[Lalwendë]

Maybe this explains the Gift of Death - that Men are not doomed to resisting change, they never have to fight the urge to live in a pickled version of the distant past, as it simply will not happen to them; they will die long before that 'doom' affects them. I think in Tolkien's work we see that change is inevitable. It might not be nice, but it is going to happen whether we like it or not. The Gift of Death allows Men to escape this tragedy; Aragorn will not live to see all his efforts in the War of the Ring fall, eventually, to nothing. And perhaps this is why Elves are naturally expected to live in the Undying Lands, as once there, they are protected from death and decay and change.

We visit this secondary world just as that 'magic' is about to decline and fade. I wonder if our own world ever had any of that magic anyway? We'll never know, but we can be sure that there was plenty of suffering in all periods of history, and in Tolkien's world there is plenty of suffering too. Not only is there the suffering of our 'heroes' like Frodo, but there is the suffering of the peoples enslaved by Sauron, the Ents who know they are going to die out, Hobbits made to starve when the Shire is taken over - it might be a fantasy world, but it's no Utopia.

Galadriel in Middle-earth is really a big fish in a small pond, and she is no fairy princess, she is an Elf who has ambitions. She wants to create and rule her own realm, and it is to these desires that Celebrimbor panders when he tries to woo her with gifts such as the Elessar and Nenya. They are gifts of power and potency, not trinkets. She knows that when the Rings lose their power she has two choices: go back to the Undying Lands and be one of many fish in a pond, or stay in Middle-earth but lose her realm, and become as one of the 'common Elves' who she rules.