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Originally Posted by davem
Its the qualifier, ‘not for themselves’ that makes the difference. Of course, without that the statement ‘they do not count the running years’ would be incorrect, as Celeborn has already shown that they can count the passage of time. But with that qualifier it is changed from a statement of objective fact to a comment about the Elves relationship to time.
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Ah yes, I see the point that you are driving at. And I agree. The words "not for themselves" do make a significant difference
To say that Elves
do not consider the running years for themselves is quite different from saying that they
need not consider the running years for themselves. The former implies that they
only consider the passing years when interacting with other races (as in the case of Celeborns' greeting to Aragorn). The latter implies that they may have reason to consider the passing of years
for their own purposes.
But is not "need" still the more accurate? While the passing of time may not be central to their day-to-day lives, they must surely have some conception of events occurring at an earlier or later point in time than others. Galadriel, for example, would have to recognise that, while she resided in Aman at one point in time, she does not at the time of the War of the Ring. So is it not accurate to say that, while the passing of time does not impact greatly on their daily lives, they do nevertheless have some need to consider for themselves the passing of time and the changes that this brings, albeit perhaps on a more "long-term view" than mortals?