| Contents | Lord Elrond, Loremaster of Imladris |
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An account of the history and role of Elrond as told in The Hobbit, The Lord of The Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales Part II |
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~ Part I ~ ~ First Impressions ~ Ancestral Lines ~ Upbringing ~ Second Age ~ The Warrior ~ Rivendell ~ ~ The Last Alliance ~ The Dúnedain ~ Celebrían ~ Strategy ~ Wise Councils ~ Arwen ~ | |
 ~ The Last Alliance ~ | |
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The Elves of western Middle-earth had peace for many years between the defeat of Sauron in SA 1701 and the arrival of the Faithful from the wreck of Númenor in SA 3340. Thereafter the pace of events quickened. It only took the Men of The West a century to establish the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, a period which included the building of the towers housing the Palantiri, and their capitals and great fortifications at Annúminas in the North and Osgiliath, Minas Anor and Minas Ithil in the Southern kingdom. It was a remarkable achievement, for they were not great in number, having arrived in just 9 ships. They found willing allies and subjects among many of the men who inhabited the lands they ruled, to whom they were distantly related. And they had the friendship of the Elves. But not all Men were pleased to see them, especially not the Haradrim who had suffered at the hands of cruel and greedy Númenoreans. Unsurprisingly it was from among these that Sauron recruited military support, and in SA 3430 he attacked Gondor, capturing Minas Ithil. The threat to all Middle-earth posed by the renewed strength of Mordor was obvious. Gil-Galad and Elendil forged an Alliance and Elves and Men again marched to war together, for the last time. They marched from Lindon and Annúminas to Imladris, then crossed the Misty Mountains before heading south, down the Vale of Anduin. The Alliance included a company of Durin's Dwarves from Khazad-Dûm. The opposing armies lined up for what seems to have been a slog-till-you-drop confrontation on the Dagorlad. Which the Alliance won, though it took a heavy toll of Men and Elves. In the First Age the Elves of Ossiriand had learnt the hard way that fighting heavy infantry on an open plain was a Bad Idea for lightly-armed woodland folk, but this lesson had evidently been forgotten. Consequently the companies from Lórien and northern Mirkwood lost two-thirds of their number and their kings (see the tale of Oropher and Amdir in The Amroth Legacy). The more experienced, disciplined and better-armed from Eriador fared better, as did Elendil's Númenoreans from Arnor and Gondor. Elrond's role as "Herald" to Gil-Galad is unclear. The qualifications for the post of Herald do not normally include fighting prowess, but neither army followed the rules of medieval Chivalry in any case, and Gil-Galad's companions fought in the thick of it. After the Alliance victory, Sauron was besieged in Barad-dûr for seven long, dreary years; the dry lands of Gorgoroth were never anyone's choice of holiday resort. The siege claimed many more victims, including Anárion. Finally, Sauron himself emerged and slew both Gil-Galad and Elendil, before Isildur cut the One Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of Elendil's broken sword, Narsil. Elrond and Círdan witnessed this and vainly urged Isildur to destroy the Ring. |
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| ~ Elrond and The Dúnedain ~ | |
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Having leveled Barad-dûr, the Alliance armies dispersed. Elrond returned to Imladris, which effectively became the capital of Elvish Middle-earth. Círdan, to whom Gil-Galad had entrusted Narya on setting out for war, became overlord of Mithlond and Lindon. More of the Elven survivors joined Elrond's court, and in the following centuries he welcomed other "folk of wisdom and power from among all the kindreds of Middle-earth". Given Bilbo's enthusiasm for Rivendell, it is possible that the odd Dwarf found it a pleasant place to retire to; but if any did they kept a very low profile. Elrond had fought for the last time, however, and never drew his sword in battle again. Maybe he was tired of fighting. More probably Vilya's influence upon him increased and he became convinced that his role, too, was that of one more desirous of "understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained." Amid the estrangement between Men and Elves in the years after the Last Alliance, Imladris played a significant part in keeping alive the nobler aspects of the rule of the Dúnedain of the North, descendants of Númenoreans who had kept faith with the Valar and Elves (the Elendili / Elf-friends). The first evidence of Rivendell's affection for and future nurturing of the Dúnedain came as the Alliance armies were gathering. Valandil, youngest son of Isildur, remained in the Hidden Valley for safety when his father and older brothers marched to war. With their deaths in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, in TA 2 Imladris found itself playing host to the Heir of Isildur, and the shards of Narsil. Almost an Age later Bilbo discovered that Rivendell contained "those who still had heroes of the North for ancestors." As Gil-Galad had once sheltered the orphaned Elrond and Elros, so Elrond in turn gave the surviving Dúnedain succour and a base from which to help guard the free peoples of Middle-earth against evil. Their unobtrusive efforts are described by Aragorn at the Council of Elrond:
"My home, such as I have, is in the North. For here the heirs of Valandil have ever dwelt. .... Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters - but hunters ever of the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many places, not in Mordor only.
