Life Cycle sited from Wikipedia

[Vanya Calathiel]

As told in The History of Middle-earth and in Tolkien's Letters, Elves had a different life cycle than Men. Most of the following information strictly refers only to the Eldar, as found in his essay Laws and Customs among the Eldar, found in Morgoth's Ring.



Early Life

Elves are born about one year from their conception. The day of their conception is celebrated, not the actual birthday itself. Their minds develop quicker than their bodies; by their first year, they can speak, walk and even dance, and their quicker onset of mental maturity makes young Elves seem, to Men, older than they really are. Physical puberty comes in around their fiftieth to one hundredth year (by age fifty they reach their adult height), and by their first hundred years of life outside the womb all Elves are fully grown.[10]

[Vanya Calathiel]

Sexuality, Marriage, and Parenthood

Elves marry freely and for love early in life. Monogamy is practised and adultery is unthinkable; they only marry once (Finwë, first High King of the Noldor, was an exception, as he remarried after his first wife died).[10]

Spouses can choose each other even long before they are married, thus becoming betrothed. The betrothal is subject to parental approval unless the parties are of age and intend to marry soon, at which point the betrothal is announced at a meeting of the two houses. They exchange rings and the betrothal lasts at least a year, and is revocable by the return of the rings; however, it is rarely broken. After their formal betrothal, the couple appoint a date, at least a year later, for the wedding.[10]

Marriage is celebrated at a feast of the two houses. They give back their betrothal rings and receive others worn on their index fingers. The bride’s mother gives the groom a jewel to be worn. Only the words exchanged by the bride and groom (including the speaking of the name of Eru Ilúvatar) and the consummation are required for marriage.[10]

The Elves view the sexual act as extremely special and intimate, for it leads to the conception and birth of children. Extra-marital and premarital sex are unthinkable, adultery is also unheard of and fidelity between spouses is absolute. Yet a sundering during pregnancy or during the early years of parenthood (caused by war, for example) is so grievous to the couple that they prefer to have children in peaceful times. Elves can not be raped or forced to have sex; before that they will lose the will to live and go to Mandos.[10]

Elves have few children, as a rule (Fëanor and Nerdanel were an exception, conceiving seven sons), and there are relatively sizable intervals between each child (but see below for notes on Elvish birth rates in Middle-earth versus in Aman). They are soon preoccupied with other pleasures; their libido wanes and they focus their interests elsewhere, like the arts. Nonetheless, they take great delight in the union of love, and they cherish the days of bearing and raising children as the happiest days of their lives.[10]

There seems to only be one known example of extreme marital strife in Tolkien's mythology, that of Eöl and Aredhel, in which the latter actually left the former without his knowledge, resulting in Eöl ultimately killing her. However, this marriage was far from typical of the Elves.

[Vanya Calathiel]

Daily Life

The Elves, particularly the Noldor, preoccupy themselves with various things, such as smithwork, sculpture, music and other arts, and of course, what to eat[citation needed]. Males and females can do almost everything equally; however, the females often specialise in the arts of healing while the men go to war. This is because they believe that taking life interferes with the ability to preserve life. However, Elves are not stuck in rigid roles; females can defend themselves at need as well as males, and many males are skilled healers as well, such as Elrond.

[Vanya Calathiel]

Later Life

Eventually, if they do not die in battle or from some other cause, the Elves of Middle-earth grow weary of it and desire to go to Valinor, where the Valar originally sheltered their kind. Those who wish to leave for the Undying Lands go by boats provided at the Grey Havens, where Círdan the Shipwright dwells with his folk.

[Vanya Calathiel]

"The third cycle of life," aging, and facial hair

Despite Tolkien's statements in The Hobbit that Elves (and Hobbits) have no beards, Círdan in fact has a beard, which appears to be an anomaly and a simple oversight. However, Tolkien later devised at least three "cycles of life" for Elves around 1960; Círdan had a beard because he was in his third cycle of life. (Mahtan, Nerdanel's father, had a beard in his second cycle of life, a rare phenomenon.) It is unclear what these cycles exactly are, since Tolkien left no notes further explaining this. Apparently, beards were the only sign of further natural physical aging beyond maturity.

Nevertheless, Tolkien may have ultimately changed his mind about whether Elves had facial hair. As Christopher Tolkien states in Unfinished Tales, his father wrote in December 1972 or later that the Elvish strain in Men, such as Aragorn, was "observable in the beardlessness of those who were so descended", since "it was a characteristic of all Elves to be beardless".[11] This would seemingly contradict the information above.

Elves sometimes appear to age under great stress. Círdan appeared 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 Gwindor of Nargothrond had trouble recognizing him after his time as a prisoner of Morgoth.

[Vanya Calathiel]

Death

Elves are naturally immortal. In addition to their immortality, Elves are immune to all diseases[citation needed], and they can recover from wounds which would normally kill a mortal Man[citation needed]. However, Elves can be slain, or die of grief and weariness. In this way they are not truly immortal, at least not in a literal sense, but have indefinite lifespans (they will not die of age, but can be killed in battle). Even so, this idea is collectively called immortality.

Elves who die or are killed go to the Halls of Mandos in Valinor. After a certain period of time and rest that serves as "cleansing", their spirits (fëa) are clothed in bodies (hröa) identical to their old ones.[12] They almost never go back to Middle-earth, however. The only Elf known to have done so was Glorfindel. A rare and more unusual example of an Elf coming back from the Halls of Mandos can be read in the tale of Beren and Lúthien, as Lúthien was the other Elf to be sent back to Middle-earth - as a mortal, however.

Eventually, their immortal spirits (fëa) will overwhelm and consume their bodies (hröa), rendering them "bodiless", whether they opt to go to Valinor or remain in Middle-earth. At the end of the world, all Elves will have become invisible to mortal eyes, except to those to whom they wish to manifest themselves.[10] Tolkien called the Elves of Middle-earth who had undergone this process "Lingerers"[10], and the process may be thought of as a fourth and final cycle of Elven life.

The lives of Elves only endure as the world endures;[10] however, it is said that at the end of time the Elves will join the other Children of Ilúvatar in singing before His throne.[13]