', with 'seldom' written later above
all else that they possessed. (Though no Elf would speak of 3
possessing children; he would say: "three children have been
added unto me", or "are with me", or "are in my house"; for
their families were held together...' (the brackets being closed at
the words 'or teaching').
4. A: '... while the Eldar were still few, and eager to increase their
kind, before the weight of years lay on them, there is no record of
'no'.
5. For this paragraph A has:
The Eldar wedded once for all. Many, as the histories reveal,
could become estranged from good, for nothing can wholly
escape from the evil shadow that lies upon Arda. Some fell into
pride, and self-will, and could be guilty of deeds of malice,
enmity, greed and jealousy. But among all these evils there is no
record of any among the Elves that took another's spouse by
force; for this was wholly against their nature, and one so
forced would have rejected bodily life and passed to Mandos.
Guile or trickery in this matter was scarcely possible (even if it
could be thought that any Elf would purpose to use it); for the
Eldar can read at once in the eyes and voice of another whether
they be wed or unwed.
6. The original reading in A was 'at a [feast >] repast shared by the
two "houses" concerned', changed later to 'at a meeting' as in B.
See note 7.
7. The word 'again' in 'again shared by the two houses' depends on
the original reading in A given in note 6.
8. A: 'and were only a gracious recognition of the change of state'.
9. Added here in A, probably very much later: '[Thus Beren and
Tinuviel could lawfully have wedded, but for Beren's oath to
Thingol.]'
10. This paragraph ends in A: 'This the Eldar mean when they speak
of their spirits consuming them; and they say that ere Arda ends
all the Elf-folk will have become spirits no less than those in
Mandos, invisible to mortal eyes, unless they will to be seen.' The
words 'no less than those in Mandos' stood in B as typed, but
were heavily struck out.
11. For the passage in B 'For with regard to generation ...' A has:
'For, whether the Eldar retain their power of generation (as is
likely if we speak of days of old when all the Eldalie were young)
or in time lose it (as some say those that remain on Earth have
now lost it), at all times they lose the desire and will with the
exercise of that power.'
12. For neri and nissi in B (see the Etymologies in Vol. V, entries NER,
NIS) A has quendor and quender, changed later to quendur and
quendir. For the singulars ner and nis occurring subsequently A
has quendo and quende, changed to quendu and quendi. The
substance of this passage concerning the difference in characteris-
tic activity among men and women of the Eldar is essentially the
same in A, but no reference is made to the Noldor.
13. It is said in A that it was the right of the father, not to 'devise' the
first name, but to 'announce' it, and this is followed by a note:
'Though the name was often the mother's choice. But it was held
to be the right of the father to devise the name of [the first son >]
his sons, if he would, and of the mother to devise the name of [the
first daughter >] her daughters. But in any case the father
proclaimed the name.' To the words 'This name was thus called
the "father-name" or first name' was added later in A: 'It always
had a meaning and was made of known words.'
14. At this point there is a footnote in B (deriving closely from A)
which was later struck through:
It will be observed in the histories how seldom the same name
recurs for different persons. This is because, both in Essecarme
and in Essecilme, there was usually an attempt to mark
individuality; and names were regarded as the property of
those who first bore them.
15. The footnote here reads thus in A:
This feeling had nothing to do with 'magic' or taboo. The Eldar
did indeed believe in a special relation between a name of a
person and his life and individuality; but this concerned both
first and second name (alone or together), which they might
conceal from enemies.
16. The latter part of the footnote here, which I have enclosed in
square brackets, is found typed on a separate page belonging with
the B typescript, but with no direction for its insertion (see note
37). It is found however in closely similar words in the A version
of the footnote, following 'their lamatyave might also change' (A
does not have the conclusion of the note in B, 'But such changes
or progressions...').
In the A version of the note the Elvish word of which
'mind-mood' is a translation was first written ingil-[?weidi, very
uncertain], changed to inwaldi, and later to inwisti, as in E. In A
the Elvish word for the body is rhon (changed later to hrondo, the

word used in B), and for the mind m, indo (the latter changed
later to inno, whereas B has inno > indo).
17. A has a different account here: 'They might then devise a new
"Chosen Name", but this replaced the former, and became the
Second Name. Identity was preserved by the permanence for all
formal and legal purposes of the First Name or father's name.'
18. A has: 'this was the Anessi, the given names, or "nick-names"'
(with reference to the original meaning of nick-name, changed
from (an) eke-name, meaning an additional or added name).
19. The passage following this in A reads thus:
Later, when the character and gifts of the child were revealed,
as it grew, she might also give a similar name to it (or modify
its father-name). But this latter branch of 'mother-names'
differed in authority only rather than in kind from general
given or nick-names. These were given to persons by anyone
(not necessarily even members of their 'house' or kin), in
memory of some deed, or event, or some striking peculiarity.
Though these names had no authority and were not 'true
names', they often became widely known and used, and were
sometimes recognized by the persons themselves and their
families.
The 'mother-names of insight' had an intermediate position.
They had parental authority and the authority of maternal
terken [added: insight], and were often used instead of either
father-name or chosen name, or might replace them both -
replaced them, that is, in actual usage. The 'true' or primary
Esse of any person remained the father-name. The 'names of
insight', though at no time frequent, were more frequent in the
early days of the Eldar...
20. In A it is said that 'Finwe originally named his eldest son Finwe'.
21. Curufinwe: the name has been met in the rejected addition to
AAm where appear my father's first thoughts on the story of
Feanor's birth (when his mother was named Indis): see p. 87
note 3.
22. A has here a passage that was omitted in B:
Finwe then named his second son (by another mother, Indis)
also Finwe', modifying it later to Nolofinwe. But the mother-
name which Indis gave to him was Ingoldo, signifying that he
was partly of both the Ingar (people of Ingwe), her own kin,
and of the Noldor. By this name he also became generally
known; though after the rule of the Noldor was committed to
him by Manwe (in the place of his elder brother and his father)
he took the name of Finwe, and was in fact usually called
Ingoldo-finwe. Similarly the third son was Arafinwe and also
Ingalaure (because he had the golden hair of his mother's kin).
As in the name Noldor throughout the later texts, Nolofinwe is

written with a tilde over the N. - On this passage see further
p. 265 note 10.
23. In A there is no subtitle here, but before 'It must be under-
stood...' there stands the following:
In what has been said concerning names it will be noted that
for Finwe, first lord of the Noldor, two wives are named:
Miriel and Indis; though it was said that the marriage of the
Eldar is permanent and indissoluble.
24. After 'and Death' there followed in B 'in its Elvish mode', derived
from A; but this was rejected as soon as typed.
25. A: 'and is made also as it were of the hron (or flesh and
substance) of Arda'; cf. rhon 'body', note 16. The word hron was
left unchanged in A here (see note 26); subsequently where B has
hrondo (> hroa) A has hron, hron, and hron (> hrondo), until
later in the text hrondo appears in A as first written (note 34).
26. The words 'and it returns again to the general hron of Arda' were
added to the A-text at the same time as other occurrences of hron
were changed to hrondo (note 25); thus hron here in B (subse-
quently > orma) represents a distinction between hron (of the
'body' of Arda) and hrondo. At a later point in the A manuscript
there is the following hastily pencilled note, which was struck
through:
V's-ron 'flesh, substance, matter'. Q. hron, hrom- 'matter', the
substance of Arda, hence hrondo 'physical body, "the flesh"'.
27. B as typed had 'little different', as does A, but 'little' was at once
changed to 'less'.
28. Where 8 has 'even from the first days' A has 'even at first'.
29. 'as has been noted' (not said in A): the previous references are on
pp. 210 ('AElfwine's Preamble') and 212.
30. In A the first part of this paragraph reads:
As ages passed their spirits became more dominant, and
'consumed' their bodies - the end of this process (now
achieved), they said, was that the body should become as it
were a mere memory of the spirit - though it never became
changeable like raiment.
31. A: 'Others guessed that they passed into the realm of Dark and
the power of the Dark Lord (as they called him).'
32. A: '(The fear of the Eldar, with rare exceptions, at once obeyed
that summons.) After that different opportunities lay before
them.'
33. There is no subtitle here in A.
34. Here and subsequently hrondo (not hron) appears in the A-text
as written (see notes 25 and 44). Purely coincidentally, as it
seems, here and subsequently hrondo was not changed to hroa
in B.
35. This bracketed statement derives from an addition made to A:

