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.

Character overview

Elrond was Lord of Rivendell, one of the mighty rulers of old that remained in Middle-earth in its Third Age. His name means "Vault of Stars", "Star-dome", or "Elf of the Cave" (the exact meaning is uncertain, as Tolkien gave different derivations in different places).

He 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^[1] was Elros Tar-Minyatur, the first High King of Númenor.

Although Elrond was considered half-elven, that was not meant to be an exact percentage value; he and his brother Elros were also descended from the Maiar, angelic beings who had come to Middle-earth thousands of years before. 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 travel into the West and live as an immortal Elf, while his twin Elros chose mortality.

Biography

As documented in The Silmarillion, Elrond was born at the refuge of the Mouths of Sirion soon before its destruction by the sons of Fëanor. He and his brother, Elros, were captured alive. Their parents feared that they would be killed, but instead they were taken up by the brothers Maedhros and Maglor.

Elrond went to Lindon with the household of Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor, when Beleriand was destroyed at the end of the First Age. He chose (like his parents but unlike his brother) to be counted among the Elves when the choice of kindreds was given to him.

According to the appendices of The Return of the King, Elrond was Gil-galad's herald in the Second Age. During the War of the Elves and Sauron, Elrond was sent to Eregion when it was attacked by Sauron. He united his army with one from Eregion, led by Celeborn. Eregion was destroyed, however, and Elrond was driven back and surrounded by Sauron. Fortunately, an army led by Durin and Amroth assailed Sauron's host in the rear, causing the Dark Lord to turn and drive them back to Moria. Elrond was able to retreat to a valley where he made a settlement at Imladris (Rivendell). In 1700 an army from Númenor arrived in Lindon and Gwathló, and Sauron was trapped between the Númenóreans and Elrond.

The White Council decided that Eregion would be abandoned in favour of Imladris. Upon this occasion, Gil-galad entrusted Elrond with Vilya, the mightiest of the Three Rings of the Elves.

Near the end of the Second Age, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men was formed, and the army departed from Imladris, led by Elendil and Gil-galad, who were both killed in the Siege of Barad-dûr. Elrond and Círdan were the only ones to stand by Gil-galad's side when he fell.

In the early years of the Third Age, Elrond married Celebrían, daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel and his second cousin twice removed. The union produced twin brothers Elladan and Elrohir, and a daughter, Arwen Undómiel.

During the Third Age Elrond was the main ally of Arnor. Following its fall, Elrond harboured the Chieftains of the Dúnedain and sheltered the Sceptre of Annúminas, Arnor's symbol of royal authority. After being captured and tortured by Orcs in the Redhorn Gate, Celebrían left Elrond and went over the sea to seek healing. After Aragorn's father Arathorn was killed a few years after Aragorn's birth, Elrond raised Aragorn in his own household and became something of a surrogate father to him. Aragorn was also Elrond's far-distant nephew (removed by sixty-four generations), being the descendant of Elrond's twin brother Elros.

In The Hobbit, Elrond gave shelter to Bilbo Baggins's party, after which, presumably, the two became friends. He received Bilbo as a permanent guest when the latter left the Shire some 60 years later.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, he headed the Council of Elrond, at which it was decided that the One Ring must be destroyed.

Elrond remained in Rivendell until the destruction of both the Ring and Sauron in The Return of the King. He then travelled to Minas Tirith to see Arwen marry 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.

Portrayal in adaptations

Elrond, as seen in the 1978 film adaptation.

Cyril Ritchard voiced the role of Elrond in the 1977 Rankin/Bass animated film of The Hobbit, created for television. 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 played Elrond in National Public Radio's 1979 radio production of The Lord of the Rings.

Hugh Dickson played Elrond in BBC Radio's 1981 serialisation of The Lord of the Rings.

In the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, Elrond was portrayed by Hugo Weaving. Elrond's personality differs (see below), and after communicating telepathically with Galadriel sends a battalion of Elves, led by Haldir to aid the defenders of Helm's Deep, an action found nowhere in the books. Also, some events concerning Elrond in The Return of the King are altered. Elrond himself met with Aragorn at Dunharrow, gave him Andúril, a sword reforged from the broken pieces of Isildur's sword Narsil, and told him to take the Paths of the Dead. In the book, his sons Elladan and Elrohir, along with a company of Rangers led by Halbarad, met Aragorn on the road from Isengard to Helm's Deep, prior to the Muster of Rohan. Elrohir gave Aragorn a message from Elrond, reminding him of the Paths of the Dead. They also brought a royal banner of Gondor, made by Arwen, which Aragorn subsequently used. Aragorn simply took the reforged sword with him when leaving Rivendell much earlier in the story.

Hugo Weaving as Elrond in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

In the 2006 musical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, Elrond was portrayed by Victor A. Young.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II Video Game, Elrond, after planning the war in the North, with the Fellowship having set out to unmake 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 crush the remnants of the Dark Lord's evil. The Evil version of the game portrays Elrond and Arwen being two of the few survivors of Sauron's attacks, with Rivendell the last stronghold of Good; all other powers of Good, including the Fellowship, Galadriel, and Eagles, join with them, but all are slain, and Sauron triumphs entirely over Middle-Earth.

Personality

In the books, Elrond raised Aragorn as a foster-son, after Aragorn's father Arathorn died. In that context, Elrond's condition that Aragorn become King of Gondor and Arnor before marrying his daughter Arwen is a gracious gesture (especially in comparison to the extravagant demands of Thingol, his ancient forefather). Elrond also reluctantly accepts that his personal loss (Arwen's choice of mortality) would be for the greater good of Man, as she would help to renew the declining lineage of the Dúnedain and as it would motivate Aragorn in his claiming the throne of Gondor.^[2] At his council, Elrond also reasoned that Isildur could not bring himself to destroy the One Ring, since Isildur was the only one that stood by Elendil in the last challenge (while Elrond and Círdan were with Gil-galad) and because the Ring was a weregild for the deaths of his father and brother.^[3]

By contrast, in Jackson's film adaptation, Elrond is portrayed as unconcerned about the troubles of Middle-earth and believing that Man has failed, citing Isildur's folly, and he urges Arwen to leave with him.^[4] Elrond only changes his mind and helps the cause against Sauron after consulting with Galadriel, and still refuses to allow Arwen to stay, even to the point of deceiving her about the nature of her future. He allows the shards of Narsil to be reforged only after Arwen irrevocably chooses mortality for herself.

Line of the Half-elven

References

External links

• Elrond at the Internet Movie Database
• Elrond at the Tolkien Gateway
• Elrond at The Thain's Book
• Encyclopedia of Arda article, which includes a detailed description of Elrond's "half-elven" ancestry