The Elven (The Saga of the Elven, #1)

by Bernhard Hennen

It was understood that death was just an interruption of life, like a time of sleep that clouded the memory. In time, one could regain that memory, and death was no more than a brief dream.

Reincarnation described beautifully.

“Why do you do this?” he asked Wengalf. “Why keep the bodies laid out like this, on display? How am I supposed to believe in one great life when I see the body of another in front of me?” Wengalf looked up at him gravely. “Thorwis believed it was the right time for you to see this. And I agree. You have to learn that you are much more than your body.” He pointed to the crystal. “You cast off this one here like a suit of armor that had seen better days. And what days they were.” The Wengalf’s gaze drifted off into nothingness. “Death is painful, and the memory of it is seldom pleasant, but when I visit these halls to see my old body, it gives me strength. I look at my earlier face and see what I once was. My mind becomes clear. Faced with my old body, I feel myself transported back to the old times.”

Learning lessons of the past.

On my deathbed, I told Thorwis the story of my battle against the dragon so that I could find out about it again in my new life. Then they crowned me, for I have never passed from this life without wearing the crown. And then I died. But I did not have to work hard to get the memory back again. I managed it in the next life.” “If you can remember, then you also know how it is . . . to die.” Wengalf laughed. “Death is no more than sleeping. You nod off, and later, you wake up. Some of us dream. They see the Alben, see the silverlight, the past, or the future. But the meanings of these dreams . . . only the wisest can tell you that.”

He never asked me if we had met before in another life, but as we stand there, we know that things that happen are repeated. Friends find a way to one another, even if it takes several lifetimes.

Reincarnation

“Is that everything you have?” “Yes. Clothes and knowledge. That’s all I need.”

What does it matter to sacrifice a body if you know that the soul will be born again? Only the flesh dies. The soul is assured of a new beginning, and perhaps even one that does not lead down dark paths.”

Reincarnation

for humans, death meant the end of everything. They lived in a condition of uncertainty, and maybe that was what made their lives so valuable. No human knew what would happen to his soul after death, so they had to make the best of things in life.

The importance of understanding resurrection - it removes the fear of death.