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Okay, so I've already shared my thoughts about Ithilien and how the elvish society can't last for too long in proximity to mortals, especially not with the world already as changed as it is, with the elves already so close to fading. The world isn't bright and new for them anymore; they're too old and they've been here too long to be able to adapt to change as they used to. So you have all these elves who are staying the same as these mortals are growing and changing and dying around them, and gradually it wears on the elves' spirits-- especially since they were so close to Legolas's and Gimli's concerted efforts to build friendship between their peoples. (This happens with Gondor as well, but I'm less interested in it than in Aglarond.) Legolas and Gimli's closeness ensured that their people grew close as well, and now these elves are watching the friends that they made die and simply be replaced by other dwarves-- something they knew theoretically would happen, but weren't prepared to see and mourn. They watch Gimli's successor take her place as leader after he and Legolas sail, and most of them are "young" enough that they've never seen a transfer of power-- Thranduil has been their king all their lives. They watch their friends' children grow, watch their friends die, and it wears on their spirits until they have to sail in the hopes of reclaiming their sense of eternity.
I've talked about that before, but what about the flip side of it? What about the dwarves who were born in Aglarond, who have grown up with elves as friends? Who maybe have family in other places who grumble (mostly good-naturedly, at this point, but sometimes with more bite to it) about their friendship with the elves, but who haven't been alive long enough to understand why? What about these elves who made friends with dwarves and then became friends to the entire family?
What about the dwarf child who has had a weird "uncle" from Ithilien who has visited her family since she was a child? What about the moment that she realizes that her uncle hasn't grown a single gray hair, even as her parents' sight begins to fail and their limbs weaken? She knows theoretically that elves are immortal, but she hasn't been able to see it until she notices that her uncle doesn't look any different now than when he used to tell her stories and coax animals into playing with her. Now she's too old for those antics, old enough to talk knowledgeably with him about current events and crafts and philosophy-- but every now and then he'll ask if she wants him to sing her to sleep, like he used to when she was a child, and there's always a flicker of confusion in his eyes when she laughs him off.
She notes that flicker a few more times, but she doesn't really see the weight of it until he comes for her father's funeral. Nothing about his appearance has aged, but his eyes are different: there's a tiredness in them that she's never seen before-- not from him, who always had such irrepressible energy-- and she notices that they linger on her whenever she speaks, as though he's trying to memorize the way she looks. The way he moves has changed as well-- he's slower, sadder, and he lets his hands brush over everything he passes as though trying to preserve it for something, as though he'll never feel it the same way again. And she thinks that she might not understand immortality, not really, but she can feel the weight of it in the way his gaze rests on her, in that strange mixture of bewilderment and grief.
The next time he visits, it is to say goodbye.
I've talked about that before, but what about the flip side of it? What about the dwarves who were born in Aglarond, who have grown up with elves as friends? Who maybe have family in other places who grumble (mostly good-naturedly, at this point, but sometimes with more bite to it) about their friendship with the elves, but who haven't been alive long enough to understand why? What about these elves who made friends with dwarves and then became friends to the entire family?
What about the dwarf child who has had a weird "uncle" from Ithilien who has visited her family since she was a child? What about the moment that she realizes that her uncle hasn't grown a single gray hair, even as her parents' sight begins to fail and their limbs weaken? She knows theoretically that elves are immortal, but she hasn't been able to see it until she notices that her uncle doesn't look any different now than when he used to tell her stories and coax animals into playing with her. Now she's too old for those antics, old enough to talk knowledgeably with him about current events and crafts and philosophy-- but every now and then he'll ask if she wants him to sing her to sleep, like he used to when she was a child, and there's always a flicker of confusion in his eyes when she laughs him off.
She notes that flicker a few more times, but she doesn't really see the weight of it until he comes for her father's funeral. Nothing about his appearance has aged, but his eyes are different: there's a tiredness in them that she's never seen before-- not from him, who always had such irrepressible energy-- and she notices that they linger on her whenever she speaks, as though he's trying to memorize the way she looks. The way he moves has changed as well-- he's slower, sadder, and he lets his hands brush over everything he passes as though trying to preserve it for something, as though he'll never feel it the same way again. And she thinks that she might not understand immortality, not really, but she can feel the weight of it in the way his gaze rests on her, in that strange mixture of bewilderment and grief.
The next time he visits, it is to say goodbye.
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