Elrond

Elrond Half-elven is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Both of his parents, Eärendil and Elwing, were half-elven, having both Men and Elves as ancestors. He is the bearer of the elven-ring Vilya, the Ring of Air, and master of Rivendell, where he has lived for thousands of years through the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth. He is introduced in The Hobbit, where he plays a supporting role, as he does in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

Fictional biography[]

First Age[]

Elrond was born in the First Age at the refuge of the Mouths of Sirion in Beleriand, the son of Eärendil and Elwing, and a great-grandson of Lúthien. 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; instead, they were befriended by Fëanor's sons Maedhros and Maglor.^{[T 1]} 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 1]}

Second Age[]

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; he lived there through the Second and Third Ages.^{[T 2][T 3]}

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; 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.^{[T 3]}

Third Age[]

Elrond married Celebrían, daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel, early in the Third Age.^{[T 4]} The place and date of Celebrían's birth are not specified.^{[T 5]} 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.^{[T 6]} According to one account, Celebrían and her parents later dwelt for many years in Rivendell (Imladris).^{[T 7]} Celebrían and Elrond had three children: the twins Elladan and Elrohir,^{[T 4]} and Arwen Undómiel (Evenstar).^{[T 4]}

On a trip from Rivendell to Lórien, Celebrían was waylaid by Orcs in the Redhorn Pass on Caradhras in the Misty Mountains.^{[T 4]} 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 8]} 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 4]}

Elrond was an ally of the North-Kingdom of Arnor. Following its fall, Elrond harboured the Chieftains of the Dúnedain (the descendants of the Kings of Arnor) and the Sceptre of Annúminas, Arnor's symbol of royal authority. When 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.^{[T 9]}

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.^{[T 10]}

Elrond 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.^{[T 11]} Elrond 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 9]} 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.^{[T 12]}

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 13]} 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.^[2] In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, Elrond was voiced by André Morell.^[3] 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.^[4]

Carl Hague 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.^[5] In the 1993 Finnish television miniseries Hobitit, Elrond is played by Leif Wager. In the 2006 Toronto musical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, Elrond was portrayed by Victor A. Young.^[6]

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.^[7] 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 in the book, he is 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"^[8] 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.^[8]

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)^[9] and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009).^[10]

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).^[11]

Genealogy[]

References[]

Primary[]

This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.

Secondary[]