'This is true of all Elf-children, whatever may be the case with
Men, in whom the body is ever more dominant.'
36. This paragraph is absent from A.
37. This footnote is not in the B-text, but is found typed separately on
the same page as the passage referred to in note 16, and like that
passage without direction for its insertion. It derives fairly closely
from a footnote found at this point in A; this however ends:
'... was held a fault or weakness, needing correction or cure if
that could be achieved.'
38. From 'The others remained' to the end of the paragraph the
A-text as first written read thus:
Others, freed from desire of life and of doing, yet not from
operations of the mind in observing or reflexion, might remain
as spirits, fear unbodied, and yet be permitted to go forth from
Mandos, and to return thither or not, as they would. As ages
passed, the numbers of these increased, the Eldar say. With the
minds of the Living they can commune, if the Living remember
them or open their minds to receive them. This the Eldar call
'communing with the fear (or the Unliving)', and in the latter
days it has become easier and more frequent. But they could
only observe what passed or was done as the Tale of Arda
unfolded. They could
The passage was struck out when this point was reached and
replaced by the text that stands here in B. Cf. the subsequent
passage (p. 224), found both in A and in B: 'It is therefore a
foolish and perilous thing, besides being a wrong deed forbidden
justly by the appointed Rulers of Arda, if the Living seek to
commune with the Unbodied...'
39. On Alamanyar see pp. 170 - 1.
40. A sets the opening of this paragraph in the past tense: 'But in after
days more and more of the Elves that lingered in Middle-earth
refused the summons of Mandos, and wandered houseless in the
world, unwilling to leave it...'
41. This paragraph, attributed to AElfwine and bracketed in the same
way as is the opening 'Preamble', is absent from A, which
continues on from 'These things it is said that Sauron did, and
taught his chief followers how to achieve them' as follows:
In this account the lives and customs of the Eldar have been
considered mainly in their natural courses in days untroubled,
and in accordance with their true nature unmarred. But, as has
been said, the Eldar did not escape the Shadow upon Arda, that
caused both misfortunes and misdeeds to afflict them.
This was replaced by the sentence beginning 'Now much has been
said concerning death and rebirth among the Eldar ...' as in B,
but without the subtitle 'Of the Severance of Marriage'.
42. This sentence is absent from A, and so there appear here no

equivalents of the words neri and nissi in B (see note 12).
43. A has 'the "Statute of Finwe and Miriel"', as in the title of the
B-text.
44. A had here hroni, changed to hrondor: see note 34.
45. From here to the point where it breaks off B diverges altogether
from A, and I take up the presentation of the A-text in full from
the beginning of this second response.

I give now the remainder of the work from the original manuscript A,
taking it up shortly before the point where the typescript B breaks off
(see note 45 above). Alterations and additions are mostly noted as
such.
In A the actual tale of Finwe, Miriel, and Indis reappears
(pp. 236 - 9); it is easily shown that this version followed FM 1 (the
rider to LQ chapter 6, Of the Silmarils and the Darkening of Valinor,
pp. 205 - 7), but I think at no long interval: the manuscript style of the
two texts is notably similar.

It was answered: It has been said that marriage resides
ultimately in the will of the fea. Also the identity of person
resides in the fea; and the Dead that return [struck out: will] in
time recover full memory of the past; what is more, though the
body is more than raiment and the change of body [will not be
of no effect >] will certainly have effect upon the reborn, the
fea is the master, and the reborn will come to resemble their
former self so closely that all who knew them before Death will
recognize them, soonest and most readily the former spouse.
Nonetheless, since marriage is also of the body and one body
has perished, they must be married again, if they will. For they
will have returned, as it were, to that state in their former life
when by the motions of their fear they desired to be married.
There will be no question of desiring this or not desiring it. For
by the steadfastness of the fear of the Eldar uncorrupted they
will desire it; and none of the Dead will be permitted by
Mandos to be reborn, until and unless they desire to take up life
again in continuity with their past. For it is the purpose of the
time in Waiting in Mandos that the unnatural breach in the
continuity of the life of the Eldar should be healed, though it
cannot be undone or made of no effect in Arda. It follows,
therefore, also that the Dead will be reborn in such place and
time that the meeting and recognition of the sundered shall
surely come to pass, and there shall be no hindrance to their
marriage.

Upon this the Eldar comment: 'By this is meant that the Reborn
Spouse will not appear among the close kindred of the Living
Spouse, and in fact the Reborn appear as a rule amongst their own
former kin, unless in the chances of Arda things have so changed
that the meeting of the sundered would thus be unlikely. [Added: For
the first purpose of the fea that seeks rebirth is to find its spouse, and
children, if it had these in life.] The Reborn that were unwedded
always return to their own kin.' For the marriages of the Eldar do
not take place between 'close kin'. This again is a matter in which
they needed no law or instruction, but acted by nature, though they
gave reasons for it later, declaring that it was due to the nature of
bodies and the processes of generation; but also to the nature of
fear. 'For,' they said, 'fear are also akin, and the motions of love
between them, as say between a brother and sister, are not of the
same kind as those that make the beginning of marriage.' By 'close
kin' for this purpose was meant members of one 'house', especially
sisters and brothers. None of the Eldar married those in direct line
of descent, nor children of the same parents, nor the sister or
brother of either of their parents; nor did they wed 'half-sisters' or
'half-brothers'. Since as has been shown only in the rarest events did
the Eldar have second spouses, half-sister or half-brother had for
them a special meaning: they used these terms when both of the
parents of one child were related to both of the parents of another,
as when two brothers married two sisters of another family, or a
sister and a brother of one house married a brother and sister of
another: things which often occurred. Otherwise 'first cousins', as
we should say, might marry, but seldom did so, or desired to do so,
unless one of the parents of each were far-sundered in kin.

Hardly otherwise shall it be when both spouses are slain or
die: they will marry again in due time after rebirth, unless they
desire to remain together in Mandos.
It was asked: Why must the Dead remain in Mandos for ever,
if the fea consents to the ending of its marriage? And what is this
Doom of which Mandos speaks?
It was answered: The reasons are to be found in what has
been said already. Marriage is for life, and cannot, therefore, be
ended, save by the interruption of death without return. While
there is hope or purpose of return it is not ended, and the Living
cannot therefore marry again. If the Living is permitted to
marry again, then by doom Mandos will not permit the Dead to
return. For, as has been declared, one reborn is the same person
as before death and returns to take up and continue his or her
former life. But if the former spouse were re-married, this would
not be possible, and great grief and doubt would afflict all three



parties. To speak of the dooms of Mandos: these are of three
kinds. He utters the decisions of Manwe, or of the Valar in
conclave, which become binding upon all, even the Valar, when
they are so declared: for which reason a time passes between the
decision and the doom. In similar manner he utters the decisions
and purposes of others who are under his jurisdiction, who are
the Dead, in grave matters that affect justice and the right order
of Arda; and when so spoken these decisions become 'laws'
also, though pertaining only to particular persons or cases, and
Mandos will not permit them to be revoked or broken: for
which reason again a time must pass between decision and
doom.* And lastly there are the dooms of Mandos that proceed
from Mandos himself, as judge in matters that belong to his
office as ordained from the beginning. He is the judge of right
and of wrong, and of innocence or guilt (and all the degrees and
mingling of these) in the mischances and misdeeds that come to
pass in Arda. All those who come to Mandos are judged with
regard to innocence or guilt, in the matter of their death and in
all other deeds and purposes of their lives in the body; and
Mandos appoints to each the manner and the length of their
time of Waiting according to this judgement. But his dooms in
such matters are not uttered in haste; and even the most guilty
are long tested, whether they may be healed or corrected, before
any final doom is given (such as never to return again among the
Living). Therefore it was said: 'Who among the Living can
presume the dooms of Mandos?'

