# Elves are immortal, but... do they age?



## Dhôn-Buri-Dhôn (Feb 11, 2002)

I'm thinking about the state of the elves at the close of the Third Age.

Obviously, their collective military strength is much less than it was an Age earlier (due to dwindling numbers). But what about their individual power?

Think about Elrond, who was a great warrior at the time of Sauron's first defeat. Yet he hardly sets foot outside of Rivendell during the War of the Ring. Is this just a strategic move, to divert some of Sauron's attention?

Or, could it be that Elrond was not the Elf he once was... that he simply was no longer as strong and powerful (either physically or in magic)?

Was he getting "old"?

[Steps back to watch the sparks fly...]


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## Beleg Strongbow (Feb 12, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Donnie B. _
> *I'm thinking about the state of the elves at the close of the Third Age.
> 
> Obviously, their collective military strength is much less than it was an Age earlier (due to dwindling numbers). But what about their individual power?
> ...






I think that elves do age but only from a young kid 2 adult and once they get their they are the same and don't age no more. Also i think that the elves don't lose power as they grow older look at Finarafin for example he was deadly in the war of wrath and Maedhros i think they gain widom and power as they get older.


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## Legolam (Feb 12, 2002)

So how come Arwen's still young and beuatiful even though she's way older than say, Legolas who she looks the same age as (both in my head and in the movie)?


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## Ishara chan (Feb 12, 2002)

I've thought about this before as well. I would say that Elves do age, but, as Beleg Strongbow said, only from child to adult. I would think they keep aging until they look like they're in their 30s or 40s. It's kind of a diffult concept for our minds to master, since our whole world is based on growing old, visibly getting older, and dying. 
But maybe it's also a gene thing...


> So how come Arwen's still young and beuatiful even though she's way older than say, Legolas who she looks the same age as (both in my head and in the movie)?


I would say to this that maybe Arwen was just built differently genetically, so she ages slightly differently. I use the term age loosely, as we all know they don't age, but only grow until a certain point (in my mind, at least).


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## Ståle (Feb 12, 2002)

Cirdan was, oh, 12 000 years at the Battle of the Last Alliance, and he still fought at the Siege of Barad-Dur. And he survived. SO I doubt they ever loose their physical and metal power, unless they wither with grief.


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## Thorin (Feb 12, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Ståle _
> *Cirdan was, oh, 12 000 years at the Battle of the Last Alliance, and he still fought at the Siege of Barad-Dur. And he survived. SO I doubt they ever loose their physical and metal power, unless they wither with grief. *




Actually, Cirdan was probably about 10500 by the end of the Third Age....But UT mentions that he did look old (the only elf to wear a beard) so they do age but very slowly and they grow more in wisdom then in human wrinkles.


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## Beleg Strongbow (Feb 12, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Thorin _
> *
> 
> 
> Actually, Cirdan was probably about 10500 by the end of the Third Age....But UT mentions that he did look old (the only elf to wear a beard) so they do age but very slowly and they grow more in wisdom then in human wrinkles. *





But i think cirdan has nearly always had a beard. Some thing to do with the salt water?


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## Dhôn-Buri-Dhôn (Feb 12, 2002)

OK, good responses so far...

Let me clarify a little. I didn't mean that Elves might age, in the sense of looking physically older (after reaching adulthood), except maybe _very_ slowly - say, one year per 1000 years.

I was thinking more about intangibles, such as...

- Physical strength, endurance, and effectiveness in combat
- Mental toughness / will power
- Willingness to risk life and limb / moral fiber
- Attitude toward other "races"; increasing isolationism or "elfism"
- Leadership qualities / desire to be involved in the wider world

I think Tolkien hints at some of these, at least, especially the last two. I don't have any quotes handy to back these up, other than the oft-repeated assertions that after the destruction of the One Ring, the elves would "fade" -- which could have more to do with the loss of the Three than with any inherent characteristic of the elves.

But it does seem to me that life might get a little wearisome after a few tens of thousands of years...


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## Harad (Feb 12, 2002)

I thought that Elrond definitely looked about 3000 years older between the beginning of the movie and the middle.


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## Gary Gamgee (Feb 12, 2002)

Elrond is a half elf is he not? Does this mean he would age quicker? And what of his wife was she a full elf? i cant remember. If she was does that make Arwen three quarters elf?


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## Harad (Feb 12, 2002)

Elrond was more than half. His mother was all elf, and his father was half-elf, making him 3/4 and Arwen, 7/8. 

And youre correct, he only looked 2250 years older in the movie. What was I thinking?


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## Ged (Feb 12, 2002)

IMO Elrond's contribution to the history of Middle Earth, at least in the third age, was through his wisdom, not his strength in battle. 

Any power that Elrond might have wielded would have been through Vilya, the ring given him by Gil-galad. But it seems clear (from another thread) that Elrond at least carried this ring with him in the Battle of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men at the end of the second age. And it availed him not. 

Rivendell is the "Last Homely House". It is a place of wisdom, and not a place of force such as Sauron might have understood. Sadly, most of the great elven folk had by the time of the War of the Ring dissapeared overseas.


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## Brent (Feb 13, 2002)

I think their "will" affects their age. This is hinted at many times in the stories. Feanors mother dies because her spirit wearies of the world. One of Turins firends is captured and tortured and returns "broken" to Nargothrond, he's "aged" as it were.


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## Aragorn_Arwen1 (Feb 13, 2002)

I really think elves dont age in the matter of the phisical body...but they do age in their spirit (something like that) 
but it is better to know that elves are inmortal...   
________________________
*Yéni unótime ve rámar aldaron,
yéni ve linte yuldar vánier*
_*Even the smallest person,
can change the course of our future*_


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## Tar-Elenion (Feb 13, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Harad _
> Elrond was more than half. His mother was all elf, and his father was half-elf, making him 3/4 and Arwen, 7/8.



While Earenendil was a 'full' half-elf (50% Elda, 50% Adan), Elwing (the mother of Elrond) was not 'all elf'. She was the daughter of Dior, and was 62.5% Elda, 25% Adan, and 12.5% Maia. She was one of the Peredhil and was granted a Choice along with Earendil.


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## Grond (Feb 14, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Ged _
> *IMO Elrond's contribution to the history of Middle Earth, at least in the third age, was through his wisdom, not his strength in battle.
> 
> Any power that Elrond might have wielded would have been through Vilya, the ring given him by Gil-galad. But it seems clear (from another thread) that Elrond at least carried this ring with him in the Battle of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men at the end of the second age. And it availed him not.
> ...


He may have carried the Ring in the battle but assuredly he did not wear it. Otherwise, he would have been fighting on the "Dark Side".


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