Yes, I too tend to think that most of what is in LACE comes from a place of asking...okay, so here is Catholic theology surrounding sex and marriage. How would I apply that to immortal elves? The qualities a marriage is meant to have (in Catholic theology) is that it be: free, total, faithful, and fruitful. The emphasis on consent being a requirement for elves seems related to the 'free' aspect, and 'total' works into how permanent any marriage relationship seems to be. And that connects back into the unfallen nature of elves, who would surely get such things 'right', not being subject to concupiscence the way mere mortals are.
Likewise with the Melian stuff - he's trying to work out the ramifications of becoming incarnate for a being who was 'meant' to remain pure spirit. The cost of having a child in that situation is very steep, apparently, and so...there is a philosophical reason provided for her 'one and done' approach to childbearing. It might not sound like a Catholic dude in the 1950's came up with that justification, but he wanted to keep Lúthien one-of-a-kind, and this philosophical explanation fit. So, yes, Melian chooses her career as insightful queen and remaining 'herself' over having more children.
I have to assume that the contention that elves lose interest in sex is not speaking from his own experience of humans or his own marriage, but rather trying to work out the ramifications of having a body bound to earth for an extremely long time (as well as the population dynamics, when 'death from old age or sickness' is off the table). When he speaks of the hroa and the fea, he's trying to imagine a different body-spirit connection than humans would experience. And for the record, Catholic theology views married sex as having both a procreative and unitive purpose. It's not 'child-bearing only.' Sex with a spouse after the 'time of the children' is over would be perfectly acceptable, theologically speaking. The issue here is biology - there's not really a concept of an elf becoming infertile due to age, so...what stops them from having children throughout a millennium? He had to introduce some sort of 'window', but he couldn't age them out, and so...he was toying with other ideas as to why they stop.
As for the more 'intense' experience of sex among elves - I could imagine that the idea there is a joining of spirits, so an extremely high level of intimacy in every act. Or it could just be ridiculously pleasurable because elves are more 'in tune' with their bodies, so they get it right for their partner, too. I think it interesting that he apparently came up with 'too intense' and 'lost interest' as possible explanations for the change in behavior.
The mismatched ages (of an older man and a younger woman) was not his own experience of marriage. His wife was older than him. And while I cannot speak to any fantasies he may have entertained, I imagine he was basing that on...something else. Sure does sound skeevy, but the point remains that these ideas are more likely to be philosophical and anthropological ponderings than an autobiographical understanding of marriage.
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rosecarmine
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Date: 2022-02-20 05:24 pm (UTC)Likewise with the Melian stuff - he's trying to work out the ramifications of becoming incarnate for a being who was 'meant' to remain pure spirit. The cost of having a child in that situation is very steep, apparently, and so...there is a philosophical reason provided for her 'one and done' approach to childbearing. It might not sound like a Catholic dude in the 1950's came up with that justification, but he wanted to keep Lúthien one-of-a-kind, and this philosophical explanation fit. So, yes, Melian chooses her career as insightful queen and remaining 'herself' over having more children.
I have to assume that the contention that elves lose interest in sex is not speaking from his own experience of humans or his own marriage, but rather trying to work out the ramifications of having a body bound to earth for an extremely long time (as well as the population dynamics, when 'death from old age or sickness' is off the table). When he speaks of the hroa and the fea, he's trying to imagine a different body-spirit connection than humans would experience. And for the record, Catholic theology views married sex as having both a procreative and unitive purpose. It's not 'child-bearing only.' Sex with a spouse after the 'time of the children' is over would be perfectly acceptable, theologically speaking. The issue here is biology - there's not really a concept of an elf becoming infertile due to age, so...what stops them from having children throughout a millennium? He had to introduce some sort of 'window', but he couldn't age them out, and so...he was toying with other ideas as to why they stop.
As for the more 'intense' experience of sex among elves - I could imagine that the idea there is a joining of spirits, so an extremely high level of intimacy in every act. Or it could just be ridiculously pleasurable because elves are more 'in tune' with their bodies, so they get it right for their partner, too. I think it interesting that he apparently came up with 'too intense' and 'lost interest' as possible explanations for the change in behavior.
The mismatched ages (of an older man and a younger woman) was not his own experience of marriage. His wife was older than him. And while I cannot speak to any fantasies he may have entertained, I imagine he was basing that on...something else. Sure does sound skeevy, but the point remains that these ideas are more likely to be philosophical and anthropological ponderings than an autobiographical understanding of marriage.