不变的人会看着整个世界迅速老去
Legolas 说，世界对精灵同时走得很快，也很慢。他们自己变化很少，所以周围的一切都在迅速离去；他们又不必计算自己的年岁，季节只是不断重复的细小波纹。
这种长生并没有取消时间，只把衰老转移到了外部。精灵自己的身体变化很慢，城市、树林和其他种族却继续磨损。世间好物不坚牢 对短生者是失去，对精灵则是一次又一次看着别人失去。
‘Nay, time does not tarry ever,’ he said; ‘but change and growth is not in all things and places alike. For the Elves the world moves, and it moves both very swift and very slow. Swift, because they themselves change little, and all else fleets by: it is a grief to them. Slow, because they need not count the running years, not for themselves. The passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in the long long stream. Yet beneath the Sun all things must wear to an end at last.’ J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Links to this note
- The Fellowship of the Ring
精灵这一边有另一组时间。不变的人会看着整个世界迅速老去，摧毁魔戒也意味着 Lothlórien 失去力量，有些胜利以自己的衰落为代价。他们口中的工艺被其他种族统称为 magic，见 别人称为魔法的，也许只是另一种族的日常技艺。