Tar-Elenion
Elite
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These are the variant textual descriptions/explanations of the rate(s) at which Elves age. I have attempted to arrange them in what seems to be a chronological order. As most of texts seem to be dated to 1959, this is somewhat difficult, I thus ordered them in what seems to be a progression from one scheme to the next. I inserted and italicised footnotes/endnotes where I thought appropriate. Editorial commentary that is in red is mine, blue is CT or CFH. Where I did not specify, the text is from Nature of Middle-earth.
MR, LQSII, Laws and Customs
ca. 1958
The Eldar grew in bodily form slower than Men, but in mind more swiftly. They learned to speak before they were one year old; and in the same time they learned to walk and to dance, for their wills came soon to the mastery of their bodies.
For at the end of the third year mortal children began to outstrip the Elves, hastening on to a full stature while the Elves lingered in the first spring of childhood. Children of Men might reach their full height while Eldar of the same age were still in body like to mortals of no more than seven years. Not until the fiftieth year did the Eldar attain the stature and shape in which their lives would afterwards endure, and for some a hundred years would pass before they were full-grown.
...a year passes between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child...
[In Aman, at least, I am fairly convinced that these 'years' are Tree Years, i.e. 9.582 Sun years. See, e.g., Finarfin born in YT 1230, marries in YT 1280 (Annals of Aman) "The Eldar wedded for the most part in their youth and soon after their fiftieth year", L&C. Also interesting to note that the first 3 years growth is as with Men Thus should the pregnancy through age 3 time be measured in sun years in Aman?]
1 III Of Time in Arda
[not dated by CFH, presumably 1959 as with the others; this text seems to set up 'IV Time-scales']
I The Quendi compared with Men
Elves closely resembled Men in this process. They reached maturity (of the body) at about the age of 20, and remained in full physical vigour till about the age of 60. After that the fëa and its interests began to dominate them. At the age of about 100 one of the Quendi had reached a stage similar to that of a Mortal of full age and wisdom. The normal period, therefore, for marriage and the begetting and bearing of children and their nurture (which were among the greatest delights of the Quendi in Arda) was between about the ages of 20 and 60.
1 IV Time-scales
The text dates to c. 1959.
They reached maturity at about the age of 20, [fn1 Elf-men 24, women 18] and remained in full physical vigour till about the age of 60, after which the fëa and its interests began to assume command. After about the age of 90–96 one of the Quendi had reached a stage similar to that of a vigorous and hale Mortal of high age and wisdom.
An elven-child was borne in its mother’s womb for about the same (relative) time as a mortal child, that is for about ¾ of a “youth-year” = ¾ of 12 löar = 9 löar; [fn6 Actually, a length of time = Mortal 96 months or 8 years] though in the Quendi this period was more variable, often being less, and on rare occasions being more.
...one “growth-year” = 12 löar;
In their beginning the Quendi grew at a rate in which the “unit” was the yên or Elven-year, which was 144 MY. If then an elf-child grew to a maiden and a young woman in about 20 “years”, wedded at 25 and bore her first child at 26, her age in mortal terms would be 2,880 at maturity, 3,600 at wedding, and 3,744 at childbirth.
Gestation, therefore, proceeds according to the growth and ageing scale of the Quendi, and occupies ¾ yên, or 108 MY. [18 As first written, this paragraph ended: “occupies a whole yén, or 144 MY”.]
This will not fit the narrative in the Silmarillion. What of Maeglin?
[While Laws & Customs has a full 'one year' pregnancy (presumably = 9.58 sun-years in Aman, or is it 1 sun-year, as the first 3 years are little different than Men), this attempts to match the pregnancy of Men, as a portion of a yên, thus a 108 sun-years pregnancy, and by a deliberate change from a full yen, i.e. 144 years]
1 IX Time-scales and “rates of growth”
It dates from c. 1959
--------------------------Valian Year of Ageing---Mortal Men
-------------------------------------1 -----------------144
Original Quendian---------------- 1----------------- 144
Later ----------------------------25/36 ---------------100
...the Avari quickened to 100 : 1 as soon as the Eldar had departed; that the Nandor did likewise as soon as they forsook the March; that the Sindar did so also when they chose to remain on the Western Shores; and that finally the exiled Ñoldor were quickened in the same way as soon as they left Aman, or rather as soon as the Doom of Mandos was spoken and they persisted in their rebellion.
the rate 100 : 1 can be used to determine approximately the age of any of the Eldar in human terms (except while they were in Aman where it is 144 : 1)
It is said that after the fall of Sauron, and the beginning of the Fourth Age and the Dominion of Men, those of the Elves who still lingered in Middle-earth were again “quickened” to a rate of about 72 : 1, or in these latter days to 48 : 1.
[Tolkien at some later point wrote in the margin against this paragraph in red ball-point pen: “no quickening” and “All this needs revision to duodecimal”]
1 X Difficulties in Chronology
from c. 1959
Solution 1) Elves married late in Aman (usually). They became adult at life-age 20, but that = 20 VY = 2,880; but they remained very young and vigorous (and youthful in mind and interests) so that often they did not wed until they were 200 life-years old or nearly that: sc. when 28,800 Sun-years old!
2) But under the Sun (outside Varda’s Domes) all the Eldar had quickened in growth, though they had not lost (at first) much of their steadfastness in vigour and health at that point. They therefore reached maturity 10 times quicker or became 20 when only 200 [sun-]years old; they then maintained this vigour, ageing only at the rate of 100 years = 1 life-year.
To find the approximate age-equivalence therefore in mortal years: For those born in Aman reckon years in Aman as if mortal (or divide real number of Sun-years by 144) up to FA 1496; then divide Beleriand Years by 100. Thus an Elda born in Aman in 1475 would be 20 at the Exile, 21 at arrival in Middle-earth, + 590/100 [older] at the fall of Morgoth = about 27.