Upon this the Eldar comment: 'Innocence or guilt in the matter of
death is spoken of, because to be in any way culpable in incurring
this evil (whether by forcing others to slay one in their defence
against unjust violence, or by foolhardiness or the making good of
rash vaunts, or by slaying oneself or wilfully withdrawing the fea
from the body) is held a fault. Or at the least, the withdrawal from
life is held a good reason, unless the will of the fea be changed, for
the fea to remain among the Dead and not to return. As for guilt in
other matters little is known of the dealings of Mandos with the
Dead. For several reasons: Because those who have done great evil
(who are few) do not return. Because those who have been under the
correction of Mandos will not speak of it, and indeed, being healed,
remember little of it; for they have returned to their natural courses,

(* In the case of a decision never to return to life by a fea of the Dead,
the least time of interval appointed by Mandos was ten Valian years.
During this period the decision could be revoked.)

and the unnatural and perverted is no longer in the continuity of
their lives. Because also, as has been said, though all that die are
summoned to Mandos, it is within the power of the fear of the Elves
to refuse the summons, and doubtless many of the most unhappy, or
most corrupted spirits (especially those of the Dark-elves) do refuse,
and so come to worse evil, or at best wander unhoused and
unhealed, without hope of return. Not so do they escape judgement
for ever; for Eru abideth and is over all.

This judgement is known as the 'Statute of Finwe and Miriel',
for theirs was the first case, and it was on behalf of Finwe that
Manwe's counsel was sought in this matter. Now Finwe, first
Lord of the Noldor, had to wife Miriel who was called the
Serinde, because of her surpassing skill in weaving and sewing,
and their love was great for one another. But in the bearing of
her first son Miriel was consumed in spirit and body, so that
wellnigh all strength seemed to have passed from her. This son
was Curufinwe, most renowned of all the Noldor as Feanaro (or
Feanor),(1) Spirit-of-fire, the name which Miriel gave to him at
birth; he was mighty in body and in all the skills of the body,
and supreme among the Eldar in eagerness and strength and
subtlety of mind. But Miriel said to Finwe: 'Never again shall I
bear child; for strength that would have nourished the life of
many has gone forth into Feanaro.'
Then Finwe was greatly grieved, for the Noldor were in the
youth of their days and dwelt in the bliss of the Noontide of
Aman, but were still few in number, and he desired to bring
forth many children into that bliss. He said, therefore: 'Surely
there is healing in Aman? Here all weariness can find rest.'
Therefore Finwe sought the counsel of Manwe, and Manwe
delivered Miriel to the care of Irmo in Lorien.(2) At their parting
(for a little while as he deemed) Finwe was sad, for it seemed a
thing unhappy that the mother should depart and miss the
beginning at least of the childhood days of her son. 'Unhappy it
is indeed,' said Miriel, 'and I would weep if I were not so weary.
But hold me blameless in this, and in aught that may come after.
Rest now I must. Farewell, dear lord.' No clearer than this did
she speak, but in her heart she yearned not only for sleep and
rest, but for release from the labour of living. She went then to
Lorien and laid her down to sleep beneath a silver tree, but
though she seemed to sleep indeed her spirit departed from her
body and passed in silence to the halls of Mandos; and the

i
I

maidens of Este tended her fair body so that it remained
unwithered, yet she did not return.
Finwe's grief was great, and he went often to the gardens of
Lorien and sitting beneath the silver willows beside the body of
his wife he called her by her names. But it was of no avail, and
he alone in all the Blessed Realm was bereaved and sorrowful.
After a while he went to Lorien no more, for it did but increase
his grief. All his love he gave to his son; for Feanaro was like his
mother in voice and countenance, and Finwe was to him both
father and mother, and there was a double bond of love upon
their hearts. Yet Finwe was not content, being young and eager,
and desiring to have more children to bring mirth into his
house. [He spoke, therefore, to Manwe >] When, therefore, ten
years had passed, he spoke to Manwe, saying: 'Lord, behold! I
am bereaved and solitary. Alone among the Eldar I have no
wife, and must hope for no sons save one, and no daughter.
Must I remain ever thus? [For I believe not that Miriel will
return again >] For my heart warns me that Miriel will not
return again from the house of Vaire while Arda lasts. Is there
not healing of grief in Aman?'
Then Manwe took pity upon Finwe, and he considered his
plea, and when Mandos had spoken his doom as has been
recorded,(3) Manwe called Finwe to him, and said: 'Thou hast
heard the doom that has been declared. If Miriel, thy wife, will
not return and releases thee, your union (4) is dissolved, and thou
hast leave to take another wife.'
It is said that Miriel answered Mandos, saying: 'I came hither
to escape from the body, and I do not desire ever to return to it.
My life is gone out into Feanaro, my son. This gift I have given
to him whom I loved, and I can give no more. Beyond Arda this
may be healed, but not within it.'
Then Mandos adjudged her innocent, deeming that she had
died under a necessity too great for her to withstand. Therefore
her choice was permitted, and she was left in peace; and after
ten years the doom of disunion was spoken. [In the year
following >) And after three years more Finwe took as second
spouse Indis the fair; and she was in all ways unlike Miriel. She
was not of the Noldor, but of the Vanyar, [of the kin >) sister of
Ingwe; and she was golden-haired, and tall, and exceedingly
swift of foot. She laboured not with her hands, but sang and
made music, and there was ever light and mirth about her while

the bliss of Aman endured. She loved Finwe dearly, for her heart
had turned to him long before, while the people of Ingwe dwelt
still with the Noldor in Tuna.(5) In those days she had looked
upon the Lord of the Noldor, dark-haired and white-browed,
eager of face and thoughtful-eyed, and he seemed to her fairest
and noblest among the Eldar, and his voice and mastery of
words delighted her. Therefore she remained unwedded, when
her people departed to Valinor, and she walked often alone in
the fields and friths of the Valar, [turning her thought to things
that grow untended >] filling them with music. But it came to
pass that Ingwe, hearing of the strange grief of Finwe, and
desiring to lift up his heart and withdraw him from vain
mourning in Lorien, sent messages bidding him to leave Tuna
for a while and the reminders of his loss, and to come and dwell
in the light of the Trees. This message Finwe did not answer,
until after the doom of Mandos was spoken; but then deeming
that he must seek to build his life anew and that the bidding of
Ingwe was wise, he arose and went to the house of Ingwe upon
the west of Mount Oiolosse. His coming was unlooked for, but
welcome; and when Indis saw Finwe climbing the paths of the
mountain (and the light of Laurelin was behind him as a glory)
without forethought she sang suddenly in great joy, and her
voice went up as the song of a lirulin in the sky.(6) And when
Finwe heard that song falling from above he looked up and saw
Indis in the golden light, and he knew in that moment that she
loved him and had long done so. Then his heart turned at last to
her, and he believed that this chance, as it seemed, had been
granted for the comfort of them both. 'Behold!' he said. 'There
is indeed healing of grief in Aman!'
In this way came to pass ere long the wedding of Finwe and
Indis, sister of Ingwe. In Indis was proved true indeed the saying
that 'the loss of one may be the gain of another.' But this also
she found true: 'the house remembers the builder, though others
may dwell in it after.' For Finwe loved her well, and was glad,
and she bore him children in whom he rejoiced,*(7) yet the
shadow of Miriel did not depart from his heart, and Feanaro
had the chief share of his thought. The wedding of his father
was not pleasing to Feanaro, and though it did not lessen his

