Essais - Sur le vieillissement des Elfes

[Erendis]

Simon, je suppose que tu veux parler d'une différence de génération plus que de localisation ? (car les elfes se sont éveillés en TdM) Selon toi, avant la Marche, les Elfes avaient une gestation longue, mais après, hormis pour ceux restés en Aman, la gestation serait devenu plus rapide ?

je pense voir ce qui peut te faire penser cela :

In their beginning the Quendi grew at a rate in which the “unit” was the yên or Elven-year, which was 144 MY. If then an elf-child grew to a maiden and a young woman in about 20 “years”, wedded at 25 and bore her first child at 26, her age in mortal terms would be 2,880 at maturity, 3,600 at wedding, and 3,744 at childbirth.

[... § parlant de la relation au temps]

Thus the Quendi did not and do not “live slowly”, moving ponderously like tortoises, while Time flickers past them and their sluggish thoughts! Indeed, they move and think swifter than Men, and achieve more than a Man in any given length of time. [fn7] But they have a far greater native vitality and energy to draw upon, so that it takes and will take a very great length of time to expend it.

[puis vient le § 15 cité dans mon post précédent]

Mais hormis cette indication "in the beginning", il n'y a aucune mention d'un changement au cours du temps, d'où ma réticence à penser comme toi. Y a-t-il autre chose ?

A noter que cette partie était à l'origine rédigée ainsi, mais Tolkien a barré ce passage :

Thus the Quendi do not “live slowly”, achieving in 144 years only what a mortal could in 1 year; they are not like tortoises moving ponderously while Time flickers past them. Actually, they move and think rather swifter than Men and get more into any given length of time than any Man could. But they have a much greater natural vitality and energy to draw upon, so that it takes very much longer to expend it all.
The procreative act and “gestation” thus take place quickly, at more or less mortal speed, not taking 144 times as long! In fact, the act of union does take longer and gestation a little longer – it [gestation] occupies a löa or sun-year in Middle-earth.
But the production of children expends a very great amount of physical and spiritual energy; the desire for the next act is therefore at the Elvish rate, and when we speak of a 3 year interval we thus mean 432 years.
All matters of growth which are not directly controlled by the conscious fëa are slow in Quendi. [cf début § 15] Gestation therefore takes a very long while – about 144 MY, during all of which time husband and wife are conscious of the growth of the child, and experience a much longer joy and expectation. For Elvish childbirth is not accompanied by fear or pain – but there is a great expense of vigour followed by quiescence and weariness in both of them.
But the act of procreation not being one of growth until the union of the seed and being under full control of the will does not take long – though it is longer and of more intense delight in Elves than in Men: too intense to be long endured.

La contradiction n'est là séparée que d'une phrase ! et déjà présente dans un brouillon rejeté. C'est pourquoi, je ne pense pas qu'il s'agisse vraiment d'une contradiction, mais de données dont les tenants et aboutissants ne sont pas assez explicités pour qu'ils nous apparaissent comme clair.