Where in the Wild is Gildor Inglorian?
I once wondered why elves don't sleep. My research led me to this essay from MERP. I also like the idea that elves do sleep.
Where in the Wild is Gildor Inglorian? (abridged)
- Michael Martinez
full essay:
http://www.merp.com/essays/MichaelMartinez/mmartinezwheregildoringlorian/
Do Gildor Inglorion's wandering band of Elves ever stop to sleep? Gildor is a very puzzling character because he appears to be nothing more than a deus ex machina. Supposedly, Gildor and his companions are returning from a special pilgrimage they have made to Lindon. But what does all that have to do with whether Gildor's people sleep on the road, and why should that matter?
Well, it matters insofar as people occasionally ask me where Gildor and his companions would have stayed on their travels across Eriador. While common sense suggests to me they would seek out the most safe and comfortable lodgings available, it seems offensive to other people that Elves should ever stop over in Bree. I have no idea of why. People just seem to have a very difficult time accepting the idea that Elves would ever want to sleep in a soft bed or have a pint of ale in the company of Men, Dwarves, and Hobbits.
So, why wouldn't Gildor and his Elves have wanted to stay in Bree, if there was only one other inn located between Bree-land and Rivendell (the Forsaken Inn, which Aragorn said stood a day's journey east of Bree)? Some people suggest that perhaps Gildor and his companions did not sleep.
In fact, there is a widespread, if mistaken, notion that Tolkien's Elves did not require sleep.
This misunderstanding arises in part from the passages in The Two Towers where Tolkien suggests that Legolas does not sleep as Aragorn and Gimli do while the three are chasing the Orcs who have taken Merry and Pippin.
<snip details> He slept in Moria, for example, while Gandalf kept the watch in the abandoned guard-room where Pippin dropped the rock into the well.
Tolkien provides enough examples of Elvish sleeping habits elsewhere to establish that they can and do sleep normally. It's highly doubtful, for example, that Elrond kept beds in his house just in case some friendly Dwarves or Hobbits cared to drop by. So, Elves normally slept much as we do.
Which brings us back to Gildor and his company. If their primary business (in the story) involves travel back and forth across Eriador, and if they gather news and convey messages between Rivendell and Lindon (or between Rivendell and Aman), then it would certainly make sense for them to at least visit a few of the more prominent inns such as the Prancing Pony.
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Another good elf essay
http://www.merp.com/essays/MichaelMartinez/michaelmartinezsuite101essay113