The Elves of Arda are often envied by mortals because of their immortality. However, having different fate, the Men cannot possibly understand all the possible disadvantages of continual living until the end of time. The Elves have their own sorrows which only intensify as the years go by — the fact which has a considerable influence on the Elvish attitude to life.
‘And you, Ring-bearer,’ she said, turning to Frodo. ‘I come to you last who are not last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared this.’ (Fellowship of the Ring, p.495 ). The parting gift from Lady Galadriel to Frodo was a small crystal phial filled with the light of Eärendil’s star. Little did the Hobbit know then the potency and power of the gift and how helpful it would be to him and Sam on their dark road.
Beautiful she is, sir! Lovely! Sometimes like
a great tree in flower, sometimes like a white
daffadowndilly, small and slender like. Hard as
di’monds, soft as moonlight. Warm as sunlight,
cold as frost in the stars. Proud and far-off as a
snow-mountain, and as merry as any lass
I ever saw with daisies in her hair in springtime.
(Two Towers, p. 357)
Elvish poetry occupies a special place in Tolkien’s Legendarium. It is always instantly recognisable and different from the verse of other peoples in Middle-earth. Varied in style and tone, focus and subject matter, Elvish songs and poems always give a lot of food for thought. Their poems in The Lord of the Rings present a story of their own.
It would be a poor life in a land where no mallorn grew.
(Fellowship of the Ring, p. 457)
While there are still Elvish realms like spots of light in Middle-earth of the Third Age, none of them is so Elvish as Lothlórien is. Legolas refers to the Golden Wood as to «the fairest of all the dwellings of my people» (Fellowship of the Ring., p. 438), which captures Lórien’s aura perfectly.
