Quote:
Originally Posted by Bêthberry
If death is supposed to be a gift to the race of man, then why is longevity such an important issue? Why are the "high" supposed to live longer and why is a decrease in life span a sign of weakness or decline?
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On this, see the
Athrabeth (HME X). Basically, the idea was that before the Fall precipitated by Morgoth and/or Sauron "offstge" in the Elder Days, all Men were not immortal but given spans of centuries and the right to depart of their own volition, as was the case with the earlier Kings of Numenor: they had been restored to nearly the "state of grace" of Eden.
Note that in that tale, like Numenor later, their seduction by the Dark led to a Temple inhabited by the dark God-king who demanded human sacrifice.
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As to Faramir, it could also be thought that there was a special grace or blessedness over the whole of Middle-earth associated with the fall of Sauron and his departure from Ea as an active presence, as seen in the "Great Year of Plenty" in 1420. EDIT: Eomer also lived remarkably long for one of the Rohirrim, reaching 102.