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 was explained by Tolkien in a letter from 1958 to Rhona Beare^[1] as "Elf of the Cave", as he was found as an infant abandoned in a cave. Later notes, reflected in The Silmarillion^[2] and The War of the Jewels,^[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^[4] 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. Through Lúthien, daughter of Melian the Maia, he and his brother Elros were also descended from the Maiar, angelic beings who had come to Middle-earth thousands of years before. Both his mother and his father had mixed human-elf ancestry, and as a result Elrond himself was 6/16 human, 9/16 elf and 1/16 Maia. Elrond, along with his parents, his brother, and his children, were granted a choice between Elven or human fates by the 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.^[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.^[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 S.A. 1697 and was its lord for thousands of years, including the events of The Hobbit and the War of the Ring.

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 the early years of the Third Age, Elrond married Celebrían, daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel. The union produced twin brothers Elladan and Elrohir, and a daughter, Arwen Undómiel.^[7]

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. Celebrían was captured and tortured by Orcs in the Redhorn Gate and thereafter left Elrond and sailed to the West 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 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's company, after which the Elrond and Bilbo Baggins became friends. He received Bilbo as a permanent guest when Bilbo 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 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.^[8]

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.

Portrayal in 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 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 The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, Elrond is portrayed by Hugo Weaving. 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 the revealed Necromancer 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 break up with Arwen so that she could leave to the Undying Lands, though she eventually makes the decision to stay with Aragorn in Middle-Earth. 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.

References

External links

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