The part played by Elrond in the survival of such Men is underlined by Aragorn's mother, Gilraen: "without the good will of Master Elrond the Heirs of Isildur will soon come to an end." Throughout the centuries of petty conflict and long afterward Elrond never turned his back upon the Men of The West. He thereby gained their assistance in defending older ways and values, a policy dear to the remaining High-Elves. Though few in number by the end of the Third Age, the Dúnedain were similar in this respect to the Wandering Companies of Elves. Their aims coincided with those of the Elves. Imladris provided a sanctuary and focal point for the preservation of the wisdom and traditions of the first rulers of Arnor, within which ancient friendships between Men and Elves could still flourish. The Dúnedain were, of course, descendents of his brother's people.If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do not stay. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed (the peoples of the North). But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Dúnedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave? If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown." | |
| ~ Elrond and Celebrían ~ | |
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Elrond had first met and fallen in love with Celebrían, daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel in the Second Age when she and her parents stayed at Imladris in the aftermath of the first defeat of Sauron in SA 1701. But he did not immediately declare his devotion, and they did not marry until over 1500 years later. He married Celebrían early in the Third Age (TA 109), and thereafter had a family to consider - Elladan and Elrohir (b. TA 130) and Arwen (b. TA 241). One might speculate that Rivendell became a less defensive, military-oriented city while Celebrían remained there, perhaps especially once her parents had moved back to Lórien, in about TA 1985, and she and their grand-children could visit them more easily. This only lasted five centuries, until Celebrían was attacked and wounded in the Redhorn Pass in TA 2509 by the Orcs gathering in the Misty Mountains. Rescued by her sons, and physically healed by Elrond, she never fully recovered from the experience however, and left Middle-earth the following year. She simply did what the Firstborn had always done: sought safety and a better place to live further West. For most of his time in Middle-earth Elrond was thus a bachelor or in effect a widower. We know little of the private lives and thoughts of Elves, so how far the absence of his wife influenced Elrond does not become apparent until much later. In the meantime her relatively brief companionship, and the family ties it brought with it, might well have nurtured in Elrond a sense of duty as head of the Elvish tribes to consider their welfare, and helped shape his broader view of Middle-earth. In echoes of both his upbringing by Gil-Galad and his earlier sheltering of Valandil, Elrond again took in an infant Heir of Isildur when Aragorn's father, Arathorn, was killed by Orcs and brought him up as a son. Aragorn's mother, Gilraen, obviously had no doubts about leaving her young son in the care of Imladris. Aragorn was only born in TA 2931; being 2800 years younger than Elladan and Elrohir he could hardly be a playmate for Elrond's sons. On reaching adulthood he formed a firm friendship with them, to the point where they were counted among his Grey Company of Northern Dúnedain. A three-thousand year long cycle was completed when this Heir of Isildur took up his throne, an outcome which would have been impossible without the patient, steadfast friendship of Elrond. |
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| ~ Elrond's Strategy ~ | |
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The failure to destroy the One Ring had ensured that Barad-dûr, though cast down, could not be wholly destroyed either; the familiar cycle of peace followed by war inevitably ensued. Gondor was engaged throughout the Third Age to the East and South in a series of conflicts with Easterlings and Southrons, in which Elves took almost no part. Nor did they intervene in the internal power struggles of Arnor and Gondor. Their front line was the Vale of Anduin, watched over by Galadriel in Lothlórien, and it was thence that news first came of the Shadow falling upon southern Greenwood, centred upon Dol Guldur. Twice in the Third Age Elrond did send forces and Círdan lead his Falathrim to the aid of the Northern Kingdom of Men, but each time this help was a necessity to the Elves and not simply gratuitous. In 1409 and 1975 Elrond was forced to defend Lindon and Eriador against the threat posed by the Witch-King of Angmar. Had the Nazgûl defeated Arnor, communications between Mithlond and Imladris would have been cut, both put under siege once more, and Elves wishing to sail to Aman prevented from doing so. The Grey Havens was the only Elven port left in Middle-earth offering this escape route, and not to defend it would have been unthinkable. It is worth considering therefore why Elrond did not simply move his capital to Mithlond and concentrate his defences there. Lindon is geographically split in two by the Gulf of Lune, and its eastward boundary - The Ered Luin - divided