Lalwende wrote:
Quote:
|
I was talking about this just the other day! Presumably, many Elves died and passed to the Halls of Mandos, where they are given the choice to be 'reborn'; yet not all are given this choice, it should be noted.
|
True. Also, there are Elves who refuse the summons to Mandos and exist as disembodied spirits (as is discussed in HoMe X).
Quote:
|
Of those who are reborn, I wonder whether they 'reappear' in Valinor or Middle Earth? Do they have a choice? The example of Glorfindel means that either they can be reborn in Middle Earth, and therefore have a choice, or that there is a Straight Road out of Valinor.
|
When it was
rebirth, I expect that the Elf's
fea could be reborn into the line of any of his or her descendants, wherever they might dwell.
With regard to the later
reincarnation, however, I have always been under the impression that this takes place in Aman. In the "Glorfindel" essays in HoMe XII this seems to be taken for granted - Tolkien speculates on when Glorfindel could have returned from Aman to Middle-earth. My impression is that this return is a kind of special case; most Elves who are reincarnated remain in the West.