Elrond

Elrond Half-elven is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Hobbit, and plays a supporting role in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

Elrond
Tolkien character
Information
AliasesHalf-elven
RaceHalf-elven, later chose to become part of Elf-kind
Book(s)The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion
Unfinished Tales

Character overview

Elrond was Lord of Rivendell, one of the Elven leaders that remained in Middle-earth in its Third Age. His name was explained by Tolkien in a letter from 1958 to Rhona Beare[T 1] as "Elf of the Cave", as he was found as an infant abandoned in a cave. Later notes, reflected in The Silmarillion[T 2] and The War of the Jewels,[T 3] interpret the name instead as "Star-dome" or "Vault of Stars" (a vault in the sense of the celestial dome).

Elrond was the son of Eärendil and Elwing, and a great-grandson of Lúthien, born in Beleriand in the First Age, making him well over 6,000 years old by the time of the events described in The Lord of the Rings. Elrond's twin brother[T 4] was Elros Tar-Minyatur, the first High King of Númenor.

Elrond was considered half-elven. Through Lúthien, daughter of Melian the Maia, he and his brother Elros were also descended from the angelic Maiar. Elrond, along with his parents, his brother, and his children, were granted a choice between Elven or human fates by the godlike Valar. Elrond chose to live as an immortal Elf, while his twin Elros chose the mortality of Men.

Biography

As documented in The Silmarillion, Elrond was born in the First Age at the refuge of the Mouths of Sirion in Beleriand. Not long afterwards the havens were destroyed by the sons of Fëanor, who captured Elrond and his brother Elros. Their parents feared that they would be killed, but instead they were befriended by Fëanor's sons Maedhros and Maglor.[T 5] Like his parents but unlike his brother, Elrond chose to be counted among the Elves when the choice of kindreds was given to him. When Beleriand was destroyed at the end of the First Age, Elrond went to Lindon with the household of Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor.[T 6]

During the War of the Elves and Sauron in the Second Age, Gil-galad sent Elrond to the defence of Eregion against Sauron. Sauron destroyed Eregion and surrounded Elrond's army, but Durin and Amroth attacked Sauron's rearguard, causing the Dark Lord to turn and drive them back to Moria. Elrond was able to retreat north to a secluded valley, where he established the refuge of Imladris, later called Rivendell.

Lord of Rivendell

Elrond founded Rivendell in the second age and was its lord for thousands of years, including the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Near the end of the Second Age, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men was formed, and the army departed from Imladris to Mordor, led by Elendil and Gil-galad, who were both killed in the Siege of Barad-dûr. Elrond served as Gil-galad's herald, and Elrond and Círdan were entrusted with the two Elven Rings that Gil-galad held. Elrond and Círdan were the only ones to stand with Gil-galad when he fell.

In T.A. 109, Elrond married Celebrían, daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel.[T 7] The place and date of Celebrían's birth are not specified.[T 8] In the version of their history that describes Galadriel and Celeborn as rulers of Eregion in the Second Age, Galadriel and Celebrían left Eregion for Lórinand as Sauron's influence over Eregion grew, sometime between S.A. 1350 and S.A. 1400.[T 9] According to one account, Celebrían and her parents later dwelt for many years in Rivendell (Imladris).[T 10] Celebrían and Elrond had three children: the twins Elladan and Elrohir in T.A. 130,[T 11] and Arwen Undómiel (Evenstar) in T.A. 241.[T 11]

In T.A. 2509, on a trip from Rivendell to Lórien, Celebrían was waylaid by Orcs in the Redhorn Pass on Caradhras in the Misty Mountains.[T 11] She was captured and tormented and received a poisoned wound. She was rescued by her sons and healed by Elrond, but "after fear and torment"[T 12] she could no longer find joy in Middle-earth, so she passed to the Grey Havens and over the Sea to Valinor in the following year.[T 11]

During the Third Age Elrond was an ally of Arnor. Following its fall, Elrond harboured the Chieftains of the Dúnedain (the descendants of the kings of Arnor) and sheltered the Sceptre of Annúminas, Arnor's symbol of royal authority. After Aragorn's father Arathorn was killed a few years after Aragorn's birth, Elrond raised Aragorn in his own household and became a surrogate father to him. Aware of his daughter Arwen's feelings for Aragorn, Elrond would permit their marriage only if Aragorn could unite Arnor and Gondor as High King.

