[Neniel]

OK, I have a question for all of you Silmarillion guys, because I'm sort of baffled. I'm in the process of writing a fic about the battle at the Mouths of Sirion and the realtionship between Maglor and the twins Elrond and Elros. So, naturally, I bounced on my copy of the Silmarillion to make a rough background for the principle characters.

And that's when I noticed that the aforementioned half-elves' ages don't match up. I don't know if LACE mentions anything about half-elves, but I always thought that their aging process would be somewhere in the middle between men's 20 years of age and elves' 100.

But here's the catch. Elwing was born in I500 and Eärendil in I503 (lol, she was 3 years older than him! ^_^). But the twins Elrond and Elros were born in I525, when Elwing would be merely 25 years old and Eärendil 22!

Alright, I thought then, perhaps half-elves simply grow up like humans and then just stop aging. But, even though I could find no definite date for the destruction of Sirion, I guessed it would have to be shortly before the War of Wrath began (how long could Eärendil and Elwing live in a ship before reaching the shores of Aman anyway?) and that is situated in I583. That makes the twins 58 years old at the time and definitely adults considering their parents' lives. But I was under the very clear impression that they were treated like children. Maglor keeps them under his protection and it is often said that they were partly raised in Cirdan's household (obviously after leaving Maglor's side).

So, Elwing and Eärendil at the age of 20-25 were adults while Elrond and Elros at the age of 60 are children???


Does it have anything to do with being a first or second generation half-elf????? But their parents were both equally half-elven, so that shouldn't matter! (although Elwing was a tad bit more elven I think through her mother Nimloth)

Agghhh!

Please, I know I'm getting insanely technical here, but the evil bunny is devouring what little is left of my brain and once something gets stuck in that silly mind of mine it just troubles me to no end for weeks at an end!

So, any ideas???

[inglor]

You seem to have all the math right. There's not much I can add say except: "The Professor said so". Maybe Elwing and Earendil inherited more Man and the boys inherited more Elf. Earendil was seven when he tussled w/ Maeglin, sounds more like a Man child than an elf. As far as I know there is no good explanation for what you have found. Maybe the Maia from Elwing extended their childhood. *shrug* Sounds like a good challenge to write a credible reason.

Sorry I can't help

Inglor

[Neniel]

*sigh* Oh, well, I suppose I'll just dance around the whole thing and pretend their ages never really were an issue or something... *pout* Too bad though, I wanted to write more about Elwing and Eärendil and how they met, etc...

Not to mention that while I was trying to get the math to work, I had all kinds of weird plot bunnies sprouting all over the place... Elwing and Eärendil eloping because they were too young to marry, the shock for a very young Elwing having given birth not to one but two babies... you know, nice little things like that!

[Rhapsody]

[Neniel]

Thank you sooooo much! The truth is I don't know where you got those dates, but I certainly couldn't find them and the Encyclopaedia of Arda wasn't mentioning anything either! But if the third kinslaying was in I532, that would mean that Eärendil and Elwing were travelling for 51 years! *shaking head* Oh, well, if the twins were indeed just 7 years old, it looks like some re-writing is in order... (damn!)

Still, I'm infinitely grateful you could clarify these details for me! Thank you!