<P> Eventually, their immortal spirits will overwhelm and consume their bodies, 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 . Tolkien called the Elves of Middle - earth who had undergone this process "Lingerers". </P> <P> The lives of Elves only endure as the world endures . It is said in the Second Prophecy of Mandos that at the end of time the Elves will join the other Children of Ilúvatar in singing the Second Music of the Ainur . However it is disputable whether the Prophecy is canon, and the published Silmarillion states that only Men shall participate for certain in the Second Music, and that the ultimate fate of the Elves is unknown . However, they do not believe that Eru will abandon them to oblivion . </P> <P> In The Lord of the Rings Tolkien pretends to be merely the translator of Bilbo and Frodo's memoirs, collectively known as the Red Book of Westmarch . He says that those names and terms in the work (as well in the earlier The Hobbit) that appear in English are meant to be his purported translations from the Common Speech . </P> <P> Tolkien repeatedly expressed his misgivings concerning the name "elf" and its "associations of a kind that I should particularly desire not to be present (...) e.g. those of Drayton or of A Midsummer Night's Dream", for the purpose of translations stating his preference that "the oldest available form of the name to be used, and leave it to acquire its own associations for readers of my tale". He wanted to avoid the Victorian notions of "fairies" or mischievous imps associated with the word and was aiming at the more elevated notions of beings "supposed to possess formidable magical powers in early Teutonic mythology" (OED viz . the Old English ælf, from Proto - Germanic * albo - z). </P>

What are the elves like in lord of the rings