Elanor Gardner

Elanor Gardner, also known as Elanor the Fair, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth legendarium. She is the first child of Samwise Gamgee and his wife Rose Cotton.

She was born March 25, S.R. 1421 (which would be T.A. 3021), the first day of the Fourth Age in Gondor. Elanor was the only one of Samwise's children known to the Ring-bearer, Frodo Baggins, and her name was a suggestion by him, a reference to the sun-star, a little golden flower blooming in the land of Lothlórien.^[1] This perfectly satisfied Sam's desire for a name that was both Elvish and yet at the same time a simple flower-name as many hobbit-lasses had. The name was quite suitable, as Elanor had a notably Elvish appearance, including golden hair—an extremely rare trait among hobbits. Her great beauty was renowned and earned her the title 'the Fair.'

In 1436 Elanor became a maid of honour to Queen Arwen Evenstar, and in 1451 she married Fastred of Greenholm. Four years later Fastred was named Warden of Westmarch by the Thain at the request of Samwise. Elanor and her husband then moved to the Undertowers on the Tower Hills where their family (becoming known as the Fairbairns of the Towers) would live for many generations.

After her father's passing to the Undying Lands in 1482, Elanor and her line became the keepers of the Red Book of Westmarch. Her two children were Elfstan, born in 1454, and Fíriel.

Besides her presence as an infant in the last chapter of the published Lord of the Rings, and the details noted in the appendices of that book, Elanor's most significant role was in the two versions of the written but unpublished epilogue of Lord of the Rings, later published in The History of Middle-earth volumes. In that epilogue we see Elanor talk with her father about the importance of the events that transpired in the story and also about the coming of King Elessar and Queen Arwen for a visit. Elanor's affectionate name for her father is Sam-dad, while Sam calls her Elanorellë.

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, a six-year-old Elanor was played by Ali Astin, real-life daughter of Sean Astin, the actor who played Samwise.

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