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Lore Corner - Questions and Debates

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Walküre:
Thank for your opinion. From my part, given the known contradictions or obscurity in Tolkien's passages, especially while dealing with a fictional character that somehow follows some canonical categories (the lore of the Elves of the woods), I do think there could be a couple of interesting themes out there to examine.

Namely, just to put more flesh on the bones of the topic, are really all Elves to depart from the mortal world, at some point? As far as I know, there are Elves who never wished or longed for the journey to Valinor, due to their profound love for Middle-earth; this was also during the Years of the Trees, at the apex of the Blessed Realm's splendour. Also, we know that the love of the Elves towards both their craft or dwellings is, in Galadriel's words, as deep as the abysses of the ocean. So, being Tauriel part of the family of Wood-elves (the 'Elves of Twilight', if I recall correctly) there might be the possibility of her deciding to linger in a world which she's deeply attached to, although the fate for such Elves is one of fading and slowly waning as time passes. This is probably the saddest scenario, yet plausible, I daresay.

Nevertheless, I too rejoice at the idea of her embracing her true fate and finding proper shelter in the realm of the Valar, in which the memory of love does not die nor wither.

Julio229:
I think that she had reasons for either staying or leaving. Her people, unlike most of the Elves, seem to have stayed on Middle-Earth for long after the War of the Ring and the beginning of the Fourth Age, so it is possible that she decided to stay, along with the love of Middle-Earth that she had. However, others such as Legolas (who she was attached to in a way) left, and as Kíli was dead (even though I dislike the love triangle, that factors into her character), that could have been a factor to make her take the path of the other elves and leave Middle-Earth.

OakenShield224:
If we think about what Mirkwood was like as a whole, Oropher tried to stay away from the Noldor and the rest of the World. It is likely that Thranduil was similar as he was king of the Wood Elves(without consideration of the Noldor). It it then likely that neither Oropher or Thranduil would've thought of the Valar in the same way as the Noldor and so this mentality would've spread to the rest of Mirkwood. This is all speculation though.

The problem with this is that Legolas went to the Undying Lands. However, this may be because of the death of Aragorn and the old age of Gimli. After this, Middle Earth may not have held any appeal for Legolas.

Walküre:
I would exactly focus on this known isolationist motive which pervades the lore of Mirkwood, even prior to the moving of the king's palace to the northernmost ends of the forest, after the poisoning of the woods by the action of the then-mysterious Necromancer. So, we can really infer how these Elves had always desired to distance themselves from their nobler related kind; their indifference towards Valinor might instead be a bit more atavistic of a trait of their character. It all began when the forefathers of Woodland Elves both refused the invitation of the West or stopped during the journey, bewildered and bewitched by the wonders of Middle-earth. Thus, it is no mystery that most of them are very likely to linger in a decaying world than embarking on the voyage to the immortal shores.

Regardless of such reasoning, though, I agree that personal happenings or sorrowful events (like the death of a beloved one) could also stir within those Elves the longing for peace and relief, for, albeit a fraction of them being much attached to Arda, grief and desolation affect all Immortals equally. This is the destiny of corruption that Arda is bound to suffer, after all. An inexorable fate.

Besides, since we've been able to gather very interesting arguments and explore significant topics of the lore, I think that Tauriel could be a more well-written character than one might think at a first glance, despite her flaws ;)

OakenShield224:
You mentioned personal happenings or sorrowful events. While Legolas is one example, another would be Celebrian. Although related to the Noldor (as daughter of Galadriel and wife of Elrond) she never saw the Undying Lands and lived among the Silvan elves for a lot of her life. However, after her treatment by the orcs and recovery, she decided to leave Middle Earth due to not being fully healed in mind/soul and not wanting to stay in Middle Earth any more.

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