Como os elfos da Terra-média envelhecem (se eles envelhecerem)?

O seguinte vem de " Artigo do Tolkien Oficialmente Dito Sobre o Sexo Élfico ", que por sua vez é muito citado por " Leis e Costumes dos Eldar, "publicado no livro Anel de Morgoth, História da Terra-Média. ( LACE )

"Marriage is chiefly of the body, for it is achieved by bodily union, and its first operation is the begetting of the bodies of children, even though it endures beyond this and has other operations. And the union of bodies in marriage is unique, and no other union resembles it."

Então, sim, os elfos se reproduzem como os homens (também, Aragorn teve um filho com Arwen, então a reprodução é biologicamente compatível)

Além disso, no que se refere ao envelhecimento / infância (novamente proveniente do mesmo)

The Facts of Elf Life

...Some more elvish facts of life, all sourced from LACE. Regarding elvish pregnancy, "A year passed between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child, so that the days of both are the same, or nearly so."

Elvish childhood and adolescence lasted until the age of approximately 50 years. Elves tended to marry soon after coming of age, with a one-year engagement being standard. Elves did not say they "had a baby," they said "a baby is given to us." The most kids an elf couple ever had were seven, the sons of Fëanor and Nerdanel. Tolkien said absolutely nothing about elf puberty.

No que se refere ao envelhecimento físico, Ciclo de vida élfico - Tolkien Gateway - Vida posterior tem isso (não tenho certeza do original fontes para essas declarações, mas o artigo como um todo faz referência " Do Shibboleth de Fëanor " abd " Contos Inacabados," A História de Galadriel e Celeborn "," Amroth e Nimrodel ", p 320 ")

Apparently, beards were the only sign of further natural physical aging beyond maturity.

Elves did not age over their 100th year but they aged in a different sense than Men: they became ever more weary of the world and burdened by its sorrows, sometimes appeared to age under great stress.

Círdan seemed to be aged himself, since he is described as looking old, save for the stars in his eyes; this may be due to all the sorrows he had seen and lived through since the First Age. Also, the people of Nargothrond had trouble recognizing Gwindor after his time as a prisoner of Morgoth.

E, para uma fonte menos canônica:

(src: Irregular Webcomic No. 123 2003-05-28 )

Existem algumas boas respostas em outros lugares, mas o cansaço é o fator mais importante do envelhecimento dos elfos, IMO. @DVK cobre a maior parte do material e toca nesse cansaço. Os elfos envelhecem lentamente, mas depois de um tempo - 100 anos - eles apenas envelhecem mental e emocionalmente. Eu acho que é um conceito muito inteligente da JRRT, porque eles podem ser imortais, mas ainda assim têm o desejo de deixar a terra dos vivos.

Este é, em grande parte, um suplemento à boa resposta do DVK , com o apoio de seu ensaio citado:

Eles com certeza envelhecem:

[T]he Eldar do indeed grow older, even if slowly: the limit of their lives is the life of Arda, which though long beyond the reckoning of Men is not endless, and ages also.

^{History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 3: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" Chapter 2: "The Second Phase" Laws and Customs Among the Eldar}

Em seus primeiros anos, os elfos envelhecem de forma semelhante aos homens (embora desenvolvam cognitivamente um pouco mais rápido):

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. Nonetheless there was less difference between the two Kindreds, Elves and Men, in early youth; and a man who watched elf-children at play might well have believed that they were the children of Men, of some fair and happy people.

^{History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 3: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" Chapter 2: "The Second Phase" Laws and Customs Among the Eldar}

Mas não demora muito para que os Elfos sejam deixados para trás por crianças humanas da mesma idade. Enquanto os humanos são tipicamente adultos por volta dos 18 anos, os elfos podem levar de cinquenta a cem anos:

This same watcher might indeed have wondered at the small limbs and stature of these children, judging their age by their skill in words and grace in motion. 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.

^{History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 3: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" Chapter 2: "The Second Phase" Laws and Customs Among the Eldar}