Immortality and the sons of Elrond

[William Cloud Hicklin]

And if the QS idea is held to be true, then Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir are automatically mortals to my mind... that is, if Elrond or Elros chooses immortality here he will yet have automatically mortal children with respect to death

Well, yes: but of course in 1937 Elrond's children hadn't been invented yet! And Arwen having a Choice to make became an essential element in the strory of Aragorn as it developed.

I think therefore that your 'revised rule' pretty well sums up what Tolkien came to believe as a result of the LR, modifying what had been a firm rule before he started it.

Back to the Dioscuri: it's interesting that to the extent they are described, they do not "pass" as Elves: "And have you marked the brethren Elladan and Elrohir? Less somber is their gear than the others', and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell."

And then there is the passage from a draft of Appendix A, describing their role at the Field of Celebrant: "In the forefront of the charge they saw two great horsemen, clad in grey, unlike all the others, and the Orcs fled before them." I don't want to lean too heavily on a single adjective, but one could infer that if they were "great" even among the tall Northmen, that the brethren were quite large persons indeed, more "Mannish" than "Elvish" in build, if you will.


By the way, if anyone cares, Arwen and her brothers were not half-elves, but 78.125-percent-elves:

18.75% Men (3/16)
17.1875% Noldor (11/64)
7.8125% Vanyar (5/64)
53.125% Teleri (17/32)
3.125% Maiar (1/32)

Elrond himself was a nine-sixteenths-elf.

(I didn't distinguish between Sindar and Teleri of Aman because of Celeborn's uncertain status)