(* Five children she bore, three daughters and two sons, in this order:
Findis, Nolofinwe, Faniel, Arafinwe, and Irime. Concerning the
naming of the sons we have spoken above.)

love for his father, he had little love for Indis or her children,
least of all for his half-brethren. As soon as he might (and he
was wellnigh fullgrown ere Nolofinwe was born) he left his
father's house and lived apart from them, giving all his heart
and thought to the pursuit of lore and the practice of crafts. In
those unhappy things which afterward came to pass and in
which Feanaro was a leader, many saw the effects of this breach
in the house of Finwe, judging that if Finwe had endured his loss
and been content with the fathering of his mighty son, the
courses of Feanaro would have been otherwise, and much
sorrow and evil would never have been.
Thus it is that the cases in which remarriage of the Eldar can
take place are rare, but rarer still are those who do this, even
when it is permissible. For the sorrow and strife in the house of
Finwe is graven in the memory of the Eldar.

[It is recorded by the Eldar that the Valar found this matter of
Finwe strange, and debated much concerning it. For Finwe they
could not accuse of any guilt, and the Statute that had been
made for Finwe and Miriel was just and reasonable. Yet it was
clear that many evils would have been avoided, [if either Miriel
had been less faint, or Finwe more patient >] if it had not been
made, or at least had not been used. This passage was later
replaced as follows:] It is recorded by the Eldar that the Valar
debated long the case of Finwe and Miriel, after the Statute was
made, but not yet declared. For they perceived that this was a
grave matter, and a portent, in that Miriel had died even in
Aman, and had brought sorrow to the Blessed Realm, things
which they before had believed could not come to pass. Also,
though the Statute seemed just, some feared that it would not
heal the death of grief, but perpetuate it. And Manwe spoke to
the Valar, saying: 'In this matter ye must not forget that you
deal with Arda Marred - out of which ye brought the Eldar.
Neither must ye forget that in Arda Marred Justice is not
Healing. Healing cometh only by suffering and patience, and
maketh no demand, not even for Justice. Justice worketh only
within the bonds of things as they are, accepting the marring of
Arda, and therefore though Justice is itself good and desireth no
further evil, it can but perpetuate the evil that was, and doth not
prevent it from the bearing of fruit in sorrow. Thus the Statute
was just, but it accepted Death and the severance of Finwe and
Miriel, a thing unnatural in Arda Unmarred, and therefore with

reference to Arda Unmarred it was unnatural and fraught with
Death. The liberty that it gave was a lower road that, if it led not
still downwards, could not again ascend. But Healing must
retain ever the thought of Arda Unmarred, and if it cannot
ascend, must abide in patience. This is Hope which, I deem, is
before all else the virtue most fair in the Children of Eru, [but
cannot be commanded to come when needed: patience must
often long await it.]'(8)
Then Aule, friend of the Noldor [added: and lover of Feanor],
spake. 'But did this matter indeed arise out of Arda Marred?' he
asked. 'For it seemeth to me that it arose from the bearing of
Feanaro. Now Finwe and all the Noldor that followed him were
never in heart or thought swayed by [Morgoth >] Melkor, the
Marrer; how then did this strange thing come to pass, even in
Aman the Unshadowed? That the bearing of a child should lay
such a weariness upon the mother that she desired life no
longer. This child is the greatest in gifts that hath arisen or shall
arise among the Eldar. But the Eldar are the first Children of
Eru, and belong to him directly. Therefore the greatness of the
child must proceed from his will directly, and be intended for
the good of the Eldar and of all Arda. What then of the cost of
the birth? Must it not be thought that the greatness and the cost
come not from Arda, Marred or Unmarred, but from beyond
Arda? For this we know to be true, and as the ages pass it shall
often be manifest (in small matters and in great) that all the Tale
of Arda was not in the Great Theme, and that things shall come
to pass in that Tale which cannot be foreseen, for they are new
and are not begotten by the past that preceded them.'(9) [Added:
Thus Aule spake being unwilling to believe that any taint of the
Shadow lay upon Feanor, or upon any of the Noldor. He had
been the most eager to summon them to Valinor.](10)
But Ulmo answered: 'Nonetheless Miriel died. [And is not
death for the Eldar an evil, that is a thing unnatural in Arda
Unmarred, which must proceed therefore from the marring? Or
if the death of Miriel doth not so, but cometh from beyond
Arda, how shall death that is unnatural and evil be known from
that which is a new thing and hath no reason in the past, unless
the latter cause neither sorrow nor doubt? But the death of
Miriel has brought both into Aman. This passage was later
replaced as follows:] And death is for the Eldar an evil, that is a
thing unnatural in Arda Unmarred, which must proceed there-
fore from the marring. For if the death of Miriel was otherwise,

and came from beyond Arda (as a new thing having no cause in
the past) it would not bring grief or doubt. For Eru is Lord of
All, and moveth all the devices of his creatures, even the malice
of the Marrer, in his final purposes, but he doth not of his prime
motion impose grief upon them. But the death of Miriel has
brought sorrow to Aman. / The coming of Feanaro must
proceed certainly from the will of Eru; but I hold that the
marring of his birth comes of the Shadow, and is a portent of
evils to come. For the greatest are the most potent also for evil.
Have a care, my brethren, thinking not that the Shadow is gone
for ever, though it is beaten down. Doth it not dwell even now
in Aman, though you deem the bonds to be unbreakable?' [For
Ulmo had dissented >] Thus Ulmo spake, who had dissented
from the counsels of the Valar, when they brought Melkor the
Marrer to Mandos after his defeat.(11) [Added: Also he loved the
Elves (and Men afterwards), but otherwise than Aule, believing
that they should be left free, however perilous that might seem.
Thus afterwards it was seen, that though he loved Feanor and
all the Noldor more coolly, he had more mercy for their errors
and misdeeds.]
Then Yavanna spoke, and though she was the spouse of Aule
she leaned rather to Ulmo. 'My lord Aule errs,' she said, 'in that
he speaks of Finwe and Miriel as being free in heart and thought
from the Shadow, as if that proved that naught that befell them
could come from the Shadow or from the marring of Arda. But
even as the Children are not as we (who came from beyond
Arda wholly and in all our being) but are both spirit and body,
and that body is of Arda and by Arda was nourished: so the
Shadow worketh not only upon spirits, but has marred the very
hron of Arda, and all Middle-earth is perverted by the evil of
Melkor, who has wrought in it as mightily as any one among us
here. Therefore none of those who awoke in Middle-earth, and
there dwelt before they came hither, have come here wholly
free. The failing of the strength of the body of Miriel may then
be ascribed, with some reason, to the evil of Arda Marred, and
her death be a thing unnatural. And that this should appear in
Aman seemeth to me as to Ulmo a sign to be heeded.'(12)
Then Nienna spoke, who came to Valmar seldom, but sat
now upon the left hand of Manwe. 'In the use of Justice there
must be Pity, which is the consideration of the singleness of each
that cometh under Justice. Which of you Valar, in your wisdom,
will blame these Children, Finwe and Miriel? For the Children