For those born in Beleriand. Maeglin for example, born in Bel. 120, was in only 200 years (= 20) an adult: sc. he was in life-age 20 in Bel. 320. But in 495, when Tuor came to Gondolin, he was only (495-320)/100 years older: sc. 175/100 = less than 2 years or about 22. When Maeglin came to Gondolin c. 400 he was thus 20 + 80/100 years old.
If born in Aman, it must be remembered that if they were not yet adult, the rate of growth would become 10 = 1 when they set foot in Middle-earth (or probably as soon as the Doom of Mandos was spoken in VY 1495).
3) The Rate of Growth of those born in Beleriand was 10 = 1. But of those born in Aman it was 50 = 1 in Beleriand. But it began to increase as soon as they left Valinor, say after the Doom of Mandos.
[an attempt to fix the Maeglin 'problem', but seems to have been written before the before 'no quickening' and 'duodecimal' note]
1 XI Ageing of Elves
It dates from c. 1959
The age or “growth” scale must be altered. In Aman in the early ages it was very slow. The Eldar then lived at Valian rate: 144 : 1, but also their youth lasted very long,
But this slow growth was only maintained in Aman “under the domes of Varda”. The rate of growth “under the Sun” soon quickened. For all periods relative to the narrative it may be taken as 10 : 1. That is, from conception to maturity the Elvish hröa in Middle-earth only took 10 times the period of Men. But reaching maturity at 20 they then remained in long-lasting vigour with little perceptible change: i.e., the ageing rate was 144 : 1, or in Middle-earth 100 : 1
With regard to those born in Aman it might prove useful to increase their growth-span. Thus the maturing rate of those born in Aman should be 50 : 1, and this should continue in the second generation (those begotten in Beleriand or Eriador of one or two Aman-born parents).
This will not work
But note [growth] rates doubled in 1496. Finduilas (the youngest Exile) was 12 in 1495. During 1496 she “grew” at a rate of 25 : 1. Therefore in 144/25 years she grew 6 years. She landed in Beleriand at 16. She then resumed the 50 : 1 growth-rate and needed 4 × 50 – 4 = 196 [sun-years] to complete maturity. She was therefore 20 in MY 196. In MY 502 she had lived 306 more years at 100 : 1 and so was 23.
from 'contemporary draft materials':
Idril should be also about 30 in Bel. 500. To be 30 in Bel. 500 required 2 [life-]years on journey [across the Ice from Aman to Middle-earth], 16 [life-]years at [growth rate] 12 : 1 = 192 [to reach maturity], and then 12 more [life-years] at 144 : 1.
The journey to Middle-earth [took] 144 [sun-]years but counted as 2 [life-]years: 144 + 192. We still have to alter the arrangement during the march from Aman in VY 1496. This occupied 144 sun-years; but it was so horrible that the mature aged at a double rate 2 [life-]years during that time. The immature should also have aged at a double rate, at 6 [sun-years] = 1 [growth-year]. Thus an Elda going into exile in VY 1495 at 12 [growth-years] would, by the end of the journey, if female, only require another 6 [growth] years for maturity = 36 [sun-years] and would therefore become 18 in SY 36 of VY 1496.[19] At the end of VY 1496 and arrival in Beleriand she would have had another 108 years at the 72 : 1 rate = 1½ [life-years] and therefore be 19½. She would then resume the 144 : 1 rate and in Bel. 502 would be only 502/144 years older, or about 3½ [life-years]. She would be 23. This fits fairly well. If we make Idril 18 at Exile in 1495, she was then “mature” and lived rest of [her] life at 144 : 1 save the year of journey = 2 [life-years]. She was therefore 20 when she arrived in Beleriand, and in 502 would be 23½. If Idril was 20 at Exile she will be 25½ in Bel. 502
[CFH includes 'contemporary draft material] with the 1 XI text.
The green text is from Tolkien, but I am finding it problematic which I will explain in a follow-up post.
The 1 XI Ageing seems to have been written before the before 'no quickening' and 'duodecimal' note, while the Idril contemporary draft material has duodecimal and no quickening]
MR, MT XI, Aman
ca. 1959
In Aman the length of the unit of 'year' was the same as it was for the Quendi.
It was, however, the fact that the Elvish speed of 'growth' accorded with the unit of Valian time that made it possible for the Valar to bring the Eldar to dwell in Aman. In one Valian year the Eldar dwelling there grew and developed in much the same way as mortals did in one year upon Middle-earth. In recording the events in Aman, therefore, we may as did the Eldar themselves use the Valian unit, though we must not forget that within any such 'year' the Eldar enjoyed an immense series of delights and achievements which even the most gifted of Men could not accomplish in twelve times twelve mortal years [5 In notes not given in this book, in which my father was calculating on this basis the time of the Awakening of Men, he expressly stated that 144 Sun Years = 1 Valian Year]. Nonetheless the Eldar 'aged' at the same speed in Aman as they had done in their beginning upon Middle-earth.
On Earth while an elf-child did but grow to be a man or a woman, in some 3000 years, forests would rise and fall, and all the face of the land would change, while birds and flowers innumerable would be born and die in löar upon löar under the wheeling Sun.
[No quickening, Elves, in Aman or Middle-earth, age one year for 144 sun-years, adult at ca. 20.
The notes CT refers to may be the Awaking of the Quendi text in NoMe 1 VI.
Is pregnancy a full year (i.e. 144 years) or a partial year?]
1 V Youth of the Quendi
It dates from c. 1959.
The Eldar distinguished between growth and life (or life-endurance). The former was 12 times as rapid (in ageing effect) as the latter.
