There is now no ship...

[Lord Gothmog]

It is stated in the published Silmarillion and in Letters.

From the Silmarillion: Chapter 24: Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath

It is told among the Elves that after Eärendil had departed, seeking Elwing his wife, Mandos spoke concerning his fate; and he said: 'Shall mortal man step living upon the undying lands, and yet live?' But Ulmo said: 'For this he was born into the world. And say unto me; whether is he Eärendil Tuor's son of the line of Hador, or the son of Idril, Turgon's daughter, of the Elven-house of Finwë?' And Mandos answered: 'Equally the Noldor, who went wilfully into exile, may not return hither.'
But when all was spoken, Manwë gave judgement, and he said: 'In this matter the power of doom is given to me. The peril that he ventured for love of the Two Kindreds shall not fall upon Eärendil, nor shall it fall upon Elwing his wife who entered into peril for love of him; but they shall not walk again ever among Elves or Men in the Outer Lands. And this is my decree concerning them: to Eärendil and to Elwing, and to their sons, shall be given leave each to choose freely to which kindred their fates shall be joined, and under which kindred they shall be judged.'

This shows that Mortal Man was not allowed to go to the Undying Lands. When Elros and Elrond made their choices Elros became numbered among Men and therefore was no longer permitted entry to Aman or even The Lonely Isle. Arwen made the same decision to be numbered among Men and therefore could not go to Aman, she would have been refused entry and this she knew.

From Tolkien's Letters:
297 Drafts for a letter to 'Mr Rang'

(The attempt of Eärendil to cross Ëar was against the Ban of the Valar prohibiting all Men to attempt to set foot on Aman, and against the later special ban prohibiting the Exiled Elves, followers of the rebellious Fëanor, from return:

325 From a letter to Roger Lancelyn Green 17 July 1971

The Elves who took this road and those few 'mortals' who by special grace went with them, had abandoned the 'History of the world' and could play no further part in it.

So unless they were given special permission, Mortals were not permitted to set foot on the Undying Lands.

[Sauron the White]

from Lord Gothmog

The only ones we know of for certain are Bilbo and Frodo, both of whom were allowed into the West to have a chance to heal in sprit before dying and leaving Arda.

What about Sam? At the end of Appendix B, Year 1482 it talks about the death of Rosie his wife and says

"Among the tradition is handed dwon from Elanor that Samwise passed the Towers, and went to the Grey Havens, and passed over the Sea, last of the Ringbearers."

By my count that would mean that a majority - five out of nine - of the Fellowship went over the Sea..... Frodo, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, and Sam. Thats a good deal of exceptions to the rule.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Gandalf and Legolas are hardly 'exceptions.'

[Lord Gothmog]

Sauron the White

As I said, the only ones we know of for certain are Frodo and Bilbo. In your own quote it states:

"Among the tradition is handed dwon from Elanor"

This is not certainanty but simply rumour that has been given authority.

Personaly I would like to think that Sam at the least was allowed to go and see Frodo before he died. But we are not told this definately.

By my count that would mean that a majority - five out of nine - of the Fellowship went over the Sea..... Frodo, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, and Sam. Thats a good deal of exceptions to the rule.

If we allow that all Mortals who were Said to have travled to the West did so we have Tuor, Bilbo, Frodo, Gimli and Sam. Gandalf was a Maia and therefore entitled to go, Legolas was an Elf and similarly entitled to go. So throughout the history of Middle-earth we have a total of Five. Not that many exceptions to the rule.

[Quempel]

Arwen was the exception. Just on the other side. Going to Valinor would not change her situation at all. It would not heal her or change her pain.

[Alfirin]

On a somewhat related note there are two questions which have bugged me ofr quite a while. (if the answers to both of these are covered somewhere in the canon and I missed it my apoliges for wasting everyones time.)

Firstly, how could a ship bulit by Legolas get to the Undying Lands? Access to the Undying Lands in the Third Age was restricted exclsively to ships of the Falathrim elves. Legolas was an elf but he was Sindar not Falathrim. As an elf he would be entitled to enter the Undying Lands, but a ship built by him would not seem to be able to get there.

Secondly did the Falathrim ships and crews actually act like Charon for passegers. That is to say did Falathrimm ships and crews return from the Undying Lands to the Grey Havens,sans passengers, or was each trip for a ship one way with any Falathrim crew also never coming back? and as a subnote were there always Falatrim ships available for the jounery or did weary eleves have to sometimes wait in the Grey Havens for a shipworth of elves to arrive?

[Gwathagor]

"The Elves who took this road and those few 'mortals' who by special grace went with them, had abandoned the 'History of the world' and could play no further part in it."

I think this is important to understanding why Arwen had to stay (and die). As a result of her decision to marry Aragorn, Arwen became inextricably bound to Middle-earth and the human race as a whole. To leave Middle-earth would involve abandoning the "history of the world" in a way that was no longer an option for her. Also, her death is part and parcel to the sacrifice she made in choosing to remain with Aragorn in Middle-earth. Had she sailed with Legolas, or even alone, it would be cheating. Her sacrifice would be incomplete.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Firstly, how could a ship bulit by Legolas get to the Undying Lands? Access to the Undying Lands in the Third Age was restricted exclsively to ships of the Falathrim elves.

Where in the world do you get this notion? Not only is it nowhere stated, but it's also a datum that (1) Legolas did it; and (2) many Nandor successfully sailed from Edhellond.

Moreover, 'Falathrim' was a meaningless term in the Third Age.

[Ghazi]

Originally Posted by Lord Gothmog

So throughout the history of Middle-earth we have a total of Five. Not that many exceptions to the rule.

Not quite. There were a lot of Numenoreans from Ar-Pharazon's armada that tread the hallowed ground of Tol Eressea and Valinor.

[Lord Gothmog]

Originally Posted by Ghazi

Not quite. There were a lot of Numenoreans from Ar-Pharazon's armada that tread the hallowed ground of Tol Eressea and Valinor.

Hardly, no Numenorean ever set foot on Tol Eressea. As for Ar-pharazon's army I would not really consider being trapped in the Caves of the Forgotten (those that did not sink with the ships) as treading the hallowed ground of Valinor.

[Elmo]

Originally Posted by Lord Gothmog

Hardly, no Numenorean ever set foot on Tol Eressea. As for Ar-pharazon's army I would not really consider being trapped in the Caves of the Forgotten (those that did not sink with the ships) as treading the hallowed ground of Valinor.

My hazy recollection may be wrong but didn't they camp somewhere in Aman, so they did tread and most likely slept on the hallowed ground.