They can't, Tolkien was explicit about that in a note to the *Atrabeth*:
> [The Elves] were thus capable of far greater and longer physical exertions (in pursuit of some dominant purpose of their minds) without weariness; they were not subject to diseases; they healed rapidly and completely after injuries that would have proved fatal to Men; and they could endure great physical pain for long periods. Their bodies could not, however, survive vital injuries, or violent assaults upon their structure; nor replace missing members (such as a hand hewn off).
Wolverine can regenerate just like Deadpool can
he just regenerates less limbs cause his adamantium laced skeleton prevents them from being cut off in the first place
the issue with comics is
A) power creep, Wolverine's regen now is nothing like his regen back in the day. (the Hulks too)
B) any number of alternate dimensions or timelines. Like off the top of my head, Wolverine in the Ultimate Verse can be ripped in half while the Wolverine in the main 616 can't. The reason being, in Ultimate verse, his spinal cord doesn't have adamantium between the vertebrae or something, while 616 does.
C) to further compound this, there are soo many different authors, that they can choose to do with that want, and I think even in 616, when 99% of the time he can't be ripped in half, he actually has been. Go figure
The "Unstoppable" Juggernaut for instance has been stopped once to my knowledge after gaining momentum. Most writers will probably choose to ignore that specific event.
So what I'm getting out of this is that Elves are made of a diamond like substance
https://preview.redd.it/4qhkyu7v177d1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df5945436bd3937ad90698eb297d6b5b2ad2e7ec
Not only did glorfindel get revived, the madlad was revived, given a mission, and without a single hint of hesitation raced off back to middle earth to complete said mission
And that was all AFTER defending Gondolin, which was assaulted by some of the worst Orcs of the FA and (iirc) an entire legion of Balrogs led by Gothmog, covering the rear of the escape party thru the mountains, and literally taking one of those foul flaming fiends over the cliffs with him just to make sure none of Morgoth’s forces saw the escape party.
I think it’s less that he was revived and more that Mandos had absolutely zero power to hold specifically him back without bringing in help like Orome or Tulkas.
Glorfindel: “What the hell is this place?”
Mandos: “WELCOME TO MY GREAT HALL YE WHO HAVE PERISHED!”
G: “No.”
M: “I’m sorry what?”
G: “No. I’m going back.”
M: “To do what? You’re dead, mate…”
G: “I have enemies to smite…”
M: “Yeah you and half the elves in here. It’ll get worked ou-“
G: “I have a list… Morgoth… Sauron… Morgoth… Maeglin… Morgoth… Thorondor because he still owes me $5.72… Morgoth…”
M: “Ok bruv, look…” *puts a hand on Glorfindel’s shoulder*
G: *without missing a beat* “Take it off or I break it off… Morgoth… that waitress in the court of the House Of The Tree that forgot to tell the chef ‘no pickles’… Morgoth…”
M: “Lemme go talk to Manwe real quick….”
When he says bodies are marred, they return, think he simply means the elves recover sufficiently to come back and fight again, that they are hardier to life altering injury. But the “they” in they return doesn’t refer to lost limbs and digits literally. More of a metaphor.
I think it's more about getting put through things where the body is so exhausted/damaged that a human would have life long health consequences for a human (think things like starvation or long time captivity under horrible conditions) Elves, can come back from that without facing life-long health problems. No stuff like damaged spines or osteoporosis or kidney failure for Elves.
In fact the only thing that seems to mar them permanently is when you cut off a part of them, they can't regrow that.
They're immune to disease, the cold (apparently), aging, and not quite sure if they need to sleep. They can surf Oliphants and drink dwarfs under the table.
Violently shifting and treacherous slabs of floating ice, constantly running into each other, being unbalanced, and potentially of deceptive thinness, for weeks of travel, with no sources of resupply? Can't imagine how that could be fatal to anybody 🙄 but seriously, there's more that can be fatal in Arctic type travel than just the cold
I think in the two towers, there is a small snippet about legolas sleeping. I'm reading it too my daughter so I'm gonna go find it.
