[willkill4food]

I was having a talk with a friend (who is a Tolkien fan, loves the movies and has read the books once or twice, but not a fanatic) a little bit ago, while we were watching TTT, and he said something about how cool it would be to be an elf, live forever, be a great warrior, speak elvish, write poetry, sing songs, live in Rivendell or Lothlorien...and so i tried to bring up the point that Tolkien makes, that the Elves are forever tied to this earth, their spirit never leaves, they are stuck in there even after they die, no heaven, no nothing...but as we argued for a little while, I realized that I was really playing Devil's advocate, I want to be an elf, I dont want to die, I dont want to get old, I want to live until slain in battle, and then maybe even get sent back (ie Glorfindel)...

And so I bring of this question....is their any question of which is better, Mortality versus Immortality? Sure Immortality has a few drawbacks, but really "Mortality Sucks"...

Is there anyone here who would rather be Edain than Eldar? Rather go to the halls of Mandos than go to the Undying Lands or even stay in Middle-Earth?

Tolkien tries to make some arguement of how in some ways Men have it better, but it really falls on deaf ears, both in Numenor and to the readers.

Any comments?

-willkill