Going off of what Zopyrus has said below, I envision the custom of including dead people's letters in libraries as having been established before Glorfindel returned from over the Sea...as, before that, they had no way of knowing if anyone would ever be able to come back, and likely assumed not? So when Glorfindel did return, I image they told him that they had all of this stuff, and it was at his discretion whether he wanted to keep it there or take his papers back for himself (and, in my headcanon, he voted on keeping them in the archives for posterity's sake. And then he's not the one who has to worry about keeping them organized :P). And I haven't thought about whether or not Erestor would take the archive with him if/when he sails! On the one hand, it seems like a lot to transport, on the other hand, I see him as wanting to make those records available to those who are reborn in Valinor. If he did chose to leave them behind in Middle-earth, I think there's high potential that they get moved to Gondor, or whatever satellite city Aragorn establishes in Eriador in the Fourth Age (which I see as something that had to happen? Maybe the Angle finally starts to thrive, lol. But I digress).
I also do wonder about the status of archival materials for Elves who are still living, like Elrond himself...in that case I sort of see it at the discretion of the various Elves? I'm basing this mostly off of my knowledge of famous(ish) people who are still alive who will donate their papers to University archives for the sake of Knowledge and Learning for the next generation. It's still a bit different, but the same general principle applies, I think.
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ninetydegrees
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on 2014-04-19 05:13 pm (UTC)Going off of what Zopyrus has said below, I envision the custom of including dead people's letters in libraries as having been established before Glorfindel returned from over the Sea...as, before that, they had no way of knowing if anyone would ever be able to come back, and likely assumed not? So when Glorfindel did return, I image they told him that they had all of this stuff, and it was at his discretion whether he wanted to keep it there or take his papers back for himself (and, in my headcanon, he voted on keeping them in the archives for posterity's sake. And then he's not the one who has to worry about keeping them organized :P). And I haven't thought about whether or not Erestor would take the archive with him if/when he sails! On the one hand, it seems like a lot to transport, on the other hand, I see him as wanting to make those records available to those who are reborn in Valinor. If he did chose to leave them behind in Middle-earth, I think there's high potential that they get moved to Gondor, or whatever satellite city Aragorn establishes in Eriador in the Fourth Age (which I see as something that had to happen? Maybe the Angle finally starts to thrive, lol. But I digress).
I also do wonder about the status of archival materials for Elves who are still living, like Elrond himself...in that case I sort of see it at the discretion of the various Elves? I'm basing this mostly off of my knowledge of famous(ish) people who are still alive who will donate their papers to University archives for the sake of Knowledge and Learning for the next generation. It's still a bit different, but the same general principle applies, I think.