Ever since the world saw J.R.R. Tolkien’s first fantasy nowels featuring the universe of Middle-earth, readers have been showing interest to know more about all those fictional races who existed in the past world, including such mysterious creatures as elves. As the new prequel of Lord of the Rings showed us the characters we are already familiar with, fans are now wondering how long elves can live.
Elves are physical entities in the Lord of the Rings universe, created by Eru Ilúvatar, a God and creator of the fictional world. Alongside dwarves and men, elves inhabited Middle-earth and made a significant contribution to this world’s history. That is thanks to their God-like capabilities, like foresight, telepathy, sharper senses, and to some extent, even power over nature.
Without further ado, let’s now find out how long elves live in the popular fantasy adventure.
How long do elves live in Lord of the Rings?
Elves in Lord of the Rings are biologically immortal creatures. They can’t die due to the passage of time, therefore can’t age throughout their lives. They can live forever unless injured, ill, or killed in a battle. That is why we saw some of our familiar characters, such as Galadriel and Elrond in The Rings of Power, which runs back thousands of years before the events described in The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.
What are the elves’ life cycles?
Elves as species have three life cycles. During the first cycle, which lasts around 100 years, elves grow up from children to adults. Despite developing faster than human children, elves are not considered full grown-ups until they reach hundred years old.
The second cycle is adulthood, which can last up to several thousand years and indicates the most active period in every elf’s life.
Even though the elves are immortal creatures, not all of them get to the third cycle, as some of them die and some travel to Valinor, also known as Undying Lands, an evil-free place where they can stay for a blissful eternity.
Who are the oldest elves in Lord of the Rings?
As you might already assume, one of the oldest elves in the history of Middle-earth is Galadriel. While being almost 9 thousand years old, she remained one of the wisest and fairest elves in the Third Age. Alongside her husband Celeborn, who is also older than 6 thousand years, they were ruling Lothlórien.
Another elf, who is totally worth mentioning is Thranduil. He was a King of the Woodland Realm during both the Second and Third Ages. Thranduil was a father to Legolas, a member of the Fellowship of the Ring, and took part in The War of the Ring against Sauron.
And, finally, we couldn’t forget about Fëanor, who was born in Valinor during the Years of Three Trees and died when he reached 10 thousand years old. He was a great warrior and craftsman, who created Silmarils, also known as Jewels of Fëanor, over which an entire war between Morgoth and elves was started.
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