Are children of an elf and a men always mortal?

[Eriol_Eandur]

All children of Tuor and Idhril on the on hand and Beren and Luthien at the other hand the choice was given by the Valar (when Earendil and Elwing came to Valinor with the Silmaril) if they wanted to be counted among the elves of men. Dior, son of Luthien and Beren was born after Luthien became mortal. So he is a descendant of two mortals and his fate seems clear.
Earendil left the choice to Elwing and she chose for them to be counted among the elves. Elros chose to be a man (his children, the Kings of Numenor obviously didn't had a choise). Elrond chose to be an elf, his sons Eladan and Elrohir too. Arwen chose to be counted among men when she married Aragorn (after she lived almost 3000 years like an elf).
Descendants of other conjunctions of elfs and men (e.g. in the genealogy of the Princes of Dol Amroth) are not called half-elfs as far as I know. They seems to be always counted among men.

Btw souls of men and elves are immortal (better indestructible) and their bodies are mortal (destructible). But the fate of their souls after the death of the body is different. Souls of elves are bound to the world of Arda until the last day when the choirs of men and elfs will sing together with the Ainur before the throne of Eru. If their body dies they have to wait in the Mando's halls until this last day. The souls of men are free, they leave the world of Arda after the death of the body and only Eru, Manwe and Mandos know where they are going (see Silmarillion - of Men). This was indeed intended as a gift from Eru to men at first and it wasn't seen as something bad before the King's of Númenor became powerful and proud. Being bound to the world can become an agony for elves. Their immortality is in no way superior to the gift of death (or freedom as I like to name it).

 

[RubenPieterMark]

I think it's kind of unfair that only the descendants of the half-elves that chose to be Elves, had the same choice between Man and Elf (for example Elrond's children), whereas the children of Elros lost that choice.

Also this: Middle-earth Xenite.

 

[Lindolas]

Well Elros chose to be counted among men and was also married to a mortal woman so their chilldren had no choice.

 

[Eriol_Eandur]

Ah thanks @RubenPieterMark for that link. I changed my sentence about Dior above

Also interesting quote from History of Middle-earth V in there. There is indeed a general rule that children of at least one mortal parent are mortal themself. The half-elfs are an exception of this rule granted to Earendils childrend because of his great deeds.

@Lindolas Elrond chose to be counted among elfs and was also married to an elf woman so why did their childen had a choice? I mean instead of automatically being counted among elfs.

 

[Lindolas]

@Lindolas Elrond chose to be counted among elfs and was also married to an elf woman so why did their childen had a choice? I mean instead of automatically being counted among elfs.

Oh yes, I never tought about that. Actally yes, it's true, seems unfair.

 

[Lindolas]

Found this:
Could Half-elven Families Ever Become Fully Elven?

 

[ryttyr]

So after having read this thread and looked at Eriol's family tree document this is my interpretation of the situation (I've not read Beren and Luthien nor the relevant chapters of the Silmarillions yet btw). Beren the man and Luthien the elf married and choose to become mortals. After that they had a son who consequently was a half-elven mortal. He later married Nimloth the elf and so their daughter Elwing was born half-elven and therefore could choose between mortality and immortality. She married the half-elven Earendil, son of Idril the elf and Tuor the man, and then choose that they both should be immortal. And since they both were half-elven their children were also half-elven and got to choose between being mortal or immortal. Elros choose to be mortal and so when he married a man their children were born man too but Elrond choose to be immortal and so his children were born half-elven as himself and could therefore choose to become mortals if they wanted. However that is assuming that mortality and race are two separate things.
So basically, man + elf = half-elven, half-elven + half-elven = half-elven, half-elven + man = man, half-elven + elf = half-elven. Men are mortal by default, elves are immortal by default and half-elven gets to choose but are possibly immortal by default as seen with Arwen or perhaps it is based on the mortality of their parents.

 

[Eriol_Eandur]

Beren didn't had a chance to choose. Luthien was the only one of the Eldar who became mortal:

These were the choices that he gave to Lúthien. Because of her labours and her sorrow, she should be released
from Mandos, and go to Valimar, there to dwell until the world's end among the Valar, forgetting all griefs that her life
had known. Thither Beren could not come. For it was not permitted to the Valar to withhold Death from him, which is
the gift of Ilúvatar to Men. But the other choice was this: that she might return to Middle-earth, and take with her
Beren, there to dwell again, but without certitude of life or joy. Then she would become mortal, land subject to a second
death, even as he; and ere long she would leave the world for ever, and her beauty become only a memory in song.

That's why in the article Pieter linked above Michael Martinez comes to the conclusion that Dior was born as child of two mortals and thus was a mortal himself. This seems very convincing to me and I changed my mind about Dior (still have to change in the Genealogy I made )
In the History of Middle-earth there is a passage that says everone who has only a bit of human blood is mortal:

…Then Manwe gave judgement and he said: ‘To Earendel I remit the ban, and the peril that he took upon himself out of love for the Two Kindreds shall not fall on him; neither shall it fall upon Elwing who entered into peril for love of Earendel: save only in this: they shall not ever walk again among Elves or Men in the Outer Lands. Now all those who have the blood of mortal Men, in whatever part, great or small, are mortal, unless other doom be granted to them; but in this matter the power of doom is given to me. This is my decree: to Earendel and to Elwing and to their sons shall be given leave each to choose freely under which kindred they shall be judged.’

That passage also includes the only exception from that rule granted to Earendil and Elwing and Elwing. That's why they (and no one else) are called half-elven. Obviously this choice is only inherited among those who choose to be counted among the elfs. Elros and Arwen were the only half-elfs who chose to become mortal and their children don't had any choice.