Quote:
Originally posted by SixOfSpades:
and then in Return of the King, Legolas meets the Prince of Dol Amroth (whose lands just happen to be situated near the mouth of the river Anduin), and salutes him, because it was clear that "the Prince had Elven blood in his veins."
On the "green with envy" scale, I would say that the Men are definitely greener.
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Oh, I know about Imrahil and his folks alright. There's nothing special about him, he's a Man with a beardless chin. I wouldn't call him half-elven; the blood's much more watered-down than that. The folk of Dol Amroth are just some Men with some quirky genetics - definitely descended in some way from Nimrodel the elven-maid, but not directly. Aragorn is not like Imrahil, however.
I think it's not to do with this elven 'trait' that the Steward line married into the Dol Amroth line, but for the fact that, apart from Minas Tirith, Dol Amroth was most likely the mightiest and fairest of the Gondorian realms.
One thing that puzzles me, however. Where does it say that Men envied Elves? Men honoured Elves in the First and Second Ages, and mistrusted them in the Third Age, but I don't believe mankind envied the Elves at all. Anyone who had the lore to make an informed choice could see that to be an Elf was to have a sorrowful existence. The Elven race sums up one of the key themes of Lord of the Rings; loss, and dealing with loss. The Elves put a brave face on the absolute tragedy that is their history and destiny. I'd want no part of that.
As for Elladan and Elrohir, you're being a bit harsh, aren't you? The brothers were born in the Third Age, at a time when Elvenkind pretty much stopped making war and concentrated on defence of what little they had. Elladan and Elrohir spent time wandering and aiding the Rangers of the North for almost 3000 years; and when it comes to the crux, they are two of only a handful of Elves that fight Sauron directly. They're in Aragorn's shadow because, quite frankly, Aragorn is the Epic Hero of LotR and EVERYONE is in his shadow. Aragorn is a throwback, a fluke of generational breeding that creates a man destined to be a hero and a king. You can't fairly compare anyone in LotR to him.
And Glorfindel... this is THE Glorfindel, slayer of a Balrog, who came back from Valinor to Middle-Earth of his own choice. He has passed through death and come back - he has suffered to such a cathartic extent that he cannot and will not fight any more (reminiscent of Frodo after the Ring is destroyed). Even then, because of who he is and where he's been, he has power - at the battles to protect Imladris in the Second Age, Glorfindel squared up to the Witch-King, Lord of the Ringwraiths, and simply scared him off. When people say, "Even Glorfindel couldn't do this," (and they do) they mean it.