Now as for growth: this affected the Elvish hröa from conception until maturity (or puberty). The life-endurance rate of the Quendi was as 1 yên is to 1 löa or “sun-year”: that is, 144 : Human 1. The growth-rate was 12 times as rapid: i.e., was only in proportion 12 löar = 1 [Human] löa or sun-year. Thus from conception to birth they lay in the womb 9 löar. When born they continued to grow at the same rate, until puberty. With Elf-males this was reached at “age” 24; but with Elf-females at age 18. That is for males 24 × 12 after birth, or 288 löar; for females 18 × 12 or 216 löar.
An Elf-child conceived was born 9 löar later. Elvish “growth” age about 9 months. Actual time: 9 years
The “growth age” of 12:1 (in comparison with mortal years) was maintained until an Elf-man reached “age 24”. Actual time: 288 years
In case of women it usually ceased at 18 though it was sometimes continued, especially in Aman, to 21. Actual time: 216 (or 252)
['duodecimal' and no 'quickening', 9 sun-year pregnancy, 12 to 1 growth rate, in line with the 'Idril draft material', but is a stretch to fix the Maeglin 'problem']
1 XII Concerning the Quendi in their mode of life and growth especially as Compared with Men
I. Youth and Ageing of the Quendi
It dates to c. 1959
The Eldar distinguished between olmië and coivië. The former was the period or process of their ‘growth’ from conception to maturity of body, and was achieved twelve times as rapidly as the coivië.
The olmië was achieved at a rate equalling 12 löar (or sun-years) to 1 löa of human life. An Elvish ‘growth-year’, or olmen, was therefore 12 sun-years. Thus from conception to birth they grew in the womb 9 löar. When born they continued to grow at this rate until maturity of body.
The coivië then proceeded at a rate 12 times as slow, so that 144 löar (or sun-years) may be more or less equated, so far as change or alteration are concerned, with 1 year of human adult life.
Elf-men reached maturity at about 24: that is, after 24 olmendi (or 2 yéni): 288 löar. Elf-women reached maturity normally after 18 olmendi (or 1½ yéni): 216 löar. [fn3 This rate was in some individuals rather slower and might take up to 21 olmendi, or 252 löar.]
After this, their ‘youth’ (vinyarë), or the time of their full bodily vigour, endured (for both sexes) for about 72 coimendi or yéni after maturity. That is: it lasted until Elf-men were of “age” 24 + 72 or 96; and Elf-women were of “age” 18 + 72 or 90. But expressed in “years” or löar this is 288 + 10,368, or 10,656 years for males; and 216 + 10,368, or 10,584 for females.
[duodecimal and no 'quickening', 9 sun-year pregnancy, 12 to 1 growth rate]
1 VII March of the Quendi
It dates from c. 1959
Let the March begin when the youngest of the 8th gen. are at least 10 [growth-]years old (= 120 solar years)
of the 8th gen. If 1127/29 + 2 VY (= 288 [sun-]years) = 1129/29 or early 1129. The youngest marchers will be 24 [growth-years] (288 [sun-]years) old, the oldest 168 löar or 1VY/24 older.
[12 to 1 growth rate]
1 XVI Note on the Youth and Growth of the Quendi
It dates from c. 1959
All the elaborate calculations based on olmië 12 : 1 and coivië 144 : 1 are both cumbrous, and in early narrative (Awaking and Finding, March, etc.) quite unworkable.
Elves should grow from conception at a rate comparable to Human; but from maturity onward should slow to 144 : 1 rate, diminution appearing (almost imperceptibly at first) at c. age 96.
Let Elves remain in the womb for 1 löa, Spring to Spring. Both sexes reach maturity at 24 löar, and then slow. But puberty is different: in males reached at about 21, in females at 18.
Olmendi [‘growth-years’]: 1 olmen = 1 löa.
Coimendi [‘life-years’]: 1 coimen = 144 löar
Colbanavië [‘gestation’] = 1 olmen
Ontavalië ‘puberty’: male 21 olmendi, female 18 olmendi.
Quantolië ‘maturity’: 24 olmendi
Vinimetta: ‘end of youth’: 96 = 24 löar + 72 coimendi = 24 + 10,368 = 10,392.
[Back to a one year pregnancy, but one sun-year whether in Aman or Middle-earth, Elves grow 1 to 1 until mature at 24 (sun) years. This would solve the Maeglin 'problem']
1 XVII Generational Schemes
from c. 1959
Text 1
[Note that throughout the gestation period is 1 löa, as is the length of a growth-year]
“End of Youth” – c. age 60 (= [growth] years 24 + coimendi 36 = 24 + 5,184 = c. 5,208)
[1 sun-year pregnancy, 1 to 1 growth years until maturity, but a much shorter 'youth']
1 VI The Awaking of the Quendi
TEXT A
1960 [according to an explicit statement in it]
If Elves from the beginning grew at later rates: the first generation would be “maturing” between 216 and 288 years after “awakening”, but they would not have reached prime (in early days, at age 100) for another 76–82 Elven years = same number of VYs (or SYs 10,944–11,808)
TEXT B ["closely contemporary" "considerable expansion" of A]
I. Preliminary discussion
Quendi, it must be assumed, had from the beginning a natural rate of “growth” and “life”, which was not in the early ages much altered anywhere: thus from the beginning we can reckon with a 12 : 1 rate (as compared with Men) of “growth”, and a subsequent 144 : 1, or Valian, rate of “ageing”.
The “lives” of the Quendi cannot be supposed to be affected by living in Middle-earth “under the Sun” – NOT IF as now seems certain the Sun is made part of the original structure of Arda, and not devised only after the Death of the Trees – since they were devised to live in Middle-earth and “under the Sun”. Any alteration (if any!) would occur under the “artificial” conditions of Aman. But since the Quendian rate of “ageing” was already that of the Valar (144 : 1) the alteration would only concern the growth rate (12 : 1) : this might well be slowed to 36 : 1 or 72 : 1 or even 144 : 1.