In The Hobbit, Elrond gave shelter to Thorin Oakenshield and his company, after which Elrond and Bilbo Baggins became friends. He received Bilbo as a permanent guest when Bilbo left the Shire some 60 years later.

"Now at this last we must take a hard road, a road unforeseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril--to Mordor. We must send the Ring to the Fire." - Elrond

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

In The Fellowship of the Ring, he headed the Council of Elrond, at which it was decided that the One Ring should be destroyed where it was forged at Mount Doom in Mordor. Elrond also reluctantly accepted his personal loss (Arwen's choice of mortality) for the greater good of Man, as she would help to renew the declining lineage of the Dúnedain.[T 13] In The Return of the King, when the Grey Company found Aragorn and the Rohirrim during their journey to Gondor, Elrond's son Elrohir told Aragorn, "I bring word to you from my father: The days are short. If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead." Aragorn took Elrond's advice, using the Paths of the Dead to reach Gondor in time to come to its aid.

Elrond remained in Rivendell until the destruction of both the Ring and Sauron in the War of the Ring. He then travelled to Minas Tirith for the marriage of Arwen and Aragorn, now King of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor. Three years later, at the approximate age of 6,520, Elrond left Middle-earth to go over the Sea with the Ring-bearers, never to return. Tolkien said that "after the destruction of the Ruling Ring the Three Rings of the Eldar lost their virtue. Then Elrond prepared at last to depart from Middle-earth and follow Celebrían."[T 14] Thus Elrond and Celebrían were finally reunited, but they were sundered forever from their daughter Arwen.[1]

Adaptations
Elrond in Ralph Bakshi's animated version of The Lord of the Rings

Cyril Ritchard voiced Elrond in the 1977 Rankin/Bass animated film adaptation of The Hobbit. In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, Elrond was voiced by André Morell. When Rankin/Bass attempted to finish the story (left incomplete by Bakshi and his financial backers) with The Return of the King in 1980, actor Paul Frees voiced Elrond in the same style as Ritchard, who had since died. In the Rankin/Bass version, Elrond was depicted with a pointed beard and a crown of stars floating around his head.

Matthew Locricchio portrayed Elrond in National Public Radio's 1979 radio production of The Lord of the Rings. Hugh Dickson portrayed Elrond in BBC Radio's 1981 serialisation of The Lord of the Rings. In the 1993 Finnish television miniseries Hobitit, Elrond is played by Leif Wager. In the 2006 musical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, Elrond was portrayed by Victor A. Young.

Hugo Weaving as Elrond in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, Elrond is portrayed by Hugo Weaving.[2] In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey after Elrond reads the moon runes on Thror's map, a White Council session is held in Rivendell, where Gandalf expresses his worries to Elrond and Galadriel, but Saruman dismisses the concerns as unfounded. After Gandalf confirms that Sauron has returned and had taken up residence in Dol Guldur, Elrond joins the other White Council members to fight off the Nazgûl and Sauron in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Elrond holds Men in lesser regard after witnessing Isildur's failure to destroy the One Ring. Unlike the book, he is more skeptical of Aragorn both in terms of his ability to lead the Men of the West and the courtship of his daughter. As shown in the flashback scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, he forces Aragorn to end his engagement to Arwen so that she could leave to the Undying Lands, though she eventually makes the decision to stay with Aragorn in Middle-Earth. Later, he sends a "surprisingly well-drilled army"[3] to the Battle of Helm's Deep, an act the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey writes was made to fit a 21st Century view of politico-military expectations.[3] Also, instead of presenting the reforged Andúril to Aragorn at the beginning of the quest, he only does so after arriving at Dunharrow in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Elrond's sons Elladan and Elrohir and the Grey Company of the Rangers of the North led by Halbarad are absent from the film, so Elrond is the one to advise Aragorn to take the Paths of the Dead. Elrond is present at Aragorn's coronation and Arwen's wedding in Minas Tirith and departs Middle-Earth with other Ring-bearers at the end of the film.