by the Gulf. Elves are woodland dwellers and would probably have elected to sail away rather than man defences in the mountains. West of the Blue Mountains, Lindon is a small territory, not much more than a strip between sea and mountains. The Wandering Companies would also have felt uncomfortable in such confines. Rivendell, on the other hand, had proved its value as a defendable centre from which Elrond could watch for threats from any direction. The Last Homely House was, moreover, a natural staging post for Elves on their way to the Grey Havens. It was crucial to the lines of communication between Lindon and Lórien and The Greenwood. Abandoning Imladris would have sent Sauron the signal that the High-Elves would not oppose his army of Orcs until it reached the Luin, and encouraged the Galadhrim to seriously consider abandoning Lórien too. Their choice would have been to trek back Eastward in uncertain hope of finding some distant land beyond the reach of evil, or to move West towards Lindon, and thus hasten the departure of Elves from Middle-earth. So Elrond stayed where he was. He was "far-sighted" and clearly philosophical about the inevitability of the First-Born leaving Middle-earth soon to make way for the 'After-comers' - as were all High-Elves. As discussed in the Nature of Elves and Men, Elves saw their future in a manner which differed considerably from that of Men. The Lady Galadriel's reasons for staying can be deduced. Elrond's motivation was not quite the same, but both felt they had a duty not to lead the final exodus until the time was right. That time did not arrive until three conditions had been met: |
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| Elrond is said to be "far-sighted". It is improbable that he would have been able to describe the above in these precise terms, though. Far-sightedness as such is not an attribute of any Elf. Only Manwë, Lord of the Valar, can truly see into the possible future. Elrond's reputation is based upon the far-sightedness which comes from wisdom, patient observation and long thought. (The same holds true for Aragorn and his ancestors, of course). | |
| ~ Wise Counsellors and Councils of The Wise ~ | |
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Meantime, the Istari - Wizards had arrived in Middle-earth. They had in fact been around since TA 1050, but not yet made much impact. It would have been strange had the High-Elves not wondered at the choice of the Valar, for two of the five sent disappeared Eastward, were not heard from again, and seemingly had no effect upon the barbarity of Easterlings or their hatred for Western Middle-earth. Radagast's chief interest was in birds and animals, and he likewise played no discernible part in the struggle against Sauron. That left the oldest, Curunir (Saruman), and the wisest, Olórin (Gandalf); the Valar's record with Maiar allowed into Middle-earth was not improving much - see the Petition to Manwë! The first White Council was not convened until TA 2463. Although nominally called by Galadriel, it is inconceivable she would have done so without consulting Rivendell. Like previous Councils of The Wise, it was composed of Elrond, Galadriel, Cirdan and other Elf-Lords, and it was logical that the Council should elect Saruman The White at its head. That the majority of Elves should choose Saruman, despite the preference of Elrond and Galadriel for Gandalf, tells something of the nature of Elrond's rule. It was neither dictatorial nor absolute. How many Noldor from Galadriel's court were held to be among 'The Wise' is not known, but certainly many fewer than from Imladris. The first three meetings of the White Council (TA 2463, 2851 and 2941) debated primarily what to do about Dol Guldur, with Saruman eventually being forced to agree to an attack. The final meeting in TA 2953 was again stalled by Saruman, who realised his authority (if not yet his credibility) was at an end and took up safe residence in Isengard. The loyalty of Elrond to the emissaries from Aman must have been sorely tested by the procrastinations of the White Council, so it is unsurprising that at the Council of Elrond he is clearly in charge, takes no votes, determines what has to be done, and appoints the Nine Walkers. In a reversal of Galadriel's calling of the first White Council, whether Elrond consulted Gandalf and Galadriel in advance is unspoken; unspoken but read because their support would be crucial, and he could not have sent Frodo - or anyone else - to Barad-dûr without knowing they would trust his judgement. At this final Council of The Wise Elrond gives the impression he had no idea anyone was going to turn up, that the whole thing has been forced upon him, and of then thinking on his feet. It is possibly Elrond at his finest, stamping his authority as Elven Vice-Regent of Middle-earth upon the discussions, without reference to that authority, and guiding the debate with - in retrospect - only token formality. Firmly rejecting all suggestions which might avoid or delay the action he sees as the only hope left of being able to fulfill the conditions for an honourable, orderly withdrawal from Middle-earth, he appears to let the decision to destroy The One Ring emerge inevitably from the questions and answers. Gandalf's contribution is largely a