[Interesting that after dropping to a 1 to 1 growth rate for a couple of the 1959 texts, Tolkien goes back up to 12 to 1, and seems to be considering slowing it way down, all the way back to 144 to 1, at least for Elves in Aman. Also seems to increase the length of 'youth', if 'end of youth' is what 'prime' means]
3 XVI Concerning Galadriel & Celeborn
[ca. 1960, CFH notes that this is written on Oxford documents dated 1955; however this cannot be the writing date as names Finarfin and Finrod both used in this for Galadriel's father and brother respectively (rather than Finrod and Inglor), these names are not changed until ca 58 or 59). Further: I am inclined to date it to 1960, and place it immediately after 1 VI The Awaking of the Quendi, based on CT's statements in PoMe ("in any case Aldarion and Erendis and the closely related Description of Númenor preceded by some time (I would now be inclined to date them to about 1960)", Shibboleth, The parentage of Gil-galad); and that the origin story of Galadriel bringing the mallorn-trees to Lorien (note 5 in UT, History of Galadriel and Celeborn "Both here and elsewhere the meaning of the name is explained by reference to the golden mallorn-trees of Lothlórien; but they were brought there by Galadriel (for the story of their origin see pp. 216 – 17), is found in the Description text ("some were given as a gift by Tar-Aldarion, the sixth King of Númenor, to King Gil-galad of Lindon. They did not take root in that land; but Gil-galad gave some to his kinswoman Galadriel, and under her power they grew and flourished in the guarded land of Lothlórien").]
Tolkien made various calculations based on the dates cited in this text, and corresponding time-spans in yéni (the “long years” of the Elves, equating to 144 solar years).
Amroth was already prince in S.A. 850, only 32 yên [when he] passed in T.A. 1981.
In the accompanying calculations it can be discerned that Tolkien assigned his birth to S.A. 750, and that Amroth was thus 32 yéni plus 64 solar years = 4,672 solar years old when he passed.
[What growth rate to maturity is it? 12 to 1 or 1 to 1?]
A different chronology, in which Amroth is made somewhat older at his passing, is worked out in the left-hand margin:
Amroth born S.A. 300. 2 in S.A. 588. In S.A. 1350 he was 29. In S.A. 1697 he was 31. In S.A. 3441 nearly 44 (43/117). In T.A. 1693 [he was] 11/109 older = 55/82.
These ages, however (with the exception of the first, being precisely 2 yéni after S.A. 300), cannot be reconciled with a yên of 144 solar years. The accounting of Amroth’s ages through the end of the Second Age in 3441 must refer rather to an apparent age, in terms of human maturation, not actual age in yéni (e.g., in S.A. 1350 Amroth would have been just over 7 yéni old, not 29; and in S.A. 3441 he would have been just under 22 yéni old, not 44). [6 This may explain why Tolkien has marked the ages 2, 29, and 31 with a “+”; but no such mark is made against the subsequent ages. But, T.A. 1693 is indeed 11 yéni + 109 sun-years later than S.A. 3441; so something in this accounting is awry, or at least inconsistent.]
[I do not see the "awry" or "inconsistent".
In the event, 12 to 1 growth to maturity and then 144 to 1.
What does TA 1693 have to do with anything?]
1 XVIII Elvish Ages & Númenórean
15/Aug/1965
Elves’ ages must be counted in two different stages: growth-years (GY) and life-years (LY). The GYs were relatively swift and in Middle-earth = 3 löar. The LYs were very slow and in Middle-earth = 144 löar.
Elves were in womb 1 GY. They reached “full speech” and intelligence in 2 GY. They reached “full growth” of body in 24 GY.
They then had 48 LY of youth, and then 48 LY of “full age” or “steadfast body”, by which time their knowledge ceased to increase. After that the “fading time” began – of unknown duration (very slow) in which (as they say) the fëa slowly consumed the hröa until it became merely a “memory”.
If we neglect the difference of speed and call each unit a “year”, we then see that an elf reached maturity at 24, end of “youth” at 72, and “old age” at 120.
In mortal equivalents the age in physical and other characteristics indicated can be found approximately by multiplying by ¾: “full speech” in 18 months, full growth in 18 years, end of youth approximately at 54, and old age approximately at 90.
In actual time, however, reckoned in löar (Sun-years) the figures are these:
In womb: 3 years.
“Full speech” at 6 years old.
Full growth at 72 years old
Years of youth lasted 48 × 144 löar = 6,912 years
“Maturity” or standstill was not therefore reached till they were 6,984 years old.
“Fading” began at 13,896 years old.
[Picking up the ageing thing ca. 5 years later...
Increasing the time pregnant and the growth years a little (3 years and 3 to 1). Would solve the Maeglin problem.
In womb 3 years, full speech at 6. But are the 3 years counted as part of the 6 or seperate from it?
Is this a lowering of the end of 'youth' from 1 VI? Though making it higher than 1 XVII.]
3 XI Lives of the Númenóreans
c. 1965*
Thus (as the Eldar) they [Númenóreans] “grew” at much the same rate as ordinary Men: gestation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence up to puberty and “full-growth” proceeded more or less as before;
[this seems to imply a growth rate for Elves as back to 1 to 1, though the contemporaneous* 1 XVIII has a 3 to 1]
[*I now (03/26/25) wonder if the 1965 dating is correct, or if this might be earlier, in line with 1960 Description of Numenor, Aldarion & Erendis/Line of Elros texts]
V.T. 47 Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals
c. 1968
Note 1: C.E. ? netthi C.E. tth > Q., T. tt; S. þþ > þ. nette meant ‘girl approaching the adult’ (in her “teens”: the growth of Elvish children after birth was little if at all slower than that of the children of Men). The Common Eldarin stem (wen-ed) wendē ‘maiden’ applied to all stages up to the fully adult (until marriage).
