“That which hath been is that which shall be, and that which hath been done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing whereof it is said: 'See, this is new'?--it hath been already, in the ages which were before us.” - Ecclesiastes 1: 9-10
“It is ever so with the things that Men begin: there is a frost in Spring, or a blight in Summer, and they fail of their promise.” - Gimli, Son of Gloin
Boy, nobody but an Elf could understand better what Ecclesiastes was talkin’ about. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
It’s a good question, Lomelinde. In defense of the elves, I’d have to say that if the individuals of a race could live for tens of thousands of years, they then would have come up with a system that works for them, and of course would seek to preserve that way of life. Discovery is fun when you are young, but who wants to keep making the same mistakes over and over again?
Think of all the innovation that the elves had created, in medicine, the arts, music, the study of nature. They may have understood and hid from Man things that they believed were clearly beyond their grasp, or were too dangerous for them to know. (The creation of Rings comes to mind.) The only thing they seemed to have rejected is machinery or “technology”. I‘m sure they were intelligent enough to have envisioned these things; they must have had good reason to reject them.
There is nothing wrong with trying to preserve a way of life that has been centuries in the creating, especially if it works. If the elves of Lothlorien seemed bitter, or “lost in the past”, I think it was only because they were in mourning for a way of life that was soon to end for them. And also because they can forsee the struggles that will face the race of Man, and mourn for them, too. Any parent watching their children make “the same mistakes” can understand those feelings. Especially if you know that they won’t survive to benefit from the learning.
As for Men (and dwarves), yes, they do seem to have more of a sense of curiosity and “adventure”, but there is a feeling of desperation in the works of Man. Because they will die, and knowledge accumulated will be lost. There is no time to wait and see if a “thing will work.” So even when they come up a way of doing things, they will want to change it, and come up with a “better” way of doing it.
It’s an endless, vicious cycle of creating and tearing down, making and remaking, while all the while constantly losing knowledge gained because of Death.
So here we are today, with all the technology and “better mousetraps” that we have gained from the struggle, and yet can we say we are happy? If we were, why would all of us on this board be lingering in Middle Earth with the elves?
(P.S. - Totally Off Topic, but if anyone would like to read a very good book that give some interesting insights on progress and what “works” and “doesn’t work”, check out Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.)
(P.P.S. - Sorry I haven't addressed whether the one gave Mortality to Men to stimulate this curiosity. I'm still dwelling on that.)
[ April 07, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]
[ April 07, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]
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