The Lord of the Rings: Do Elves Actually Feel Boredom?

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER

24 August 2024 at 18:30

In “The Lord of the Rings,” elves live for thousands of years and are immortal. They spend a lot of time on earth. Do they ever get bored?

The Elves have lived on the continent since the First Age of Middle Earth, and by the time of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power they are thousands of years old. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), for example, is 3,900 to 4,170 years old, and Gil-galad (Ben Walker) is only a few years younger than Galadriel (by Elven standards).

As immortal beings, they outlast numerous human kings and dwarven rulers. Although political conflicts and wars are always occurring in Middle Earth, there are also times of peace. Do elves get bored during these times?

Elves are not bored, but are “overwhelmed by disappointments”

In our exclusive interview with Gil-galad actor Ben Walker, we asked this very question: “Are elves actually bored?” And the star had a good answer for us:

I don’t think so, but I think they might be overwhelmed by disappointments in their youth. Seeing the same mistakes repeated over and over again, I think overcoming that would be a massive challenge.
Seeing history repeat itself. That’s certainly true in our world too. Come on, people, let’s get better. Can’t we all just get along?

Ben Walker (Gilland)

What Ben Walker describes is a kind of weariness. He describes it as tiring and frustrating that the elves have to face the same problems over the millennia because other peoples have not been able to gain as much experience.

There is also the personal component that loved ones and people come and go and are ultimately only a blink of an eye in the lives of the elves. Bonds have different values ​​for the elves than for us humans. This means that feelings such as boredom are more human emotions.

As higher beings created directly by the Creator of Middle-earth, Elves are above such – let’s call them – “base emotions” like boredom.

On August 29, 2024, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2 will start streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Three episodes will be released at once, with the remaining episodes appearing weekly. Work is said to already be underway on “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 3.