[a few years later and still 1 to 1]
1 XIX Elvish life-cycles
dated to c. 1969
TEXT 2
written on publishing calendars for February and March of 1970
Elves lived in life-cycles? sc. birth, childhood to bodily and mental maturity (as swift as that of Men) and then a period of parenthood (marriage, etc.) which could be delayed for a long time after maturity.
[1 to 1 growth rate]
MR, LQSII, Laws and Customs
ca. 1958
The Eldar grew in bodily form slower than Men, but in mind more swiftly. They learned to speak before they were one year old; and in the same time they learned to walk and to dance, for their wills came soon to the mastery of their bodies.
For at the end of the third year mortal children began to outstrip the Elves, hastening on to a full stature while the Elves lingered in the first spring of childhood. Children of Men might reach their full height while Eldar of the same age were still in body like to mortals of no more than seven years. Not until the fiftieth year did the Eldar attain the stature and shape in which their lives would afterwards endure, and for some a hundred years would pass before they were full-grown.
...a year passes between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child...
[In Aman, at least, I am fairly convinced that these 'years' are Tree Years, i.e. 9.582 Sun years. See, e.g., Finarfin born in YT 1230, marries in YT 1280 (Annals of Aman) "The Eldar wedded for the most part in their youth and soon after their fiftieth year", L&C. Also interesting to note that the first 3 years growth is as with Men Thus should the pregnancy through age 3 time be measured in sun years in Aman?]
1 III Of Time in Arda
[not dated by CFH, presumably 1959 as with the others; this text seems to set up 'IV Time-scales']
I The Quendi compared with Men
Elves closely resembled Men in this process. They reached maturity (of the body) at about the age of 20, and remained in full physical vigour till about the age of 60. After that the fëa and its interests began to dominate them. At the age of about 100 one of the Quendi had reached a stage similar to that of a Mortal of full age and wisdom. The normal period, therefore, for marriage and the begetting and bearing of children and their nurture (which were among the greatest delights of the Quendi in Arda) was between about the ages of 20 and 60.
1 IV Time-scales
The text dates to c. 1959.
They reached maturity at about the age of 20, [fn1 Elf-men 24, women 18] and remained in full physical vigour till about the age of 60, after which the fëa and its interests began to assume command. After about the age of 90–96 one of the Quendi had reached a stage similar to that of a vigorous and hale Mortal of high age and wisdom.
An elven-child was borne in its mother’s womb for about the same (relative) time as a mortal child, that is for about ¾ of a “youth-year” = ¾ of 12 löar = 9 löar; [fn6 Actually, a length of time = Mortal 96 months or 8 years] though in the Quendi this period was more variable, often being less, and on rare occasions being more.
...one “growth-year” = 12 löar;
In their beginning the Quendi grew at a rate in which the “unit” was the yên or Elven-year, which was 144 MY. If then an elf-child grew to a maiden and a young woman in about 20 “years”, wedded at 25 and bore her first child at 26, her age in mortal terms would be 2,880 at maturity, 3,600 at wedding, and 3,744 at childbirth.
Gestation, therefore, proceeds according to the growth and ageing scale of the Quendi, and occupies ¾ yên, or 108 MY. [18 As first written, this paragraph ended: “occupies a whole yén, or 144 MY”.]
This will not fit the narrative in the Silmarillion. What of Maeglin?
[While Laws & Customs has a full 'one year' pregnancy (presumably = 9.58 sun-years in Aman, or is it 1 sun-year, as the first 3 years are little different than Men), this attempts to match the pregnancy of Men, as a portion of a yên, thus a 108 sun-years pregnancy, and by a deliberate change from a full yen, i.e. 144 years]
1 IX Time-scales and “rates of growth”
It dates from c. 1959
--------------------------Valian Year of Ageing---Mortal Men
-------------------------------------1 -----------------144
Original Quendian---------------- 1----------------- 144
Later ----------------------------25/36 ---------------100
...the Avari quickened to 100 : 1 as soon as the Eldar had departed; that the Nandor did likewise as soon as they forsook the March; that the Sindar did so also when they chose to remain on the Western Shores; and that finally the exiled Ñoldor were quickened in the same way as soon as they left Aman, or rather as soon as the Doom of Mandos was spoken and they persisted in their rebellion.
the rate 100 : 1 can be used to determine approximately the age of any of the Eldar in human terms (except while they were in Aman where it is 144 : 1)
It is said that after the fall of Sauron, and the beginning of the Fourth Age and the Dominion of Men, those of the Elves who still lingered in Middle-earth were again “quickened” to a rate of about 72 : 1, or in these latter days to 48 : 1.
[Tolkien at some later point wrote in the margin against this paragraph in red ball-point pen: “no quickening” and “All this needs revision to duodecimal”]
1 X Difficulties in Chronology
from c. 1959
Solution 1) Elves married late in Aman (usually). They became adult at life-age 20, but that = 20 VY = 2,880; but they remained very young and vigorous (and youthful in mind and interests) so that often they did not wed until they were 200 life-years old or nearly that: sc. when 28,800 Sun-years old!
2) But under the Sun (outside Varda’s Domes) all the Eldar had quickened in growth, though they had not lost (at first) much of their steadfastness in vigour and health at that point. They therefore reached maturity 10 times quicker or became 20 when only 200 [sun-]years old; they then maintained this vigour, ageing only at the rate of 100 years = 1 life-year.
To find the approximate age-equivalence therefore in mortal years: For those born in Aman reckon years in Aman as if mortal (or divide real number of Sun-years by 144) up to FA 1496; then divide Beleriand Years by 100. Thus an Elda born in Aman in 1475 would be 20 at the Exile, 21 at arrival in Middle-earth, + 590/100 [older] at the fall of Morgoth = about 27.
For those born in Beleriand. Maeglin for example, born in Bel. 120, was in only 200 years (= 20) an adult: sc. he was in life-age 20 in Bel. 320. But in 495, when Tuor came to Gondolin, he was only (495-320)/100 years older: sc. 175/100 = less than 2 years or about 22. When Maeglin came to Gondolin c. 400 he was thus 20 + 80/100 years old.