are both strong and without might. Mandos you hold to be the
strongest of all that are in Arda, being the least moved, and
therefore you have dared to commit even the Marrer himself to
his keeping. Yet I say to you that each fea of the Children is as
strong as he; for it hath the strength of its singleness impreg-
nable (which cometh to it from Eru as to us): in its nakedness it
is obdurate beyond all power that ye have to move it if it will
not. Yet the Children are not mighty: in life they are little, and
can effect little; and they are young, and they know Time only.
Their minds are as the hands of their babes, little in grasp, and
even that grasp is yet unfilled. How shall they perceive the
[?end] of deeds, or forgo the desires which arise from their very
nature, the indwelling of the spirit in [the] body which is their
right condition? Have ye known the weariness of Miriel, or felt
the bereavement of Finwe?
'Miriel, I deem, died by necessity of body, in suffering [for]
which she was blameless or indeed to be praised, and yet was
not given power to resist it: the cost of so great a child-bearing.
And herein I think that Aule perceiveth a part of the truth. The
severance of the fea was in Miriel a thing special. Death is
indeed death and within the Great Theme cometh from the
Marrer and is grievous; but Eru in this death had a purpose of
immediate good, and it need not have borne any bitter fruit;
whereas Death that comes from the Marrer only is intended for
evil, and its healing must await in Hope only, even until the
End. But Finwe not understanding death (as how should he?)
called Miriel, and she did not return, and he was bereaved, and
his natural life and expectation was impaired. Justly he cried:
"Is there not healing in Aman?" That cry could not be
unheeded, and what could be done we have done. Wherefore
should this be grudged?'
But Ulmo answered her saying: 'Nay! Though I do not
condemn, yet still I will judge. Herein I perceive not only the
direct will of Eru, but fault in his creatures. Not guilt, yet a
failing from the highest which is the Hope of which the King
hath spoken. And I doubt not that the taking of the higher road,
an ascent that though hard was not impossible, was part of that
purpose of immediate good of which Nienna speaketh.(13) For
the fea of Miriel may have departed by necessity, but it departed
in the will not to return. Therein was her fault, for this will was
not under compulsion irresistible; it was a failure in hope by the
fea, acceptance of the weariness and weakness of the body, as a



thing beyond healing, and which therefore was not healed. But
this resolve entailed not only abandoning her own life, but also
the desertion of her spouse, and the marring of his. The
justification which she urged is insufficient; for by the gift of a
child however great, nor indeed by the gift of many children, the
union of marriage is not ended, having further purpose. For one
thing, Feanaro will be deprived of the mother's part in his
nurture. Moreover, if she would return she need bear no more,
unless by the renewal of rebirth her weariness were healed.
'Thus Finwe was aggrieved and claimed justice. But when he
called her and she did not return, in only a few years he fell into
despair. Herein lay his fault, and failing in Hope. But also he
founded his claim mainly upon his desire for children, consider-
ing his own self and his loss more than the griefs that had
befallen his wife: that was a failing in full love.
'The fear of the Eldar, as Nienna hath said, cannot be broken
or forced,* and the motion of their will cannot therefore be
predicted with certainty. Yet it seemeth to me that there was
hope still that after repose in Mandos the fea of Miriel should
return of itself to its nature, which is to desire to inhabit a body.
This strange event should issue, rather than in dissolving their
union, in the use by Finwe of the patience of full love, and the
learning of Hope; and in the return of Miriel, wider in mind,
and renewed in body. Thus together they might foster their
great son with joined love, and his right nurture be assured. But
the fea of Miriel hath not been lett in peace, and by importuning
its will hath been hardened; and in that resolve it must remain
without change while Arda lasteth, if the Statute is declared.
Thus the impatience of Finwe will close the door of life upon the
fea of his spouse. This is the greater fault. For it is more
unnatural that one of the Eldar should remain for ever as fea
without body than that one should remain alive wedded but
bereaved. A trial was imposed upon Finwe (not by Miriel only),
and he hath asked for justice, and relief.'

(* By this is meant primarily the fear naked and unhoused. Living,
the fear can be deluded; and they can be dominated by fear (of one of
great power such as Melkor) and so enslaved. But these things are
wicked and tyrannous and are done by Melkor alone among the
Valar. They beget only hatred and loathing in the enslaved (which is
the sign of inmost and ultimate dissent). To no good purpose can such
means be used, for they render all purposes evil.)

'Nay!' said Vaire suddenly. 'The fea of Miriel is with me. I
know it well, for it is small. But it is strong; proud and
obdurate. It is of that sort who having said: this I will do, make
their words a doom irrevocable unto themselves. She will not
return to life, or to Finwe, even if he waiteth until the ageing of
the world. Of this he is aware, I deem, as his words show. For he
did not found his claim on his desire for children only, but he
said to the King: my heart warns me that Miriel will not return
while Arda lasts. Of what sort the knowledge or belief may be
that he would thus express, and whence it came to him, 1 know
not. But fea perceiveth fea and knoweth the disposition of the
other, in marriage especially, in ways that we cannot fully
understand. We cannot probe all the mystery of the nature of
the Children. But if we are to speak of Justice, then Finwe's
belief must be taken into account; and if, as I judge, it is
well-founded, not a fantasy of his own inconstancy, but against
his will and desire, we must otherwise assess the faults of these
two. When one of the Queens of the Valar, Varda or Yavanna,
or even I, departeth for ever from Arda, and leaveth her spouse,
will he or nill he,(14) then let that spouse judge Finwe, if he will,
remembering that Finwe cannot follow Miriel without doing
wrong to his nature, nor without forsaking the duty and bond
of his fatherhood.'
When Vaire had spoken, the Valar sat long in silence, until at
length Manwe spoke again. 'There is reason and wisdom in all
that has been said. Truly, in the matter of the Children we
approach mysteries, and the key to their full understanding was
not given to us. In part the Children are indeed one, or maybe
the chief, of those "new things" of which Aule hath spoken.*
Yet they came into Arda Marred, and were destined to do so,
and to endure the Marring, even though they came in their
beginning from beyond Ea. For these "new things", manifesting
the finger of Iluvatar, as we say: they may have no past in Arda
and be unpredictable before they appear, yet they have there-
after future operations which may be predicted, according to
wisdom and knowledge, since they become at once part of Ea,
and part of the past of all thar followeth. We may say, therefore,
that the Elves are destined to know "death" in their mode, being

(* Meaning that though they appeared in the Great Theme, they were
introduced by Eru himself, not mediated by any of the Ainur; and even
so they were not fully revealed to the Ainur.)



