June 25, 2002

Orcs Immortal, Arwen's Necklace
Danny

First off, I recal reading someone state that Arwyn's necklace was what gave her immortality, and that giving it to Aragorn would pass that to him. I don't have a clue where you got that. Maybe it is able to be backed up, who knows. I understood that Arwyn was immortal because she was 3/4 elvin. Elrond was half, and he was able to chose between Elvish immortality and human mortality. His brother chose mortality, but Elrond chose to live the life of an elf. Arwyn didn't need any jewelry to make her immortal, and Aragorn was mortal despite anything short of a ring of power. He could however chose when to die in a way of speaking.

About Orcs being immortal, I wondered that myself. I never researched it, but I remembered feeling hints like that in the text. I think it is likely that they may be immortal like elves, but one thing is certain. Morgoth's meddling and corrupting them has made them less powerful than elves by a long shot. I liked your argument for it and feel inclined to agree.

I too am curious about Radagast. I wonder if Tolkien would have liked to write him in more but the pressure from the publishers kept him from getting around to it. That is my speculation, but it would have been interesting if he had had interactions with the Ents. He was the one who was best with nature, and it seems strange that Treebeard would be more familiar with Gandalf than Radagast, but oh well. Just some thoughts.