The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum


Visit The *EVEN NEWER* Barrow-Downs Photo Page

Go Back   The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum > Middle-Earth Discussions > The Books
User Name
Password
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 04-20-2004, 07:01 PM   #12
The Saucepan Man
Corpus Cacophonous
 
The Saucepan Man's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: A green and pleasant land
Posts: 8,390
The Saucepan Man has been trapped in the Barrow!
Eye Elven superiority

Quote:
I assume that by "on a general level" you mean that while it is a common trait among Elves, it cannot be ascribed to each and everyone of the Firstborn.
I would actually go further and say that it was (in the First Age at least) an inherent part of Elvish nature to consider themselves superior to Iluvatar's other children. Often this manifested itself in a negative way, but I think that, in many individuals (those that you mention, for example), it manifested itself instead in a positive way. Although I would still maintain that it is patronising for the Elves to grant to Men a part of the land which they had claimed for themselves but over which they in fact had no greater right save by dint of having got there first. And, while I do agree that Elves such as Luthien and Beleg came to regard individual Men as their equals, it does not necessarily follow that they regarded the entire race of Man on the same basis.

During the Second Age and certainly by the Third Age, it seems to me that Elves were coming round to a much fuller understanding that that which made them different from Men did not necessarily make them superior, no doubt prompted by an acknowledgement that their time was fading.
__________________
Do you mind? I'm busy doing the fishstick. It's a very delicate state of mind!
The Saucepan Man is offline   Reply With Quote
 

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:03 AM.



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.