supporting account of why there can be no alternative. And at the end, Elrond resists the obvious temptation to include himself in the plan. He is content to be the one who sets it in motion, much as Galadriel later remains content to maintain the momentum. Elrond passes this test of character, just as Galadriel does not long afterwards. It affirms his right to hold the position given him by Gil-Galad long ago. And it justifies Gandalf's faith in him, in sending The Ring straight to Rivendell as soon as he was certain what it was. That Gandalf has the ear and favour of the Valar is demonstrated by his return to duty following his fight with the Balrog (which has, incidentally, a precedent in Glorfindel's return), and Gandalf is witness for the Valar. And so Elrond proves himself worthy to lead the Departure of the High-Elves. We do not of course know whether he had ever been set any conditions by the Valar, or merely set his own standards; the answer to that may lie in the long-lost Library of Rivendell. |
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| ~ And Arwen ~ | |
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Elrond Peredhel is Half-Man by bloodline, yet by nature wholly Elven. He had decided against mortality, been brought up with Elves, and attained a high rank among them though learning from his mentors and exercising the intellectual attributes of an Elf. Though he does not speak of the Edain in his ancestry, he is instrumental in ensuring that the Edain who survive the internal wars of Arnor and assaults of the Witch-King of Angmar can leave descendants, though it cannot be said that they flourished! It is one of those descendants who causes him the deepest personal anguish, and allows us a glimpse of both an emotional side to Elrond, and into his Elvish outlook. Elves rarely show deep emotion, or not in front of Men or Hobbits. Open displays of anger, love, jealousy, pleasure and sorrow were much in evidence during the short but turbulent First Age. Two Ages and some 6500 years later they are more restrained. The discussions about Arwen between Elrond and Aragorn, are also restrained, though the tension between them is evident. In many a fairy-tale, the kindly father would be happy to bless the love between his daughter and highly eligible foster-son. Elrond cannot, out of his depth of love for his daughter, his pride in being a High-Elf, and an Elvish failure to understand Death, the Gift of Ilúvatar to Men:
"As for Arwen the Fair, Lady of Imladris and of Lórien, Evenstar of her people, she is of lineage greater than yours, and she has lived in the world already so long that to her you are but as a yearling shoot."
At the last Arwen does come to understand why the Dúnedain at least do not fear departure from the Circles of The World. Her father's Elvish mindset prevents him comprehending that a path other than the Straight Way to the Blessed Realm might be acceptable, and even welcomed by the Númenorians. Certainly his thirst for knowledge would have examined the differences between Elves and the Second Children of Ilúvatar. Frail bodies, short lives and apparent final death had baffled Elves on meeting Men in the First Age. But the Downfall of Númenor was caused by Men attempting to gain the deathless longevity of Elves. The connection between the two - and lessons which derive from it - seem to evade even a Loremaster with Men as ancestors and a twin brother who chose the Doom of Men."My son, years come when hope will fade, and beyond them little is clear to me. Maybe, it has been appointed so, that by my loss the kingship of Men may be restored. Therefore, though I love you, I say to you: Arwen Undómiel shall .. not be the bride of any Man less than the King of both Arnor and Gondor. To me then even our victory can only bring sorrow and parting - but to you hope of joy for a while. Alas, my son! I fear that to Arwen the Doom of Men may seem hard at the ending." A clue to this blind spot lies in Elrond's reference to the 'greater lineage' of Arwen, a strange argument for a descendent of Lúthien and Beren speaking to one of the Line of Elros, his own mortal brother. It is a thinly veiled excuse for the need Elrond has for his daughter's company and desire to take her with him when the time comes to leave Middle-earth. The loss of Celebrían must have affected Elrond deeply, for he evidently clung to his daughter far more than to his sons, upon whom no similar pressure was put to leave Middle-earth with their father, or even (it seems), to decide whether they wished to be forever Elvish or Mortal. Despite his emotional dependence, Elrond honourably keeps his word, and allows Arwen to marry Aragorn when his conditions have been met. If he did indeed see in Arwen reflections of all he had loved in Celebrían, we must ask what kept him at Rivendell in TA 2510, instead of escorting his wife to Aman. All we can conclude is that he felt he had a duty as the senior High-Elf to remain to the last. |
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~ Part I ~ ~ First Impressions ~ Ancestral Lines ~ Upbringing ~ Second Age ~ The Warrior ~ Rivendell ~ ~ The Last Alliance ~ The Dúnedain ~ Celebrían ~ Strategy ~ Wise Councils ~ Arwen ~ ~ Short Version / Introduction ~ |
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