'Its about death, the inevitability of death'

[littlemanpoet]

Where do these Elves get off, anyway, deciding what constitutes perfection in nature, & imposing it on things? Do we imagine 'perfect' bugs, fungi, etc in Lorien, or are we looking at a forest that's 'scrubbed clean' of dirt & smells. How 'natural' is Lorien?

Now I see your point.

Haven't the Elves just turned a living eco-system into a museum piece?

Perhaps more a temple than a museum? At least, for Lorien. Rivendell, as the last homely house, does not have the same feel of perpetuation as does Lorien.

Although Thranduil's kingdom is in The Hobbit instead of LotR, that realm seems far more 'natural' to me. And so do the Elves traveling through the Shire with whom the hobbits meet up in FotR.

Please pardon me, but having followed this tangent as far as I know how, I've lost the thread of this topic. So, what would you say the perpetuativeness of Lorien and the Last-Homely-Houseness of Rivendell have to do with the inevitability of death?