The Rings of Power showed many different sides to previously well-known races from the turmoil and division of the Numenorians, to the more feeling and emotive representation of the orcs. But possibly one of the most interesting transitions or elaborations of the series was that of the elves. This noble and graceful race of beings has previously only been portrayed as the heroes of the story, the people that help shield and guide the fellowship on their journey to destroying the one ring.
Even in The Hobbit, where Thranduil was so cut off from the rest of the world, so seemingly unfeeling and arrogant, the elves overall were still depicted as a wise and somewhat superior race, especially where Tauriel and Legolas were concerned. However, the Rings of Power series gave audiences two new perceptions of elves, through the problematic occupation of the Southlands, and through the first vision of Valinor, where the elves were finally shown as children.
It is difficult to understand or imagine how immortal beings, who have lived for thousands of years, could come into existence, let alone be born, grow from childhood to adulthood, and then pass back into the Undying Lands. Elves are never seen as elderly people, because they retire back across the sea before their physical forms wither enough to grow old, with the oldest elf in Middle Earth being Cirdan the Shipwright, the only known elf ever to have grown a beard. But the Rings of Power suggests that they do in fact start out as children, with a similar physical appearance to that of human kids. But if they have lived through all the ages of Middle Earth, how long do they stay in this child-like state, and what does the process of their aging look like?
For a start, elves remain in the womb for a whole year, as opposed to 9 months like human children, and age crucially in their first year of life, to the point where they can already walk, talk, and engage within society. Although their bodies mature slower than their minds, which are already mostly formed after this first year, they do change a lot throughout their early years.
At around the ages of 20-30, elven figures may still take on the appearance of a 7 to 8-year-old human child, but their intellect is far beyond that of fully grown human beings at this age. They will already be fully matured within their mental capacity, although there is of course variation within that as no one race can be completely homogenous.
It’s difficult to tell whether or not the elven children in the Rings of Power introduction had reached this age or experience yet, because on the one hand the smashing of Galadriel’s boat denoted a juvenile glee for the group, whilst Galadriel herself in that moment seemed very mature and aware of not only herself and her presence within that space, but also of the larger workings of the world. This may be because she was simply older than the others, or more of a testament to her own future moral complexity and leadership.
She was still young enough to seem naive and innocent, as all the elves were in those days, and didn’t seem to comprehend the impending loss of her brother Finrod, the season one death that goes against everything Tolkien believed. Nonetheless, by the time the War of Wrath has been fought, the audience see her next as a fully grown adult in appearance. It is thought that this physical maturity happens upon approaching 100 years, and that this physical state will remain immortal for the rest of their long lives, so long as they aren’t killed nefariously.
It is usually around this age that the elves begin to marry, traditionally finding one sole life partner with whom they feel their sole belongs. From the moment they wed, they are linked to on another throughout all of the rest of the ages of their lives, even when they are apart. They do sometimes stray far from their partners, which may go part way towards explaining who Galadriel’s husband is in the Rings of Power, why they have been apart for so long, and why she fears him to be dead. But they always remain true and loyal to one another, so that they may be later reunited as is one of the biggest character predictions for season 2.
As a typical rule, elves only bring children into the world during times of immense peace, because to see them suffer and fear is an experience more painful than most can bear, which may be why audiences haven’t seen depictions of elven children thus far, in any of the Peter Jackson movie adaptations. Even among the elves, the strongest of Illuvatar’s children, there is a fragility and an understanding of how precious life is, and it’s not something they bring lightly into the world, nor relish wiping out, even in the case of orcs and goblins.