sent into a world which contains "death", and having a form
for which "death" is possible. For though by their prime nature,
unmarred, they rightly dwell as spirit and body coherent, yet
these are two things, not the same, and their severance (which is
"death") is a possibility inherent in their union.
'Aule and Nienna err, I deem; for what each saith in different
words meaneth this much: that Death which cometh from the
Marrer may be one thing, and Death as an instrument of Eru be
another thing and discernible: the one being of malice, and
therefore only evil and inevitably grievous; the other, being of
benevolence, intending particular and immediate good, and
therefore not evil, and either not grievous or easily and swiftly
to be healed. For the evil and the grief of death are in the mere
severance and breach of nature, which is alike in both (or death
is not their name); and both occur only in Arda Marred, and
accord with its processes.
'Therefore I deem that Ulmo is to be followed rather, holding
that Eru need not and would not desire as a special instrument
of his benevolence a thing that is evil. Wherefore, indeed, should
he intrude death as a "new thing" into a world that suffereth
it already? Nonetheless, Eru is Lord of All, and will use as instru-
ments of his final purposes, which are good, whatsoever any of
his creatures, great or small, do or devise, in his despite or in his
service. But we must hold that it is his will that those of the Eldar
who serve him should not be cast down by griefs or evils that
they encounter in Arda Marred; but should ascend to a strength
and wisdom that they would not otherwise have achieved: that
the Children of Eru should grow to be daughters and sons.
'For Arda Unmarred hath two aspects or senses. The first is
the Unmarred that they discern in the Marred, if their eyes are
not dimmed, and yearn for, as we yearn for the Will of Eru: this
is the ground upon which Hope is built. The second is the
Unmarred that shall be: that is, to speak according to Time in
which they have their being, the Arda Healed, which shall be
greater and more fair than the first, because of the Marring: this
is the Hope that sustaineth. It cometh not only from the
yearning for the Will of Iluvatar the Begetter (which by itself
may lead those within Time to no more than regret), but also
from trust in Eru the Lord everlasting, that he is good, and that
his works shall all end in good. This the Marrer hath denied,
and in this denial is the root of evil, and its end is in despair.
'Therefore, notwithstanding the words of Vaire, I abide by

that which I said first. For though she speaketh not without
knowledge, she uttereth opinion and not certainty. The Valar
have not and must not presume certainty with regard to the
wills of the Children. Nor, even were they certain in this one
case concerning the fea of Miriel, would that unmake the union
of love that once was between her and her spouse, or render
void the judgement that constancy to it would in Finwe be a
better and fairer course, more in accord with Arda Unmarred,
or with the will of Eru in permitting this thing to befall him. The
Statute openeth the liberty of a lower road, and accepting death,
countenanceth death, and cannot heal it. If that liberty is used,
the evil of the death of Miriel will continue to have power, and
will bear fruit in sorrow.
'But this matter I now commit to Namo the Judge. Let him
speak last! '

Then Namo Mandos spoke, saying: 'All that I have heard I
have considered again; though naught pertinent to judgement
hath been brought forward that was not already considered in
the making of the Statute. Let the Statute stand, for it is just.
'It is our part to rule Arda, and to counsel the Children, or to
command them in things committed to our authority. Therefore
it is our task to deal with Arda Marred, and to declare what is
just within it. We may indeed in counsel point to the higher
road, but we cannot compel any free creature to walk upon it.
That leadeth to tyranny, which disfigureth good and maketh it
seem hateful.
'Healing by final Hope, as Manwe hath spoken of it, is a law
which one can give to oneself only; of others justice alone can be
demanded. A ruler who discerning justice refuseth to it the
sanction of law, demanding abnegation of rights and self-
sacrifice, will not drive his subjects to these virtues, virtuous
only if free, but by unnaturally making justice unlawful, will
drive them rather to rebellion against all law. Not by such
means will Arda be healed.

[Esteliel]

'It is right, therefore, that this just Statute should be pro-
claimed, and those that use it shall be blameless, whatsoever
followeth after. Thus shall the Tale of the Eldar, within the Tale
of Arda, be fashioned.
'Hearken now, O Valar! To me foretelling * is granted no less

(* By which was meant prophecy concerning things which neither
reason upon evidence, nor (for the Valar) knowledge of the Great.)

than doom, and I will proclaim now to you things both near and
far. Behold! Indis the fair shall be made glad and fruitful, who
might else have been solitary. For not in death only hath the
Shadow entered into Aman with the coming of the Children
destined to suffer; there are other sorrows, even if they be less.
Long she hath loved Finwe, in patience and without bitterness.
Aule nameth Feanor the greatest of the Eldar, and in potency
that is true. But I say unto you that the children of Indis shall
also be great, and the Tale of Arda more glorious because of
their coming. And from them shall spring things so fair that no
tears shall dim their beauty; in whose being the Valar, and the
Kindreds both of Elves and of Men that are to come shall all
have part, and in whose deeds they shall rejoice. So that, long
hence when all that here is, and seemeth yet fair and impreg-
nable, shall nonetheless have faded and passed away, the Light
of Aman shall not wholly cease among the free peoples of Arda
until the End.
'When he that shall be called Earendil setteth foot upon the
shores of Aman, ye shall remember my words. In that hour ye
will not say that the Statute of Justice hath borne fruit only in
death; and the griefs that shall come ye shall weigh in the
balance, and they shall not seem too heavy compared with the
rising of the light when Valinor groweth dim.'
'So be it!' said Manwe.(15)

Therefore the Statute was proclaimed, and the meeting of
Indis and Finwe took place, as has been told.
But after a while Nienna came to Manwe, and she said: 'Lord
of Aman, it is now made clear that the death of Miriel was an
evil of Arda Marred, for with the coming hither of the Eldar the
Shadow hath found an entrance even into Aman. Nonetheless
Aman remaineth the Realm of the Valar, wherein thy will is
paramount. Though the death of severance may find out the
Eldar in thy realm, yet one thing cometh not to it, and shall
not:* and that is deforming and decay. Behold then! The body
of Miriel lieth unmarred, even as a fair house that awaiteth its
mistress, who hath gone upon a journey. In this at least,

Theme, could discover or swiftly perceive. Only rarely and in great
matters was Mandos moved to prophecy.

(* Yet after the slaying of the Trees it did so while Melkor remained
there; and the body of Finwe, slain by Melkor, was withered and
passed into dust, even as the Trees themselves had withered.)

therefore, her death differeth from death in Middle-earth: that
for the houseless fea a fair body is still ready, and rebirth is not
the only gate by which it may return to life, if thou wilt grant
her leave and give her thy blessing. Moreover the body has lain
long now in repose in the peace of Lorien; and must not the
rulers of Arda have respect even to bodies and all fair forms?
Why should it lie idle and untenanted, when doubtless it would
not now afflict the fea with weariness, but rejoice it with hope of
doing? '
But this Mandos forbade. 'Nay,' said he, 'if Miriel were
rehoused, she would be again among the Living, and Finwe
would have two spouses alive in Aman. Thus would the Statute
be contravened, and my Doom set at naught. And injury would
be done also to Indis, who used the liberty of the Statute, but
would now by its breach be deprived, for Finwe would desire to
return to his former spouse.'
But Nienna said to Mandos: 'Nay! Let Miriel have the joy of
her body and of the use of its skills in which she delighted, and
dwell not for ever remembering only her brief life before, and its
ending in weariness! Can she not be removed from the Halls of
Waiting, and taken into the service of Vaire? If she cometh
never thence, nor seeketh to walk among the Living, why
shouldst thou hold the Doom set at naught, or fear for griefs
that might arise? Pity must have a part in Justice.'
But Mandos was unmoved. And the body of Miriel lay at rest
in Lorien, until the escape of Melkor the Marrer and the
Darkening of Valinor. In that evil time Finwe was slain by the
Marrer himself, and his body was burned as by lightning stroke
and was destroyed. Then Miriel and Finwe met again in
Mandos, and lo! Miriel was glad of the meeting, and her
sadness was lightened; and the will in which she had been set
was released.
And when she learned of Finwe all that had befallen since her
departure (for she had given no heed to it, nor asked tidings,
until then) she was greatly moved; and she said to Finwe in her
thought: 'I erred in leaving thee and our son, or at the least in
not soon returning after brief repose; for had I done so he might
have grown wiser. But the children of Indis shall redress his
errors and therefore I am glad that they should have being, and
Indis hath my love. How should I bear grudge against one who
received what I rejected and cherished what I abandoned.
Would that I might set all the Tale of our people and of thee and

