Reincarnation

[Aiwendil]

Lalwende wrote:

I was talking about this just the other day! Presumably, many Elves died and passed to the Halls of Mandos, where they are given the choice to be 'reborn'; yet not all are given this choice, it should be noted.

True. Also, there are Elves who refuse the summons to Mandos and exist as disembodied spirits (as is discussed in HoMe X).

Of those who are reborn, I wonder whether they 'reappear' in Valinor or Middle Earth? Do they have a choice? The example of Glorfindel means that either they can be reborn in Middle Earth, and therefore have a choice, or that there is a Straight Road out of Valinor.

When it was rebirth, I expect that the Elf's fea could be reborn into the line of any of his or her descendants, wherever they might dwell.

With regard to the later reincarnation, however, I have always been under the impression that this takes place in Aman. In the "Glorfindel" essays in HoMe XII this seems to be taken for granted - Tolkien speculates on when Glorfindel could have returned from Aman to Middle-earth. My impression is that this return is a kind of special case; most Elves who are reincarnated remain in the West.