Having read the silmarillon many times there is still one thing that appears to bother me, the halls of mandos.

Tolkein never even hints at what goes on in the halls of mandos and this has left me wondering what actually happens in there. now the way i see it there are 2 possibilities

1) The dead elves are confined within as souls and are never allowed to leave in which case this seems a possiblity as we know that few elves have left the halls of mandos. The only exception being Beren and Luthien and of course Glorfindel but Tolkein implies that these are exceptions. If this is the case then i fail to see the Noldor's enthusiasm for battling morgoth surely an never ending imprisonment as a soul would be torture for them being unable to pursue their love of smithing.
2) They are confined within the halls of mandos as full beings. This seems to me to be the most plausible possibility but i can find no evidence for it

So i guess i just wished to hear what you guys thought about the halls of mandos and hopefully put my mind at rest.

My impression of it was more of a dream state. And they did know they'd be reborn, eventually. Sometimes they'd return in a new birth, but they were all destined for a rebirth when the song of creation was recreated and sung properly.

The Halls of Mandos always reminded me of a conglomeration of Valhalla and a sort benign purgatory.

Heaven?

There's not a lot of info on the Halls of Mandos, but I imagine it is more like a place of waiting and contemplation and extended learning, than the Christian idea of heaven (dwelling in the presence of God, bliss and contentment, etc).

I don't think it would seem like a 'prison' to them. After all, they had done nothing wrong to end up there, it was not their fault someone had killed them! I think it's a sort of 'waiting room' where you wait peacefully until the Dagor Dagorath and the renewing of Arda.

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Better, though difficult, the right way to go, than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe. John Bunyan - Pilgrim's Progress

I thought Elves stayed there for a while, and then were reclothed in their old bodies and rejoined their kin in Aman...

There are a lot of references to the Christian belief in LotR.

Im with the Christian idea of Heaven,,,,,Just one thing,,,Who is God in the LOTR? God, God or another being?

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"When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer."

Eru Ilúvatar is "God" in Tolkien's universe... Manwe and the Valar are like Archangels, Melkor/Morgoth Bauglir is Satan, Sauron and Balogs are Fallen Angels. The Maiar, like Ólorin, Melian and Össe are lesser angels..

There are actually lots of Christian representations in LOTR. For example, Aragorn can represent Jesus. Aragorn had to take the paths of the dead. By surviving and commanding the Army of the Dead, he proved he was king. Jesus, by his death and resurrection, proved he was King and had control over death. Gandalf died while fighting the Balrog, and resurrected, which is another resurrection representation.

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Better, though difficult, the right way to go, than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe. John Bunyan - Pilgrim's Progress

Or, as Tolkien intended, Aragorn can be seen as William Wallace, a hero that doesn't wan't to be a hero.