So when the Elves sail unto the West, is it >

[mr_hat]

kinda like Superman going back to Krypton?

[Loonman]

1. Krypton was destroyed

Superman can't go back.

[EstimatedProphet]

2. The elves didn't come from the west

They were just moving on...

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

3. like that pic of the white house

....a giant flaming vagina.

[TlalocW]

4. Obviously Middle Earth

Is Europe so if they sell to the West, they're coming to what will be the Americas. Now recall that there was a mention of some sort of magical tree in the land to the West that they're returning to. Elves... Trees... See the connection? The age of Elves was ending, and the age of Man beginning, and Man is going to need his damn E.L. Fudge cookies and other num-nums from Keebler.

TlalocW

[Bridget Burke]

5. No, they're going to the planet Vulcan....

At the right time, they'll get back in touch with us filthy humans.

(Check the ears!)

[demnan]

6. Think King Arthur

The Celts left for the West when England became dominated by the Anglo-Saxons.

So the elves are going to Wales.

[markus]

7. The Sillmarillion outlines a lot of this

I don't have it all tucked away in memory, but you could certainly get a copy at the library and have a read.

A mythical isle or land to the west is a staple of celtic culture (and of a lot of cultures. The Chinese used to believe in a mythical floating island of eternal life).

I seem to recall (without the books from home) that some of the elves in fact came from these islands into Middle Earth, so that yes, at the end they were going home.