[Saurreg]

Originally Posted by VanimaEdhel

Great, great points, davem. My own feeling, in connection to the Elves surrender to fate as opposed to the tendency of Men to still shape their own fate has to do with the idea of the mortality of Men. Men only had a finite number of years to live - after that, they died, leaving Middle Earth and whatever work they left undone. Meanwhile, there was a depressing push of eternity on the Elves. There was a sense of whatever they did would not really matter in the long run - in fact, they could probably always procrastinate, do it tomorrow. They were not about to die of old age, so there wasn't any urgency to get everything they wanted done. Meanwhile, Men seemed to live with the fear of death plaguing them constantly - they were forced out of any apathy they may have, knowing that if they did not live and correct the wrongs in their lives now, they may never see their desires fulfilled.

Procrastination is a very distinctive trait of men, one should wonder whether the firstborn share this trait, being what they are - growing wiser in mind with the ages. Would all the elves, even the greatest ones like Elrond and Cirdan give way to apathy or even lethargy simply because they know that they are immortal? One should think that with everlasting life, the great elves would have the experience and wisdom to know that procrastination and inactivity was dangerous, especially so during the TA when the strength of the elves and Dunedain are diminished and Sauron yet to be vanquished. In such desperate times, alacrity and initiative was important because with every passing moment the potency of good waned whereas evil grew stronger.

Historically, every society has had a rise and a fall. There is also a tendency for cultures on the incline to feel invincible. For most men living in the Third Age, they were beginning to see the power of the Elves wane, and their own power increase - Elves were not to rule the world, while men were still, as you said, a "wild card" in the fate of the world department. Even if Men saw an eventual end to their own power inevitable, most believed they would not live to see it, thus enjoying a certain amount of success. However, many Elves that lived through the glorious times of their own civilization were also always cursed to live in its decline as well. That's a pretty bleak prospect - being alive for both the birth and death of a beautiful time for your people. Knowing that you will live after the fall and always carry with you memories of the greatness without being able to recreate it can be an ominous thought. You may have more of a tendency to surrender, saying, "Well, eventually the end of our good fortune will come, perhaps this is the day."

Good post!