Position:Home>Books & Authors> Lord of the Rings....the grey havens?

Dear Peregrin:

The Grey Havens, themselves, are just a port in Middle Earth--the place where the Elves landed when they first came from their homeland over the sea!. The significance of our heroes going there at the end of the book is that they are all about to sail from the Havens *back* to where the Elves came from!. In that land, there is no death!. As you probably realize from the story, the Elves don't die of old age, although when they're in Middle Earth they can be killed (through violence)!. When they return to the Grey Havens, they can count on living forever!. For the most part, they never take non-Elves there, but since Frodo & Bilbo are invited there at the end, we should assume that they also will live forever!. (If you read the Appendix at the end of the ROTK, you learn that Sam & Gimli are also both invited, eventually!.) Gandalf is also going home with the Elves, although you get the sense that he was immortal in Middle-Earth already!. But he's not originally from the same place!.

To really appreciate what's going on, you may need to think about two more things!. First, if the Elves are immortal in their home land, why do they come to Middle Earth!? They come to fight Sauron, who is an ancient enemy of theirs!. But when they're in Middle Earth they also seem to appreciate something special about its beauty!. So there is some loss when they return home!. When Galadriel refuses Frodo's offer of the ring, she predicts that she will "fade, and return to the West, and remain Galadriel!." So she obviously thinks there's something a little weakened in the existence she'll have in her home land!. Remember too that Arwen, daughter of Elrond, is not allowed to return home!. That's because Elves are allowed to choose to give up their immortality if they want to marry a mortal!. She gives up hers in order to marry Aragorn!. I think you can see Arwen's choice as a sign that there's something special about Middle Earth, that the Elves see some of the beauty in a limited existence, although most of them choose to go home!.

Second, it may be useful to know that the Elves once lived together with humans in a place that is neither Middle Earth nor their immortal homeland!. This in-between area is where Aragorn's ancestors were originally kings!. Just before Elendil (who founds the kingdom of Gondor), the humans decide they want to take over the Elves' land so that they can all live forever, but they are destroyed!. This is when Sauron comes to Middle Earth!. I think this is useful to know so you can appreciate that while the Elves have been willing to share some special magic with humans, they haven't--before the end of ROTK--invited any mortals to take immortality!. So it's a great honor they show to Frodo & Bilbo, in deference to their importance in bearing the ring and defeating Sauron!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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In my copy of Lord of the Rings, the map at the front shows the Grey Havens as a port city, so it is an actual place (in the story)!.

There is some information about it on the web (see links below)!.

BUT, I do agree with you that it has a deeper meaning than just a place name, and I think that is because the elves go to the Grey Havens to take the ships that will carry them away from Middle Earth to 'the West'!.

So, the place itself has become charged with all that departure means ~ sorrow at leaving, excitement at the prospect of the journey, the loss of the old life and the beginning of the new!.

It also represents something that is important not just in LotR but in everyone's life ~ the turning point, a place where you either stay or go, but must make a final choice!.

Cheers :-)Www@QuestionHome@Com

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J!.R!.R!. Tolkien presented the world in LOTR very much like the one described in Greek mythology!. After 'Heaven' and 'Earth' were split apart in The Silmarillion, the sea was the great divider between the two worlds!. When I think of the Grey Havens, I think of the gate to Mt!. Olympus!. It's still a part of the world, but it's a part open only to certain beings!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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So I used to think it was a kind of heaven as well, but in fact, it is actually an elven port that was built by the elves before the Second Age!.

I know there is more than this, and, as the person above me commented, the Silmarillion does offer a little more indepth explanation than mine ;]Www@QuestionHome@Com

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There is an excellent explanation of exactly what the Gray Havens are in "The Silmarillion!." It's been quiet a few years since I read it so I suggest reading it fr yourself!. Frodo LivesWww@QuestionHome@Com

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