Just who's in charge here anyway? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Fingolas · 04-15-2002, 08:33 PM

A question on the structure of Elvin society. What form of government did they have? Was it a strict Monarchy? Were there any structures such as a “Council of Elders” or any other mechanism for the citizenry to have input in the decision-making?

I would argue that as soon as a society develops a stable middle class they start to expect some say so in the decision-making. Until that time you have an upper ruling class that ingratiates itself to the throne and the rest are uneducated serfs that are expected to do as they’re told.

It occurs to me that in the real world it has taken Man roughly 4000 years to get to a point where we no longer place much emphasis on the idea of a monarchy, except as a nostalgic symbol of the past. I can’t think of any Western Democracy where the Monarchy is more than a symbolic figurehead and goodwill ambassador for their nation.

I guess my rather long-winded point is that the Elves had been around for what…6000 years or so by the time of the third age? I assume that they were all highly educated; after all I can’t believe that any immortal being would want to spend its considerable lifetime uneducated. So didn’t these highly educated and wise citizens desire some input into the way their society functioned?

Of course we’re talking about a work of fiction here so Tolkien could structure Elvin society any way he darn well pleased thank you very much!

However, it seems to me that there should have been some structure like a “Council of the Wise”, to at least help govern. After all the Elves were much more advanced than Humans, were they not? Is there something in their nature that makes them content to submissively follow a Monarch?

BTW… which is grammatically correct, Elvin or Elvish?

04-15-2002, 08:33 PM	#1
Fingolas Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: behind that tree over there Posts: 32	Just who's in charge here anyway? A question on the structure of Elvin society. What form of government did they have? Was it a strict Monarchy? Were there any structures such as a “Council of Elders” or any other mechanism for the citizenry to have input in the decision-making? I would argue that as soon as a society develops a stable middle class they start to expect some say so in the decision-making. Until that time you have an upper ruling class that ingratiates itself to the throne and the rest are uneducated serfs that are expected to do as they’re told. It occurs to me that in the real world it has taken Man roughly 4000 years to get to a point where we no longer place much emphasis on the idea of a monarchy, except as a nostalgic symbol of the past. I can’t think of any Western Democracy where the Monarchy is more than a symbolic figurehead and goodwill ambassador for their nation. I guess my rather long-winded point is that the Elves had been around for what…6000 years or so by the time of the third age? I assume that they were all highly educated; after all I can’t believe that any immortal being would want to spend its considerable lifetime uneducated. So didn’t these highly educated and wise citizens desire some input into the way their society functioned? Of course we’re talking about a work of fiction here so Tolkien could structure Elvin society any way he darn well pleased thank you very much! However, it seems to me that there should have been some structure like a “Council of the Wise”, to at least help govern. After all the Elves were much more advanced than Humans, were they not? Is there something in their nature that makes them content to submissively follow a Monarch? BTW… which is grammatically correct, Elvin or Elvish? __________________ It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.