Quote:
|
Mmmm, thanks Saucepan, that's exactly what I mean.
|
Yes, I had thoughts along these lines too, when I first became aware of this Elvish obsession with preserving things. The link between their immortality and their desire to imbue this quality in their surroundings seemed clear to me. But I also found it strange that their condition seemed so out of step with the normal laws of nature.
Then again, my view of the key importance in nature of the cycle of life is premised upon the applicability of the process of evolution, which requires that one generation dies out and makes way for the next so that organisms can continue to evolve to suit changing conditions. Now, I regard evolution as a given in the real world (and I recognise that many disagree with me on that), but it seems to me that it is a concept which has very little (if any) applicability in ME. Elves and Men were born as such - they did not evolve from apes. Indeed, all life in ME seems to exist in the state in which it first appeared in the world, save for those creatures which have been twisted and/or bred by Morgoth and Sauron.
So, if there is no evolution in ME, this begs the question of whether the cycle of life is actually an integral part of nature in that world. If creatures exist in a perpetual state and never evolve, there is really no need for generations to die out so as to make way for the new. And if this is the nature of nature (so to speak) in ME, it follows that Elves may in fact be the more natural creatures within the context of that world (if not our own).
[ July 16, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]