thy children in a tapestry of many colours, as a memorial
brighter than memory! For though I am cut off now from the
world, and I accept that Doom as just, I would still watch and
record all that befalls those dear to me, and their offspring also.
[Added: I feel again the call of my body and its skills.]'
And Finwe said to Vaire: 'Dost thou hear the prayer and
desire of Miriel? Why will Mandos refuse this redress of her
griefs, that her being may not be void and without avail?
Behold! I instead will abide with Mandos for ever, and so make
amends. For surely, if I remain unhoused, and forgo life in Arda,
then his Doom will be inviolate.'
'So thou may deem,' answered Vaire; 'yet Mandos is stern,
and he will not readily permit a vow to be revoked. Also he will
consider not only Miriel and thee, but Indis and thy children,
whom thou seemest to forget, pitying now Miriel only.'
'Thou art unjust to me in thy thought,' said Finwe. 'It is
unlawful to have two wives, but one may love two women, each
differently, and without diminishing one love by another. Love
of Indis did not drive out love of Miriel; so now pity for Miriel
doth not lessen my heart's care for Indis. But Indis parted from
me without death. I had not seen her for many years, and when
the Marrer smote me I was alone. She hath dear children to
comfort her, and her love, I deem, is now most for Ingoldo.(16)
His father she may miss; but not the father of Feanaro! But
above all her heart now yearns for the halls of Ingwe and the
peace of the Vanyar, far from the strife of the Noldor. Little
comfort should I bring her, if I returned; and the lordship of the
Noldor hath passed to my sons.'(17)
But when Mandos was approached he said to Finwe: 'It is
well that thou desirest not to return, for this I should have
forbidden, until the present griefs are long passed. But it is
better still that thou hast made this offer, to deprive thyself,
of thy free will, and out of pity for another. This is a counsel of
healing, out of which good may grow.'
Therefore when Nienna came to him and renewed her prayer
for Miriel, he consented, accepting the abnegation of Finwe as
her ransom. Then the fe'a of Miriel was released and came
before Manwe and received his blessing; and she went then to
Lorien and re-entered her body, and awoke again, as one that
cometh out of a deep sleep; and she arose and her body was
refreshed. But after she had stood in the twilight of Lorien a
long while in thought, remembering her former life, and all the

tidings that she had learned, her heart was still sad, and she had
no desire to return to her own people. Therefore she went to the
doors of the House of Vaire and prayed to be admitted; and this
prayer was granted, although in that House none of the Living
dwelt nor have others ever entered it in the body.( 18 ) But Miriel
was accepted by Vaire and became her chief handmaid; and all
tidings of the Noldor down the years from their beginning were
brought to her, and she wove them in webs historial, so fair and
skilled that they seemed to live, imperishable, shining with a
light of many hues fairer than are known in Middle-earth. This
labour Finwe is at times permitted to look upon. And still she
is at work, though her name has been changed. For now she is
named Firiel,* which to the Eldar signifies 'She that died',(19) and
also 'She that sighed'. As fair as the webs of Firiel is praise that
is given seldom even to works of the Eldar.

* For before the passing of Miriel the Eldar of Valinor had no word
for 'dying' in this manner, though they had words for being
destroyed (in body) or being slain. But fire' meant to 'expire', as of
one sighing or releasing a deep breath; and at the passing of Miriel
she had sighed a great sigh, and then lay still; and those who stood
by said firie, 'she hath breathed forth'. This word the Eldar
afterwards used of the death of Men. But though this sigh they take
to be a symbol of release, and the ceasing of the body's life, the
Eldar do not confound the breath of the body with the spirit. This
they call, as hath been seen, fea or faire', of which the ancient
significance seems to be rather 'radiance'. For though the fea in
itself is not visible to bodily eyes, it is in light that the Eldar find
the most fitting symbol in bodily terms of the indwelling spirit, 'the
light of the house' or coacalina as they also name it. And those in
whom the fea is strong and untainted, they say, appear even to
mortal eyes to shine at times translucent (albeit faintly), as though a
lamp burned within.

At the end of the manuscript of Laws and Customs among the Eldar
are several pages of roughly written 'Notes', and I append here a
portion of this material.

(i)
This debate of the Valar not wholly feigned. For the Eldar were
permitted to attend all conclaves, and many did so (especially
those that so deeply concerned them, their fate, and their place
in Arda, as did this matter). Reference is made to things that had
not at that time happened (is it ..... prophecy?), but that is



partly due to later commentators. For the 'Statute of Finwe and
Miriel' was among the documents of lore most deeply studied
and pondered. And as has been seen many questions and
answers arising were appended.
[?Thus] questions were also asked concerning the fate and
death of Men. All [?read Also] concerning other 'speaking', and
therefore 'reasonable', kinds: Ents, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs -
and the speaking of beasts such as Huan, or the Great Eagles.

Later my father commented against the beginning of this note that the
Eldar would not be present at this debate ('certainly not Finwe!'), and
that the Yalar would have informed the loremasters of the Eldar
concerning it.

(ii)

[The] 'Fate of Men' was also later discussed by the Eldar, when
they had met Men and knew them. But they had little evidence,
and therefore did not know or assert, but 'supposed' or
'guessed'. One such supposition was that Elves and Men will
become one people. Another is that some Men, if they desire it,
will be permitted to join the Elves in New Arda, or to visit them
there - though it will not be the home of Men. The most widely
held supposition is that the fate of Men is wholly different, and
that they will not be concerned with Arda at all.

At the end of this note my father wrote subsequently: 'But see full
treatment of this later in Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth.' This work
constitutes Part Four in this book.

(iii)

Fate of 'Immortal' Elves: ? to inhabit New Arda (or Arda
Healed). Probably not, in a physical sense. Since what is meant
by 'The Tale of Arda' seems to be this. The World and its Time
appears to begin and end simply because it is bounded, neither
infinite nor eternal. Its finite 'story' when complete will be, like a
work of art, beautiful and good (as a whole), and from outside,
sc. not in Time or its Time, it can be contemplated with wonder
and delight - especially by those who have taken part in its
'Tale'. Only in that sense will Elves (or Men) inhabit Arda
Complete. But New Arda' or Arda Unmarred (Healed) would
imply a continuance, beyond the End (or Completion). Of that
nothing can be surmised. Unless it be this. Since the Elves (and
Men) were made for Arda, the satisfaction of their nature will

require Arda (without the malice of the Marrer): therefore
before the Ending the Marring will be wholly undone or healed
(or absorbed into good, beauty, and joy). In that region of Time
and Place the Elves will dwell as their home, but not be confined
to it. But no blessed spirits from what is still to us the future can
intrude into our own periods of Time. For to contemplate the
Tale of Arda the Blessed must (in spirit or whole being) leave the
Time of Arda. But others use another analogy, saying that there
will indeed be a New Arda, rebuilt from the beginning without
Malice, and that the Elves will take part in this from the
beginning. It will be in Ea, say they - for they hold that all
Creation of any sort must be in Ea, proceeding from Eru in the
same way, and therefore being of the same Order. They do not
believe in contemporaneous non-contiguous worlds except as
an amusing fantasy of the mind. They are (say they) either
altogether unknowable, even as to whether they are or are not,
or else if there are any intersections (however rare) they are only
provinces of one Ea.

At the head of the page on which this note stands my father wrote:
'But see Athrabeth': see (ii) above.

NOTES.

[These notes refer to the part of the text of Laws and Customs among
the Eldar given from the manuscript A, pp. 233 ff.]

