I don't follow LACE at all, and none of my Elves are supposed to be monogamous, or stay with a spouse forever. That was just what the Valar ruled. So marriages wound down and became lacking in desire because what they were doing was not natural to the Elves anyhow. Those who did stay together were just like either friends or a kind of business partnership.
In Middle-earth it was different. They could bind themselves to some-one for as long as they wanted (if they wanted children for instance) and then part when one or the other wanted to. (You couldn't hang on to some-one if they wanted to move on, as that was unfair - not saying it didn't happen, but there were deeply ingrained 'rules' against that, as it went against their kind of 'free love' attitude) They were far more sexually free. They also didn't go to the Halls of Mandos, but became Houseless and eventually 'ferthad' (spirit of place) like genius loci, so there was no 'waiting for your spouse to be reborn' etc.
I did have to write about Thranduil's wife, as it's obvious he had one but theirs was an arranged marriage too, just somewhat more important since Oropher and Thranduil and the people originally from Doriath were incomers into the Greenwood, and a lot hung on that. When she died (which I don't cover as it was before I started writing about it) she did follow the call of Mandos rather than refuse it. I'd have to read back to see why she made that decision, but it made sense to her. Thranduil, however, had fallen head over heels for some-one else not long before and felt incredibly guilty about it. Oropher had impressed on a young Thranduil how important his marriage was and Thranduil tied himself into knots and into being utterly faithful while wanting to live how the Elves of the Wood lived. It became a habit that he deeply resented underneath. He'd never been in love until Bainalph grew up and turned out to be everything he had wanted. Now his wife's returned, but not to Thranduil, more because the Greenwood is her home and she was born there, and because she's queen. So that 'resumed' marriage is more about politics than anything else.
So most of the arranged marriages (especially of the First Age and prior) just dissolved after a while, most of them even before the Noldor left, and I don't have to kill any-one off - except the people who were actually killed off in canon. Well, Fingon's wife was awful, though it wasn't her fault, and she's okay now, but she didn't die. He did.
When the Noldor return, they're free to be with who they wish - or at least approach them. Thranduil's people have never had that kind of lifestyle 'enforced' on them and thought it was weird. :) I know whom I think is together and so they can be without having to marry for duty's sake.
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In Middle-earth it was different. They could bind themselves to some-one for as long as they wanted (if they wanted children for instance) and then part when one or the other wanted to. (You couldn't hang on to some-one if they wanted to move on, as that was unfair - not saying it didn't happen, but there were deeply ingrained 'rules' against that, as it went against their kind of 'free love' attitude) They were far more sexually free. They also didn't go to the Halls of Mandos, but became Houseless and eventually 'ferthad' (spirit of place) like genius loci, so there was no 'waiting for your spouse to be reborn' etc.
I did have to write about Thranduil's wife, as it's obvious he had one but theirs was an arranged marriage too, just somewhat more important since Oropher and Thranduil and the people originally from Doriath were incomers into the Greenwood, and a lot hung on that. When she died (which I don't cover as it was before I started writing about it) she did follow the call of Mandos rather than refuse it. I'd have to read back to see why she made that decision, but it made sense to her. Thranduil, however, had fallen head over heels for some-one else not long before and felt incredibly guilty about it. Oropher had impressed on a young Thranduil how important his marriage was and Thranduil tied himself into knots and into being utterly faithful while wanting to live how the Elves of the Wood lived. It became a habit that he deeply resented underneath. He'd never been in love until Bainalph grew up and turned out to be everything he had wanted. Now his wife's returned, but not to Thranduil, more because the Greenwood is her home and she was born there, and because she's queen. So that 'resumed' marriage is more about politics than anything else.
So most of the arranged marriages (especially of the First Age and prior) just dissolved after a while, most of them even before the Noldor left, and I don't have to kill any-one off - except the people who were actually killed off in canon. Well, Fingon's wife was awful, though it wasn't her fault, and she's okay now, but she didn't die. He did.
When the Noldor return, they're free to be with who they wish - or at least approach them. Thranduil's people have never had that kind of lifestyle 'enforced' on them and thought it was weird. :)
I know whom I think is together and so they can be without having to marry for duty's sake.