"Though with sorrow"

BraveBrownBear

New Member
I've finally caught up! So I've listened to Episode 184 too, with the discussion about Elrond's explanation of the Three, and in particular this passage mentioning sorrow:
Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained. These things the Elves of Middle-earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow.
There were several explanations of what this sorrow could be and its source, and I won't summarize them (there are already summaries for the episodes). The way I understand Elrond's words is: "We Elves wanted understanding, making, healing, preserving, and so we built the rings; but the whole ring-making enterprise gave Sauron a new weapon, we had to fight a war to defeat him, we had great losses (Gil-Galad…). So the rings that we built helped us to achieve what we wanted (in some measure), but they also brought destruction and sorrow."
 
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