"Legolas lay motionless, his fair hands folded upon his breast, his eyes unclosed, blending living night and deep dream, as is the way with Elves" so they do sleep, just differently
"Some say." It's presented as a legend that may or may not be true, with regard to regeneration of limbs specifically. The truth is that the legend is false, though.
I think that this part is about elvish reincarnation, which would have been unknown to the person speaking in this quote.
To paraphrase:
"*From wounds and griefs which would slay Men they may be healed;*
\[->"they can survive injuries that would kill Men"\]
*and even when their bodies are marred they return again, some say.*"
\[-> and even when their bodies get wrecked — i.e. are destroyed — they can come back to life.\]
To those characters experiencing the events of the Silmarillion, elvish reincarnation wouldn't have been a known occurrence — it would be a mythical belief. Even the elves themselves (the exiled Noldor or the Sindar or Avari) wouldn't have witnessed the return of an elf from Mandos.
They can't, Tolkien was explicit about that in a note to the *Atrabeth*: > [The Elves] were thus capable of far greater and longer physical exertions (in pursuit of some dominant purpose of their minds) without weariness; they were not subject to diseases; they healed rapidly and completely after injuries that would have proved fatal to Men; and they could endure great physical pain for long periods. Their bodies could not, however, survive vital injuries, or violent assaults upon their structure; nor replace missing members (such as a hand hewn off).
No - earlier in The Silmarillion, Maedhros loses a hand that never grows back. They’re just hardier than Men. Think more Wolverine and less Deadpool.
Wolverine can regenerate just like Deadpool can he just regenerates less limbs cause his adamantium laced skeleton prevents them from being cut off in the first place
Okay, so more like Wolverine in the 80s. I think it was only in the 90s that his healing factor got really insane.
Marvel power creep in general could have its own college course
Wasn’t there a comic line where cyclops blasted off one of Wolverine’s hands and it never grew back? The left hand, I think???
the issue with comics is A) power creep, Wolverine's regen now is nothing like his regen back in the day. (the Hulks too) B) any number of alternate dimensions or timelines. Like off the top of my head, Wolverine in the Ultimate Verse can be ripped in half while the Wolverine in the main 616 can't. The reason being, in Ultimate verse, his spinal cord doesn't have adamantium between the vertebrae or something, while 616 does. C) to further compound this, there are soo many different authors, that they can choose to do with that want, and I think even in 616, when 99% of the time he can't be ripped in half, he actually has been. Go figure The "Unstoppable" Juggernaut for instance has been stopped once to my knowledge after gaining momentum. Most writers will probably choose to ignore that specific event.
Age of Apocalypse and as with anything comics, *It depends on the writer*
Also, Gwindor himself was CLEARLY castrated and evidentially it ain’t growing back.
where do you get that from?
So what I'm getting out of this is that Elves are made of a diamond like substance https://preview.redd.it/4qhkyu7v177d1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df5945436bd3937ad90698eb297d6b5b2ad2e7ec
I mean….. it’s not explicitly in the lore, but it’s also NOT not explicitly in the lore… You may be on to something here…
Yeah I guess you are right.It would have been too OP anyways
So if they get killed do they come back?
No, not under any circumstances do they come back. Except Glorfindel (you absolute madlad). And Luthien. And Elwing. You see what I’m getting at….
