[cantbebought]

Speaking of leadership....(Now for a little Elf bashing).....

'Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing:
the last whose realm was fair and free
between the Mountains and the Sea.'

'But long ago he rode away,
and where he dwelleth none can say;
for into darkness fell his star
in Mordor where the shadows are.'

One of the things that always struck me strange was that Gil-galad never married and had an hier. I mean really. His Uncle (Turgon), Father (Fingon), Grandfather (Fingolfin), GreatUncle (Feanor) & Great-Grandfather (Finwe) have all been killed in the wars against Morgorth and his Lieutenant Sauron. He ruled for 3,514 years and marches off to the biggest war in ages were, when he falls, the Noldor Kingdom in exile also fails.

Was this ever explained in any of the Lost Tales or letters?

[JenB]

Well, he probably never fell in love. If you're immortal, I bet you'd go to a lot more trouble making sure you love the right person. Not many Elves getting divorces... in fact the only one I remember as having even remarried after his wife died was Finwe, father of Feanor. Maybe if you're immortal, time runs differently and you think there's no big rush. A lot of Elves have very small families, too. That's probably why they didn't completely cover Middle-Earth. Imagine a race that reproduced at the same rate as humans, but never died and never stopped being able to have children!

Incidentally, Finrod Felagund never married either. He was probably the greatest king of the Noldor of all time, second only to Thingol as a Middle-Earth elf king. (Gil-Galad, becoming king after both of them were dead, can't really compare.) Thanks for quoting those verses, though we're a bit early for them yet. Still, they're beautiful!

[Overtaxed]

Speaking of leadership....(Now for a little Elf bashing).....

Hail fellow Elf-basher! Welcome to Took's Corner. :) I would say something mor about Gil-galad cutting and running but it would upset my fellow hobbits.