Hur åldras åldersälvorna (om de åldras)?

Följande kommer från " Vad Tolkien officiellt sa om Elf Sex ", som i sin tur citerar mycket från " Eldar lagar och tullar ", som publiceras i boken Morgoths Ring, Middle-Earth History. (aka LACE )

"Marriage is chiefly of the body, for it is achieved by bodily union, and its first operation is the begetting of the bodies of children, even though it endures beyond this and has other operations. And the union of bodies in marriage is unique, and no other union resembles it."

Så ja, Elver reproducerar på liknande sätt män (även Aragorn hade barn med Arwen, så reproduktionen är biologiskt kompatibel)

Vidare, såväl som åldrande / barndom (återigen kommer från samma)

The Facts of Elf Life

...Some more elvish facts of life, all sourced from LACE. Regarding elvish pregnancy, "A year passed between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child, so that the days of both are the same, or nearly so."

Elvish childhood and adolescence lasted until the age of approximately 50 years. Elves tended to marry soon after coming of age, with a one-year engagement being standard. Elves did not say they "had a baby," they said "a baby is given to us." The most kids an elf couple ever had were seven, the sons of Fëanor and Nerdanel. Tolkien said absolutely nothing about elf puberty.

När det gäller fysisk åldrande har Elven Livscykel - Tolkien Gateway - Later Life det här (inte riktigt säker på originalet källor till dessa uttalanden, men artikeln som helhet refererar till från Shibboleth of Fëanor "abd" Oavslutade tales, "Galadriel och Celebors historia", "Amroth och Nimrodel", p . 320 ")

Apparently, beards were the only sign of further natural physical aging beyond maturity.

Elves did not age over their 100th year but they aged in a different sense than Men: they became ever more weary of the world and burdened by its sorrows, sometimes appeared to age under great stress.

Círdan seemed to be aged himself, since he is described as looking old, save for the stars in his eyes; this may be due to all the sorrows he had seen and lived through since the First Age. Also, the people of Nargothrond had trouble recognizing Gwindor after his time as a prisoner of Morgoth.

Och för en något mindre kanonisk källa:

(src: Oregelbunden Webcomic No. 123 2003-05-28 )

Det finns några bra svar på annat håll, men tröttheten är den viktigaste faktorn för åldrarna åldrande, IMO. @DVK täcker huvuddelen av materialet och berör den här tröttheten. Älven blir gamla långsamt, men efter en tid - 100 år - åldras de bara mentalt och emotionellt. Jag tror att det är ett mycket smart koncept av JRRT, eftersom de då kan vara odödliga, men fortfarande har en önskan om att lämna de levande landen.

Jämför detta med Aragorn, som "gav upp" sitt liv när han var redo att, något som var en del av tävlingen tidigare, men tenderade att gå vilse. Det är en känsla att männen också har tröttnat på världen och gav upp sina liv. Personligen tror jag att han hade en mycket mogen och förnuftig inställning till döden.

Detta är i stort sett ett komplement till DVKs fina svar , med kanonbacken för hans citerade uppsats:

De försäkrar sig mest:

[T]he Eldar do indeed grow older, even if slowly: the limit of their lives is the life of Arda, which though long beyond the reckoning of Men is not endless, and ages also.

History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 3: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" Chapter 2: "The Second Phase" Laws and Customs Among the Eldar

I deras tidiga år åldras åldrar på samma sätt som män (även om de utvecklas kognitivt något snabbare):

The Eldar grew in bodily form slower than Men, but in mind more swiftly. They learned to speak before they were one year old; and in the same time they learned to walk and to dance, for their wills came soon to the mastery of their bodies. Nonetheless there was less difference between the two Kindreds, Elves and Men, in early youth; and a man who watched elf-children at play might well have believed that they were the children of Men, of some fair and happy people.

History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 3: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" Chapter 2: "The Second Phase" Laws and Customs Among the Eldar

Men det tar inte lång tid innan älvorna efterlämnas av liknande åldrade Mänskliga barn. Medan människor typiskt är fullvuxna med cirka 18, kan älvor ta var som helst från femtio till hundra år:

This same watcher might indeed have wondered at the small limbs and stature of these children, judging their age by their skill in words and grace in motion. For at the end of the third year mortal children began to outstrip the Elves, hastening on to a full stature while the Elves lingered in the first spring of childhood. Children of Men might reach their full height while Eldar of the same age were still in body like to mortals of no more than seven years. Not until the fiftieth year did the Eldar attain the stature and shape in which their lives would afterwards endure, and for some a hundred years would pass before they were full-grown.

History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 3: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" Chapter 2: "The Second Phase" Laws and Customs Among the Eldar