1. The spelling Feanaro is found also in the first text of the tale,
FM 1 (see p. 206, footnote). The name is variously written
subsequently in A (Feanaro, Feanaro, Feanaro).
2. For the form Lorien with short vowel see p. 56 note 2 and p. 148,
$3.
3. For the doom of Mandos (the 'Statute of Finwe and Miriel') in
this work see pp. 225 - 6. In FM 1 the doom, in its earliest
expression, is given at this point in the story (pp. 206 - 7).
4. your union: your is plural, and not inconsistent with thy, thee,
thou in the same sentence.
5. in Tuna: see p. 193, $52, and p. 282.
6. My father first wrote 'an aimenel' (> aimenal), but changed it
immediately to 'a lirulin', writing 'lark' in the margin.
7. The reference in the footnote here is to the passage in A (omitted
in B) which is given in note 22 on p. 230. As in that passage the
name Nolofinwe' is written with a tilde over the N. The order of
the names of the daughters of Finwe and Indis are as in the

emended text of FM 1, p. 207. See further p. 262 and note 10.
8. The brackets are in the original.
9. Cf. the Ainulindale $13 (p. 11): Yet some things there are that
[the Ainur] cannot see ...; for to none but himself has Iluvatar
revealed all that he has in store, and in every age there come forth
things that are new and have no foretelling, for they do not spring
from the past.'
10. It is not told elsewhere that Aule was the most eager among the
Valar that the Elves should be summoned to Valinor. Cf. what is
said earlier in Laws and Customs (p. 219, found in both texts,
but not elsewhere) concerning the motive of the Valar in bringing
the Elves to Aman.
11. As with the reference to Aule mentioned in note 10, it is not told
elsewhere that Ulmo dissented from the decision of the Valar to
bring Melkor to Mandos. Cf. the passage in the first text of the
Valaquenta, lost in the final form: '[Ulmo's] counsels grew ever
away from the mind of Manwe' (p. 202).
12. At this point there originally followed: 'Then when others had
spoken Manwe answered: 'There is reason in all that hath been
said...' Manwe's speech was apparently abandoned after a few
lines, and the speeches of Nienna, Ulmo, and Vaire introduced;
after which Manwe's speech reappears (p. 244).
13. This sentence ('And I doubt not...') was subsequently placed in
brackets.
14. nill is the old negative verb 'will not': thus 'will he or nill he'
means 'whether he wills it or wills it not' (surviving as willy-
nilly).
15. The text stops here, not at the foot of a page. It takes up again on
a new sheet, in a rougher script that continues to the end of the
work; but my father paginated this further text continuously with
the preceding.
16. Ingoldo: the mother-name of Fingolfin (p. 230 note 22).
17. In the account of the marriage of Finwe and Indis in the present
work (p. 238) there is no mention of this estrangement, or at least
separation. In the final work on Chapter 6 of the Quenta
Silmarillion, however, it is implied that Indis did not depart with
Finwe to Formenos, because it is told that Feanor's wife Nerdanel
would not go with him into banishment and 'asked leave to abide
with Indis' (p. 279, $53d).
18. On Miriel's entry into the House of Vaire see p. 263 note 9.
19. Firiel: see the Etymologies in Vol.V, p. 381, stem PHIR.

[Lembas_muncher]

"There were seldom more than four children in any house, and the number grew less as ages passed;"

- but if all or most of the Elves passed on to the Blessed Realm, which in size is not so great, and none died but new ones kept being born, will they not have the same fate as men in real life do: too many of us, too little space or even food and our numbers keep increasing?

"The Eldar wedded once only in life, and for love or at the least by free will upon either part. ........ seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among them. ..........It was the act of bodily union that achieved marriage, and after which the indissoluble bond was complete."

- if any of the Eldar married "by free will at the least" which doesn't seem to mean that love needs to be included ( a political arrangement??), but the "act of bodily union" (or sex) is required to "achieve marriage" or make it official, what if one of them or both are unwilling to do it??
By this I mean, one can surely understand why some, for example, political union of such kind is needed at some time of great peril, but that cannot make one love another. Two such Elves can have great respect and understanding for one another, but that's not love. And sex without emotions is not strange to Men, but Elves were supposed to be better than that and it seems to me that to have sex with a spouse you don't care for in such a way is somehow against their nature. So, how would such a situation be resolved? Surely not by having sex out of duty or something similar for that to me seems very unlikely to the very thought of what Elves represent.

"...although the wedded remain so for ever, they do not necessarily dwell or house together at all times"

-this seems to be the case with Celeborn and Galadriel at the end of ROTK. To me, this is so sad. Even if their children were all grown up and have children of their own, I cannot imagine two Elves who love each other and are married living apart for long periods of time simply because they no longer have sex or are raising children but have taken up other interests. This is too close to divorce in real life and feels somehow not right.
These, of course, are only my humble opinions. I might be right or wrong. Feel free not to agree, but don't chase me waving pitchforks at me.
Respectfully,
Lembas_muncher

[Calenharn Elflover]

Thanks for posting that, Esteliel.

But, note this:

They are not easily deceived by their own kind; and their spirits
being masters of their bodies, they are seldom swayed by the
desires of the body only, but are by nature continent and
steadfast.

Alas, this does rather seem to fly in the face of a great deal of fanfiction - and certainly a great deal of the Interactives. It's rather hard to justify POW rape, Elven "heat" etc. (Though it still leaves a loophole for aphrodisiacs... but then consider how much more abhorrent acts under the influence would seem to the bulk of Elves.)

[Lembas_muncher]

...
well.... well.... Legolas had a "strange fate"!!

And, anyway, slash is just fiction.
(but, I guess if there were any Elves alive here and now, they'd probably get a court order to prevent us from coming near them... )
Ah, well, I can't help myself - I'm a pervy Elf fancier.

[Calenharn Elflover]

I think by "strange fate", they meant circumstances such as the curse on the Noldor, the members of Elrond's house marrying late (or mortals, or not at all)... things like that.

Anyway, the point of Esteliel posting it seems to be to provide the proper background for our fiction... but then that background flies in the face of the fiction that we are writing! (Except for aphrodisiacs... or maybe The Corrupting Influence® of the One Ring.)

So take it as a challenge, for someone to come up with a canonical explanation/rationale/excuse for dominating sexpot Glorfindel (who should know better, having come from Valinor), or Elrond (who should really know better, being loremaster and the keeper of Vilya and uncrowned High King).

[Lembas_muncher]

So take it as a challenge, for someone to come up with a canonical explanation/rationale/excuse for dominating sexpot Glorfindel

"eternity gets boring??"

Look, I just read it - I'm not trying to explain it. Poor writters, though, they have no excuses.
Let's just say there's no explanation. I mean, in "Feral Form" Erestor has a tail! So, if the slash authors tried to keep up with this essay - THERE WOULD BE NO SLASH.
It's good reading, though. One now knows that Celeborn would never get drunk and shag a Dwarf, but one can still wonder.
Still, imagine if Elves were a bit kinky, I bet they'd make the best slashers ever!

[Esteliel]

Anyway, the point of Esteliel posting it seems to be to provide the proper background for our fiction... but then that background flies in the face of the fiction that we are writing! (Except for aphrodisiacs... or maybe The Corrupting Influence® of the One Ring.)

Actually, the point of posting this was that people often refer to this essay when talking about elves, and I think it's better to know what the essay itself says than reading essays about the essay.

I don't think that all LotR fiction should follow the laws and customs depicted here - don't forget that Tolkien would not have wanted to have the essay published like this. There's no doubt that he'd probably have changed and rephrased parts of it, as he did with all of his other writing (he was even worse than you, CE... ) - so I wouldn't necessarily see the History of Middle-earth books as "canon" which needs to be followed.
Nevertheless, I see it as a source of inspiration. If you write a fic where there is an elvish wedding, why not have a look at this essay and see how Tolkien described it, instead of making up your own rites?

[Calenharn Elflover]

Hmmm. Well, I rather doubt that the professor would approve of slash... But still, you make a good point about wedding customs and such.