If born in Aman, it must be remembered that if they were not yet adult, the rate of growth would become 10 = 1 when they set foot in Middle-earth (or probably as soon as the Doom of Mandos was spoken in VY 1495).
3) The Rate of Growth of those born in Beleriand was 10 = 1. But of those born in Aman it was 50 = 1 in Beleriand. But it began to increase as soon as they left Valinor, say after the Doom of Mandos.
[an attempt to fix the Maeglin 'problem', but seems to have been written before the before 'no quickening' and 'duodecimal' note]
1 XI Ageing of Elves
It dates from c. 1959
The age or “growth” scale must be altered. In Aman in the early ages it was very slow. The Eldar then lived at Valian rate: 144 : 1, but also their youth lasted very long,
But this slow growth was only maintained in Aman “under the domes of Varda”. The rate of growth “under the Sun” soon quickened. For all periods relative to the narrative it may be taken as 10 : 1. That is, from conception to maturity the Elvish hröa in Middle-earth only took 10 times the period of Men. But reaching maturity at 20 they then remained in long-lasting vigour with little perceptible change: i.e., the ageing rate was 144 : 1, or in Middle-earth 100 : 1
With regard to those born in Aman it might prove useful to increase their growth-span. Thus the maturing rate of those born in Aman should be 50 : 1, and this should continue in the second generation (those begotten in Beleriand or Eriador of one or two Aman-born parents).
This will not work
But note [growth] rates doubled in 1496. Finduilas (the youngest Exile) was 12 in 1495. During 1496 she “grew” at a rate of 25 : 1. Therefore in 144/25 years she grew 6 years. She landed in Beleriand at 16. She then resumed the 50 : 1 growth-rate and needed 4 × 50 – 4 = 196 [sun-years] to complete maturity. She was therefore 20 in MY 196. In MY 502 she had lived 306 more years at 100 : 1 and so was 23.
from 'contemporary draft materials':
Idril should be also about 30 in Bel. 500. To be 30 in Bel. 500 required 2 [life-]years on journey [across the Ice from Aman to Middle-earth], 16 [life-]years at [growth rate] 12 : 1 = 192 [to reach maturity], and then 12 more [life-years] at 144 : 1.
The journey to Middle-earth [took] 144 [sun-]years but counted as 2 [life-]years: 144 + 192. We still have to alter the arrangement during the march from Aman in VY 1496. This occupied 144 sun-years; but it was so horrible that the mature aged at a double rate 2 [life-]years during that time. The immature should also have aged at a double rate, at 6 [sun-years] = 1 [growth-year]. Thus an Elda going into exile in VY 1495 at 12 [growth-years] would, by the end of the journey, if female, only require another 6 [growth] years for maturity = 36 [sun-years] and would therefore become 18 in SY 36 of VY 1496.[19] At the end of VY 1496 and arrival in Beleriand she would have had another 108 years at the 72 : 1 rate = 1½ [life-years] and therefore be 19½. She would then resume the 144 : 1 rate and in Bel. 502 would be only 502/144 years older, or about 3½ [life-years]. She would be 23. This fits fairly well. If we make Idril 18 at Exile in 1495, she was then “mature” and lived rest of [her] life at 144 : 1 save the year of journey = 2 [life-years]. She was therefore 20 when she arrived in Beleriand, and in 502 would be 23½. If Idril was 20 at Exile she will be 25½ in Bel. 502
[CFH includes 'contemporary draft material] with the 1 XI text.
The green text is from Tolkien, but I am finding it problematic which I will explain in a follow-up post.
The 1 XI Ageing seems to have been written before the before 'no quickening' and 'duodecimal' note, while the Idril contemporary draft material has duodecimal and no quickening]
MR, MT XI, Aman
ca. 1959
In Aman the length of the unit of 'year' was the same as it was for the Quendi.
It was, however, the fact that the Elvish speed of 'growth' accorded with the unit of Valian time that made it possible for the Valar to bring the Eldar to dwell in Aman. In one Valian year the Eldar dwelling there grew and developed in much the same way as mortals did in one year upon Middle-earth. In recording the events in Aman, therefore, we may as did the Eldar themselves use the Valian unit, though we must not forget that within any such 'year' the Eldar enjoyed an immense series of delights and achievements which even the most gifted of Men could not accomplish in twelve times twelve mortal years [5 In notes not given in this book, in which my father was calculating on this basis the time of the Awakening of Men, he expressly stated that 144 Sun Years = 1 Valian Year]. Nonetheless the Eldar 'aged' at the same speed in Aman as they had done in their beginning upon Middle-earth.
On Earth while an elf-child did but grow to be a man or a woman, in some 3000 years, forests would rise and fall, and all the face of the land would change, while birds and flowers innumerable would be born and die in löar upon löar under the wheeling Sun.
[No quickening, Elves, in Aman or Middle-earth, age one year for 144 sun-years, adult at ca. 20.
The notes CT refers to may be the Awaking of the Quendi text in NoMe 1 VI.
Is pregnancy a full year (i.e. 144 years) or a partial year?]
1 V Youth of the Quendi
It dates from c. 1959.
The Eldar distinguished between growth and life (or life-endurance). The former was 12 times as rapid (in ageing effect) as the latter.
Now as for growth: this affected the Elvish hröa from conception until maturity (or puberty). The life-endurance rate of the Quendi was as 1 yên is to 1 löa or “sun-year”: that is, 144 : Human 1. The growth-rate was 12 times as rapid: i.e., was only in proportion 12 löar = 1 [Human] löa or sun-year. Thus from conception to birth they lay in the womb 9 löar. When born they continued to grow at the same rate, until puberty. With Elf-males this was reached at “age” 24; but with Elf-females at age 18. That is for males 24 × 12 after birth, or 288 löar; for females 18 × 12 or 216 löar.
