<P> 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 . </P> <P> Elves are naturally immortal, and remain unwearied with age . In addition to their immortality, Elves can recover from wounds which would normally kill a mortal Man . However, Elves can be slain, or die of grief and weariness . </P> <P> Spirits of dead Elves go to the Halls of Mandos in Valinor . After a certain period of time and rest that serves as "cleansing", their spirits are clothed in bodies identical to their old ones . However, they almost never go back to Middle - earth and remain in Valinor instead . An exception was Glorfindel in The Lord of the Rings; as shown in later books, Tolkien decided he was a "reborn" hero from The Silmarillion rather than an individual with the same name . A rare and more unusual example of an Elf coming back from the Halls of Mandos is found in the tale of Beren and Lúthien, as Lúthien was the other Elf to be sent back to Middle - earth--as a mortal, however . Tolkien's Elvish words for "spirit" and "body" were fëa (plural fëar) and hröa (plural hröar) respectively . </P> <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>

What happens when an elf dies in lotr
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