There is an interesting (possibly) event in Lost Road. In Numenor, Elendil is watching his son, Herendil, swimming. He is described as a 'boy' & a 'Lad', but we are told he is 48 at the time. Christopher Tolkien comments:
[QUOTE] 'It can only be concluded that at this time the longevity of the Numenoreans implied that they grew & aged at a different rate from other men, & were not fully adult until about 50 years old'.[QUOTE]
He seems to have rejected this concept, or just retained it for the Elves.
Of course, there are two 'archtypes' whicch run through the whole Legendarium, the 'Father' & the 'Son'. Elendil & Herendil, Tuor & Earendel, Alwin & Oswin, & of course, Bilbo & Frodo. The 'Father' leaves, often to go into the West, or live with the Elves, & the 'son' eventually follows in search of him. Possible links with Tolkien's loss of his own father. Flieger even points to Smith of Wooton Major in this regard. His Grandfather disappears finally, after returning with the Star, & Smith uses this Star as a way into Faery. So, what, the 'Father' is lost, 'away with the Fairies', & the 'Son' is driven to seek him out, journeying to meet the Elves himself, & also become an 'Elf-friend'? So, the 'children' follow the adults into the 'wide world', driven by grief over their loss, & they return with knowledge of the Elves, which they can pass on to others, before they make their own final journey, to be sought for, followed, by their own 'children'? This supplies a constant inpiration for each generation to enter Faery, & maintain the links between the two worlds, so the contact can never be lost?
Sorry, I'm fumbling here, & I'm not sure any of this is relevant to this thread. [img]smilies/confused.gif[/img]
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