Elves then are a metaphor for a race of better humans that existed in the past. Historically this was when God literally walked with Adam on the earth. This is why in LOTR, the elves are seen as never changing, never aging; they hearken back to a better time in history who also had special magical powers. I'm sure oceans of ink have been spilled in this path we are going down, books even who can explain this much better and more accurately in all its details that I can.
Enjoy and God bless. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. How do I explain the long life spans of Elves? Ask Question.
Asked 1 year, 9 months ago. Active 1 year, 8 months ago. Viewed 9k times. Note: Magic does not exist in my story. Improve this question. Starfish Prime 48k 5 5 gold badges 93 93 silver badges bronze badges.
Pan-adaptationism is a rather silly view of natural evolution. Maybe it's an accident; maybe it's a side effect of some other adaptive trait. And humans already have very long lives compared to our closest relatives; maybe it was simply more of the whatever same made us live two, three, four times longer than chimpanzees. Show 3 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer.
Starfish Prime Starfish Prime 48k 5 5 gold badges 93 93 silver badges bronze badges. A naked mole rat lives between x as long as them. It's a long life of poor quality I'd welcome Sauron's apocalypse, too.
Remember that prostate, cervical and breast cancers are major killers of humans, and its hard to get UV to penetrate that deeply into human bodies! Anecdotal evidence - I've done both - suggests that the first is far more enjoyable. Show 2 more comments. These are the pressures that are going to have a species develop claws, run faster etc. Sexual selection.
So you can use these two drivers to come up with some scenarios: eg: For some reason elves have babies at a later and later age, and so need to have better longevity to survive to this long age. For some reason, older elves are more attractive, and so develop longevity to an absurd degree. But of course - you need an explanation for those 'for some reasons'. Not even joking, economic pressures like this could work fine. Add a comment. Pierre Pierre 1, 1 1 silver badge 12 12 bronze badges.
People who exercise more tend to live longer. IDK the 'answer' but probably their hearts beat about 2 billion times just like most other mammals. People who are less sedentary live longer there is no 'high' or 'low' metabolisms; there's heart rate.
But if there's a word to live by, it's moderation. Cooper Cooper 4 4 bronze badges. This can contribute to the knowledge and wise motif. Willk Willk k 54 54 gold badges silver badges bronze badges. The suggestion that a long reproductive period drives longevity is a good one, but then the question that still must be answered is what is driving the long reproductive period? Perhaps the evolution of long lives happened in the distant past and in this distant past there were many more elves, or much greater elf mortality.
A second and more recent event hampered elf fertility so they still live very long but now rarely conceive. Frequency of reproduction and maximum age are directly opposed by genetic pressures, because overpopulation exhausts the local food supply and everyone dies. You're also incorrect about humans living for any significant time after they can no longer reproduce. In hunter-gatherer societies this is pretty rare, and people who make it that far are the long tail of a random distribution where a corresponding number have died much younger.
Humans in our modern society are not representative of evolution. My answer is essentially a truism. Show 1 more comment. Even if they look mainly humans, they are not humans any more. They are also immortal. Click to expand Elthir Active Member. In my opinion Tolkien Gateway at least in the section I read is simplifying the matter of Elven maturity a bit. Luthien is a notable exception, and died leaving the world and its time.
Elves who remain "too long" in Middle-earth will also live until the world ends, but at some point their bodies will "fade" and become invisible to "most" mortal eyes [needs more explaining but moving on for brevity]. Some Elves who "die" in Middle-earth can remain as spirits there. Also, the Elves have various theories about what will happen to them after the world ends.
That's my brief summation anyway. Last edited: Apr 30, Alcuin of Zarkanya. One of the things Tolkien does in his legendarium or mythology is explore various aspects of the humane, of living and dying. Elves are certain aspects of Men and their talents and desires, incarnated in my little world.
They have certain freedoms and powers we should like to have, and the beauty and peril and sorrow of the possession of these things is exhibited in them.
Elves and Men are just different aspects of the Humane, and represent the problem of Death as seen by a finite but willing and self-conscious person. Another nice post Alcuin. I should add to my own post that bodily fading at least in the sense of becoming invisible in some measure is not observed in any Elves in the Third Age , including the notably old Cirdan.
Firawyn The Captain Staff member. I realize I run the risk at sounding rude here, and forgive me if I do, but usually by the time someone comes to the Tolkien Forum they have, at the least seen Lord of the Rings movies, the Hobbit movies, or read the books by either of those titles , if not both.
In any singular one of the cases, it is made blatantly clear that Elves of Middle Earth are immortal, so while I can understand the question being posed as to a more intricate look at the clear definition of their immortality, the general idea of immortality is fairly clear and understood across the board in pop culture, and so I'm sitting here scratching my head asking how on earth, middle earth, or the bloody moon even, the notion that Elves might have a similar lifespan to humans was even a consideration.
I truly don't mean to come off unkindly. I'm just, well, confused. CirdanLinweilin The Wandering Wastrel. Firawyn said:. CirdanLinweilin said:. Glad to see you again Firawyn! Thank you, you as well. I suppose I'm a bit of an antique around here at this point, but life is finally slowing down enough that I may be able to be around more regularly again.
You must log in or register to reply here. Middle Aged: [,]. Old: [1,,]. Venerable: [1,,]. Most live for over years, and even at the end they suffer few of the infirmities of old age. Old: [,]. Either way, a massive drop.
Most elves live to be well over years old and remain vigorous almost to the end. Venerable: []. Trivia: When Dragonlance came out under 1st Ed Tanis half-elven was in his 90s human equivalent late 30s , when 2nd Ed hit he was suddenly the human equivalent of his late 60ss!
Declining influence of Tolkien perhaps? His races were particularly long lived. Skiorht Despair Shouter Validated User. Far easier for world building. Two or three centuries old elves are ancient, but you can still have ancient history that's old even by their standards. Skiorht said:. Last edited: Mar 2, The Human Target Member Banned.
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