'Its about death, the inevitability of death'

[The Saucepan Man]

But they also see themselves as 'superior' to everything else. And that sense of superiority comes from one thing - Immortality.

Exactly. Despite the fact that mortality is described as the "gift" given by Iluvatar to Men, the Elves (in the First Age at least) seem to regard it as a sign of inferiority. And yet, the sacrifice of the likes of Hurin and Huor (on behalf of Elves) is in some ways made far more heroic precisely because they do not know where they go when they die, whereas the Elves who die in the struggle with Morgoth know precisely what their fate is.

Edit: Littlemanpoet - I wouldn't go so far as to describe the Elves of the First Age as "fascists". The point that I was making is that JRRT seems to have been exploring some of the ramifications of death and its inevitability in the reaction of an immortal race to an mortal one. At first, the Elves (quite naturally, I should think) seem to regard their immortality as a sign of superiority over Men. But, over time I think that they come to accept that it is not necessarily a sign of superiority, but simply a different state of being.

[ March 18, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]