Weaving reprised his role as both Elrond and the narrator in video games The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (2006) and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009). In the storyline campaign of The Battle for Middle-earth II Elrond, after planning the war in the North and sending the Fellowship to destroy the One Ring, forms an alliance with the Dwarves to repel Sauron's forces, defending Rivendell from goblin assaults. He leads the first strike in the final battle at Dol Guldur, joined by other Elves and Dwarves, enabling him to defeat Sauron's remaining forces.

In the 2002 video game adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring Elrond is voiced by Jim Piddock, who later reprised the role for The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (2010) and The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (2011). Elrond is one of the major characters in The Lord of the Rings Online (2007). Residing in the Last Homely House in Rivendell, he is frequently consulted by players seeking council in battling threats to the lands of Eriador. In the 2003 video game adaptation of The Hobbit Elrond only appears for a few seconds in a non-interactive cutscene.

Genealogy
Half-elven family tree[4][5]
Melian the MaiaThingol
of the Teleri		House of BëorHouse of HalethHouse of HadorFinwë
of the Noldor		Indis
of the Vanyar		Olwë
of the Teleri
BarahirBelegundHarethGaldorFingolfinFinarfinEärwen
LúthienBerenRíanHuorTurgonElenwë
DiorNimlothTuorIdril
ElurédElurínElwingEärendilCelebornGaladriel
ElrosElrondCelebrían
Kings of Númenor
Lords of Andúnië
Elendil
IsildurAnárion
High Kings of Arnor
Kings of Arthedain		Kings of Gondor
Chieftains of the Dúnedain
AragornArwenElladanElrohir
EldarionA number of
unnamed daughters
Colour key:
Colour Description
     Elves
     Men
     Maiar
     Half-elven
     Half-elven who chose the fate of elves
     Half-elven who chose the fate of mortal men

References

Primary
This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.
  1. Letters, no. 211, p. 281–282
  2. Tolkien, J.R.R. (1977). "Appendix, entries for 'Elrond'". In Tolkien, Christopher (ed.). The Silmarillion. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 327, 363. ISBN 0-04-823139-8.
  3. Tolkien, J.R.R. (1994). "Quendi and Eldar". In Tolkien, Christopher (ed.). The War of the Jewels. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. p. 414. ISBN 978-0261103245.
  4. Tolkien, pp. 342–354 Elrond and Elros are born in the same year, 532 of the Years of the Sun in the First Age.
  5. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, pp. 296-297}}
  6. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, p. 306, p. 314, pp. 343-344
  7. The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B. In the original edition the date was given as T.A. 100. It was changed to 109 only in later printings of the second edition.
  8. Unfinished Tales, p. 234
  9. Unfinished Tales, p. 237.
  10. Unfinished Tales, p. 240.
  11. The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B.
  12. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996), Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 235-6, ISBN 0-395-82760-4
  13. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955), The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), Appendices, A, (V): Here Follows a Part of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, ISBN 0-395-08256-0
  14. The Peoples of Middle-earth, p. 243.

Secondary
  1. Tyler, Tony (2002). The Complete Tolkien Companion. Pan Books. p. 195. ISBN 0-330-41165-9.
  2. Froggatt, Emma (31 July 2015). "Hugo Weaving's top 10 on-screen moments – in pictures". The Guardian.
  3. Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982]. The Road to Middle-Earth (Third ed.). HarperCollins. pp. 418–419. ISBN 978-0261102750.
  4. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977), Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-25730-1
  5. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955), The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers, I The Númenórean Kings, ISBN 0-395-08256-0
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