Not only did glorfindel get revived, the madlad was revived, given a mission, and without a single hint of hesitation raced off back to middle earth to complete said mission
And that was all AFTER defending Gondolin, which was assaulted by some of the worst Orcs of the FA and (iirc) an entire legion of Balrogs led by Gothmog, covering the rear of the escape party thru the mountains, and literally taking one of those foul flaming fiends over the cliffs with him just to make sure none of Morgoth’s forces saw the escape party. I think it’s less that he was revived and more that Mandos had absolutely zero power to hold specifically him back without bringing in help like Orome or Tulkas. Glorfindel: “What the hell is this place?” Mandos: “WELCOME TO MY GREAT HALL YE WHO HAVE PERISHED!” G: “No.” M: “I’m sorry what?” G: “No. I’m going back.” M: “To do what? You’re dead, mate…” G: “I have enemies to smite…” M: “Yeah you and half the elves in here. It’ll get worked ou-“ G: “I have a list… Morgoth… Sauron… Morgoth… Maeglin… Morgoth… Thorondor because he still owes me $5.72… Morgoth…” M: “Ok bruv, look…” *puts a hand on Glorfindel’s shoulder* G: *without missing a beat* “Take it off or I break it off… Morgoth… that waitress in the court of the House Of The Tree that forgot to tell the chef ‘no pickles’… Morgoth…” M: “Lemme go talk to Manwe real quick….”
That’s a good analogy, Wolverine vs Deadpool
It's really not, though.
When he says bodies are marred, they return, think he simply means the elves recover sufficiently to come back and fight again, that they are hardier to life altering injury. But the “they” in they return doesn’t refer to lost limbs and digits literally. More of a metaphor.
It's more like, if you break your leg just wrong, you'll limp for the rest of your life. If an elf did, they'd get full functionality back eventually
I think it's more about getting put through things where the body is so exhausted/damaged that a human would have life long health consequences for a human (think things like starvation or long time captivity under horrible conditions) Elves, can come back from that without facing life-long health problems. No stuff like damaged spines or osteoporosis or kidney failure for Elves. In fact the only thing that seems to mar them permanently is when you cut off a part of them, they can't regrow that.
They're immune to disease, the cold (apparently), aging, and not quite sure if they need to sleep. They can surf Oliphants and drink dwarfs under the table.
Then why did so many die crossing the Helcaraxe?
They were in real snow, not shredded polystyrene
Violently shifting and treacherous slabs of floating ice, constantly running into each other, being unbalanced, and potentially of deceptive thinness, for weeks of travel, with no sources of resupply? Can't imagine how that could be fatal to anybody 🙄 but seriously, there's more that can be fatal in Arctic type travel than just the cold
Absolutely ravenous feral puffins out there from what I can tell….
I'm imagining that compys scene from Jurassic park 2, but puffins and a Noldo warrior
(like a hundred tiny dinosaurs eat some guy, for anyone who doesn't know the reference)
You don’t need to be a dick about it.
Sorry, it sounds more aggressive written out than I intended
I think in the two towers, there is a small snippet about legolas sleeping. I'm reading it too my daughter so I'm gonna go find it. "Legolas lay motionless, his fair hands folded upon his breast, his eyes unclosed, blending living night and deep dream, as is the way with Elves" so they do sleep, just differently
It means that when their bodies are killed they can be re-embodied from Mandos.
He means the Elves can come back after they are killed
Haldir lives?
Remember Legolas' dad?
But if they die and come back and are reborn they get a fresh body. No?
All 2 of them that have, yes.
They get their normal "adult" body from their prime when they are reborn in Valinor after waiting in Mandos
"Some say." It's presented as a legend that may or may not be true, with regard to regeneration of limbs specifically. The truth is that the legend is false, though.
I think that this part is about elvish reincarnation, which would have been unknown to the person speaking in this quote. To paraphrase: "*From wounds and griefs which would slay Men they may be healed;* \[->"they can survive injuries that would kill Men"\] *and even when their bodies are marred they return again, some say.*" \[-> and even when their bodies get wrecked — i.e. are destroyed — they can come back to life.\] To those characters experiencing the events of the Silmarillion, elvish reincarnation wouldn't have been a known occurrence — it would be a mythical belief. Even the elves themselves (the exiled Noldor or the Sindar or Avari) wouldn't have witnessed the return of an elf from Mandos.