An Elf-child conceived was born 9 löar later. Elvish “growth” age about 9 months. Actual time: 9 years
The “growth age” of 12:1 (in comparison with mortal years) was maintained until an Elf-man reached “age 24”. Actual time: 288 years
In case of women it usually ceased at 18 though it was sometimes continued, especially in Aman, to 21. Actual time: 216 (or 252)
['duodecimal' and no 'quickening', 9 sun-year pregnancy, 12 to 1 growth rate, in line with the 'Idril draft material', but is a stretch to fix the Maeglin 'problem']
1 XII Concerning the Quendi in their mode of life and growth especially as Compared with Men
I. Youth and Ageing of the Quendi
It dates to c. 1959
The Eldar distinguished between olmië and coivië. The former was the period or process of their ‘growth’ from conception to maturity of body, and was achieved twelve times as rapidly as the coivië.
The olmië was achieved at a rate equalling 12 löar (or sun-years) to 1 löa of human life. An Elvish ‘growth-year’, or olmen, was therefore 12 sun-years. Thus from conception to birth they grew in the womb 9 löar. When born they continued to grow at this rate until maturity of body.
The coivië then proceeded at a rate 12 times as slow, so that 144 löar (or sun-years) may be more or less equated, so far as change or alteration are concerned, with 1 year of human adult life.
Elf-men reached maturity at about 24: that is, after 24 olmendi (or 2 yéni): 288 löar. Elf-women reached maturity normally after 18 olmendi (or 1½ yéni): 216 löar. [fn3 This rate was in some individuals rather slower and might take up to 21 olmendi, or 252 löar.]
After this, their ‘youth’ (vinyarë), or the time of their full bodily vigour, endured (for both sexes) for about 72 coimendi or yéni after maturity. That is: it lasted until Elf-men were of “age” 24 + 72 or 96; and Elf-women were of “age” 18 + 72 or 90. But expressed in “years” or löar this is 288 + 10,368, or 10,656 years for males; and 216 + 10,368, or 10,584 for females.
[duodecimal and no 'quickening', 9 sun-year pregnancy, 12 to 1 growth rate]
1 VII March of the Quendi
It dates from c. 1959
Let the March begin when the youngest of the 8th gen. are at least 10 [growth-]years old (= 120 solar years)
of the 8th gen. If 1127/29 + 2 VY (= 288 [sun-]years) = 1129/29 or early 1129. The youngest marchers will be 24 [growth-years] (288 [sun-]years) old, the oldest 168 löar or 1VY/24 older.
[12 to 1 growth rate]
1 XVI Note on the Youth and Growth of the Quendi
It dates from c. 1959
All the elaborate calculations based on olmië 12 : 1 and coivië 144 : 1 are both cumbrous, and in early narrative (Awaking and Finding, March, etc.) quite unworkable.
Elves should grow from conception at a rate comparable to Human; but from maturity onward should slow to 144 : 1 rate, diminution appearing (almost imperceptibly at first) at c. age 96.
Let Elves remain in the womb for 1 löa, Spring to Spring. Both sexes reach maturity at 24 löar, and then slow. But puberty is different: in males reached at about 21, in females at 18.
Olmendi [‘growth-years’]: 1 olmen = 1 löa.
Coimendi [‘life-years’]: 1 coimen = 144 löar
Colbanavië [‘gestation’] = 1 olmen
Ontavalië ‘puberty’: male 21 olmendi, female 18 olmendi.
Quantolië ‘maturity’: 24 olmendi
Vinimetta: ‘end of youth’: 96 = 24 löar + 72 coimendi = 24 + 10,368 = 10,392.
[Back to a one year pregnancy, but one sun-year whether in Aman or Middle-earth, Elves grow 1 to 1 until mature at 24 (sun) years. This would solve the Maeglin 'problem']
1 XVII Generational Schemes
from c. 1959
Text 1
[Note that throughout the gestation period is 1 löa, as is the length of a growth-year]
“End of Youth” – c. age 60 (= [growth] years 24 + coimendi 36 = 24 + 5,184 = c. 5,208)
[1 sun-year pregnancy, 1 to 1 growth years until maturity, but a much shorter 'youth']
1 VI The Awaking of the Quendi
TEXT A
1960 [according to an explicit statement in it]
If Elves from the beginning grew at later rates: the first generation would be “maturing” between 216 and 288 years after “awakening”, but they would not have reached prime (in early days, at age 100) for another 76–82 Elven years = same number of VYs (or SYs 10,944–11,808)
TEXT B ["closely contemporary" "considerable expansion" of A]
I. Preliminary discussion
Quendi, it must be assumed, had from the beginning a natural rate of “growth” and “life”, which was not in the early ages much altered anywhere: thus from the beginning we can reckon with a 12 : 1 rate (as compared with Men) of “growth”, and a subsequent 144 : 1, or Valian, rate of “ageing”.
The “lives” of the Quendi cannot be supposed to be affected by living in Middle-earth “under the Sun” – NOT IF as now seems certain the Sun is made part of the original structure of Arda, and not devised only after the Death of the Trees – since they were devised to live in Middle-earth and “under the Sun”. Any alteration (if any!) would occur under the “artificial” conditions of Aman. But since the Quendian rate of “ageing” was already that of the Valar (144 : 1) the alteration would only concern the growth rate (12 : 1) : this might well be slowed to 36 : 1 or 72 : 1 or even 144 : 1.
