The halls of mandos and elvish "free will"

[davem]

Well, H-I had a long discussion (which I think we were the only ones reading by the end of it )n the Evil Things thread. I have to wonder about my learned friend's comment though:

Originally Posted by H-I

'All things else' of the quote determines the fate of the things of Arda, and includes animals and plants, as they do not have fëar, theirs being the mode of existence made up of matter entirely, and as matter is finite, so are they.

As I'm not sure it squares with the following:

The lncarnates have by the nature of sama the same faculties; but their perception is dimmed by the hroa, for their fea is united to their hroa and its normal procedure is through the hroa, which is in itself part of Ea, without thought. Osanwe Kenta

If animal's 'mode of existence' is 'made up of matter entirely' then they would not have the capacity to think - & we know that some do - Shadowfax clearly thinks & understands language...

(There's also a particular fox - of course he could be one of the Maiar I suppose )