[LadyBrooke]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

All Elves are basically immortal unless they are killed or they die from weariness. After their death most go to the Halls of Mandos*. Their fear stay there until (and unless) they are rebodied.

*Some Elves don't accept the summons of Mandos and do not come to his Halls, but I'm really hazy on that...

I know that...I was commenting on the fact that it is a rather strange way for Tolkien to phrase it, given the fact that the Eldar don't include all elves, hence the

Originally Posted by Galin

If push comes to shove, for myself I don't see why the author-published definition should not take first place above 'unpublished' writing -- and I think The Lord of the Rings is clear enough, despite any examples that might be raised otherwise, that technically at least, 'Eldar' does not refer to all Elves, as Appendix F draws a rather notable distinction (among the Quendi the Eldar were as kings).

I don't think that LotR's is clear at all concerning the elves for the most part, after all directly contradicting his definition in the appendix are examples in the text itself that make no sense going by that definition of Eldar...going by just LotR, there is no statement that Legolas is one of the Sindar. Therefore, going by your statement that unpublished writings should not take precedence over author-published statements, Legolas is not an Eldar.

Still, in a given discussion I think Legolas could claim to be Eldarin as well as one of the Silvan Folk, if he thought that the former distinction was relevant... depending upon whether or not a son or daughter of a confirmed Elda can also be said to be Eldarin for whatever reason.

He might be able to, but he doesn't. That makes all the difference in the world to me. He or Tolkien could have included himself as an Elda, if he thought that it was important or that it was correct to refer to him as. He doesn't, so all we have are the writer's words that he was a Silvan elf and a wood elf, versus thoughts that he could be or might be one of the Eldar.

Is the son of a Light Elf himself a Dark Elf because he had not lived in Aman nor seen the light of the Trees? Or is there something outside of the 'definition' that can or might be considered?

The definition seems clear enough to me - only those elves that have dwelt, for whatever amount of time, in Valinor are Calaquendi. Everyone else, including descendants, are Moriquendi. Otherwise, wouldn't the descendants of Thingol that chose immortality, be Calaquendi? Yet it states that Thingol alone of all his people (which would include his daughter) was one of the Calaquendi.