[Interesting that after dropping to a 1 to 1 growth rate for a couple of the 1959 texts, Tolkien goes back up to 12 to 1, and seems to be considering slowing it way down, all the way back to 144 to 1, at least for Elves in Aman. Also seems to increase the length of 'youth', if 'end of youth' is what 'prime' means]
3 XVI Concerning Galadriel & Celeborn
[ca. 1960, CFH notes that this is written on Oxford documents dated 1955; however this cannot be the writing date as names Finarfin and Finrod both used in this for Galadriel's father and brother respectively (rather than Finrod and Inglor), these names are not changed until ca 58 or 59). Further: I am inclined to date it to 1960, and place it immediately after 1 VI The Awaking of the Quendi, based on CT's statements in PoMe ("in any case Aldarion and Erendis and the closely related Description of Númenor preceded by some time (I would now be inclined to date them to about 1960)", Shibboleth, The parentage of Gil-galad); and that the origin story of Galadriel bringing the mallorn-trees to Lorien (note 5 in UT, History of Galadriel and Celeborn "Both here and elsewhere the meaning of the name is explained by reference to the golden mallorn-trees of Lothlórien; but they were brought there by Galadriel (for the story of their origin see pp. 216 – 17), is found in the Description text ("some were given as a gift by Tar-Aldarion, the sixth King of Númenor, to King Gil-galad of Lindon. They did not take root in that land; but Gil-galad gave some to his kinswoman Galadriel, and under her power they grew and flourished in the guarded land of Lothlórien").]
Tolkien made various calculations based on the dates cited in this text, and corresponding time-spans in yéni (the “long years” of the Elves, equating to 144 solar years).
Amroth was already prince in S.A. 850, only 32 yên [when he] passed in T.A. 1981.
In the accompanying calculations it can be discerned that Tolkien assigned his birth to S.A. 750, and that Amroth was thus 32 yéni plus 64 solar years = 4,672 solar years old when he passed.
[What growth rate to maturity is it? 12 to 1 or 1 to 1?]
A different chronology, in which Amroth is made somewhat older at his passing, is worked out in the left-hand margin:
Amroth born S.A. 300. 2 in S.A. 588. In S.A. 1350 he was 29. In S.A. 1697 he was 31. In S.A. 3441 nearly 44 (43/117). In T.A. 1693 [he was] 11/109 older = 55/82.
These ages, however (with the exception of the first, being precisely 2 yéni after S.A. 300), cannot be reconciled with a yên of 144 solar years. The accounting of Amroth’s ages through the end of the Second Age in 3441 must refer rather to an apparent age, in terms of human maturation, not actual age in yéni (e.g., in S.A. 1350 Amroth would have been just over 7 yéni old, not 29; and in S.A. 3441 he would have been just under 22 yéni old, not 44). [6 This may explain why Tolkien has marked the ages 2, 29, and 31 with a “+”; but no such mark is made against the subsequent ages. But, T.A. 1693 is indeed 11 yéni + 109 sun-years later than S.A. 3441; so something in this accounting is awry, or at least inconsistent.]
[I do not see the "awry" or "inconsistent".
In the event, 12 to 1 growth to maturity and then 144 to 1.
What does TA 1693 have to do with anything?]
1 XVIII Elvish Ages & Númenórean
15/Aug/1965
Elves’ ages must be counted in two different stages: growth-years (GY) and life-years (LY). The GYs were relatively swift and in Middle-earth = 3 löar. The LYs were very slow and in Middle-earth = 144 löar.
Elves were in womb 1 GY. They reached “full speech” and intelligence in 2 GY. They reached “full growth” of body in 24 GY.
They then had 48 LY of youth, and then 48 LY of “full age” or “steadfast body”, by which time their knowledge ceased to increase. After that the “fading time” began – of unknown duration (very slow) in which (as they say) the fëa slowly consumed the hröa until it became merely a “memory”.
If we neglect the difference of speed and call each unit a “year”, we then see that an elf reached maturity at 24, end of “youth” at 72, and “old age” at 120.
In mortal equivalents the age in physical and other characteristics indicated can be found approximately by multiplying by ¾: “full speech” in 18 months, full growth in 18 years, end of youth approximately at 54, and old age approximately at 90.
In actual time, however, reckoned in löar (Sun-years) the figures are these:
In womb: 3 years.
“Full speech” at 6 years old.
Full growth at 72 years old
Years of youth lasted 48 × 144 löar = 6,912 years
“Maturity” or standstill was not therefore reached till they were 6,984 years old.
“Fading” began at 13,896 years old.
[Picking up the ageing thing ca. 5 years later...
Increasing the time pregnant and the growth years a little (3 years and 3 to 1). Would solve the Maeglin problem.
In womb 3 years, full speech at 6. But are the 3 years counted as part of the 6 or seperate from it?
Is this a lowering of the end of 'youth' from 1 VI? Though making it higher than 1 XVII.]
3 XI Lives of the Númenóreans
c. 1965*
Thus (as the Eldar) they [Númenóreans] “grew” at much the same rate as ordinary Men: gestation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence up to puberty and “full-growth” proceeded more or less as before;
[this seems to imply a growth rate for Elves as back to 1 to 1, though the contemporaneous* 1 XVIII has a 3 to 1]
[*I now (03/26/25) wonder if the 1965 dating is correct, or if this might be earlier, in line with 1960 Description of Numenor, Aldarion & Erendis/Line of Elros texts]
V.T. 47 Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals
c. 1968
Note 1: C.E. ? netthi C.E. tth > Q., T. tt; S. þþ > þ. nette meant ‘girl approaching the adult’ (in her “teens”: the growth of Elvish children after birth was little if at all slower than that of the children of Men). The Common Eldarin stem (wen-ed) wendē ‘maiden’ applied to all stages up to the fully adult (until marriage).
[a few years later and still 1 to 1]
1 XIX Elvish life-cycles
dated to c. 1969
TEXT 2
written on publishing calendars for February and March of 1970
Elves lived in life-cycles? sc. birth, childhood to bodily and mental maturity (as swift as that of Men) and then a period of parenthood (marriage, etc.) which could be delayed for a long time after maturity.
[1 to 1 growth rate]
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