By Oshun
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Celeborn is known and accepted by most aficionados of Tolkien's work as a Sindarin lord of Doriath, a kinsman of Thingol, who met and married Galadriel of the Noldor in the First Age. Many also recall that he joined with Elrond and Gil-galad, who eventually, with the support of the men of Númenor, managed to defeat Sauron in Eregion during the Second Age. Most readers, however, first encounter Celeborn in The Lord of the Rings. The reader is first introduced to Celeborn in the Prologue thereof, wherein Tolkien describes how the history of the War of the Rings was recorded and when those events and their pre-history passed out of living memory and existed only within recorded texts. Tolkien notes that "[i]t is said that Celeborn went to dwell there [in Rivendell] after the departure of Galadriel; but there is no record of the day when at last he sought the Grey Havens, and with him went the last living memory of the Elder Days in Middle-earth."1
In the context of the story of the Ring War, we first meet Celeborn when the Fellowship arrives in the Golden Wood of Lothlórien and marvels not only at its beauty, but the stately Elvishness of its Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel.2 One who delves further will discover that Celeborn and Galadriel's daughter Celebrían is none other than the wife of Elrond, which makes Celeborn the grandfather of Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen. There is, however, no straight and easy road to document those widely accepted facts. The intent of this biography is to try to provide at least partial clarification of the documentation that is available.
It is hard to tackle Celeborn so soon after finishing a hefty two-part biography of Galadriel. One hopes the Galadriel biography can supplement and expand the material contained in this one. Once again, as fans over the years have often complained, Celeborn is in danger of getting short shrift in comparison to his formidable life partner. Meanwhile, I will do my level best to give him what he rightfully deserves as an interesting and significant character in the history of Middle-earth. I intend to cover Celeborn as he appears in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings and discuss events of the Second Age, including his role in the war of Sauron against the Elves of Eregion, with supplementary information from various volumes of The History of Middle-earth collection. Finally, the last section—the complicated and controversial one—will introduce the radically different late version of Celeborn's story found in Unfinished Tales.
I would like also to refer readers to a couple of articles by Marnie (a writer within the Tolkien fandom of the early2000s, well-known for her stories, essays, and a unique website featuring Celeborn).'That tall fellow next to Galadriel': A short article about Celeborn,3 was widely read within the Tolkien fandom when I first came around it in the upsurge of interest following the release of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy. With an explosion of new readers and the deluge of fanfiction following those movies, much of the knowledge of Tolkien's legendarium was, dare I opine, tainted by fanon based upon the film. Marnie, a frank admirer of book-Celeborn, sought to address what she interpreted as the early2000s fandom's misconception of his character. She repeated and expanded upon her points in yet another article Prince Valium? (A book-based character study of Celeborn) published on the website Stories of Arda.4 Her essays on Celeborn have survived the test of time, even though one might venture that today's Tolkien fandom is more academically sophisticated, certainly grounded in a deeper knowledge through a wider familiarity with The Silmarillion, the Histories of Middle-earth, and the accessibility of the current more extensive body of Tolkien scholarship. Although there is today a greater amount of fandom meta-at-large than existed in the immediate aftermath of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, Marnie makes valuable points about the character of book-Celeborn, particularly when contrasted to movie-Celeborn or common fanon. When instructive, I will refer to conclusions first brought to my attention by Marnie, wanting to give credit where credit is due to my own antecedents within the fandom and a nod to earlier appreciations and discussions. (A side point is that the many of the controversies within the Tolkien fandom at the time centered on endless lively discussions concerning 1) what might be considered book-verse? 2) what was movie-verse? or 3) what was simply popular and widely-disseminated fanon often accepted as canon?)
Lastly, before I dive into Tolkien's texts and start tossing the hard facts around (seriously, are there really any "hard facts" within the Tolkien canon?), I have to warn how unfortunate I consider the alternate name of Teleporno for Celeborn which is raised in the later writings. I trust that I am not alone in thinking it is even more tone-deaf than Tolkien's idea of using Trotter as a name for the intrepid and heroic Aragorn and sounds at least as silly and suggestive as Shagrat and Groin. (I know it is spelled Gróin, but I suspect I am not the only reader who retains elements of a middle-school sense of humor--probably have spent entirely too much of my adult life dealing with children and adolescents.)
It is probably not necessary to point out to readers that Tolkien never finished his preparation of The Silmarillion for publication. He notes in a letter to Dick Plotz, "'Thain' of the Tolkien Society of America" that:
As for the 'Silmarillion' and its appendages; that is written, but it is in a confused state owing to alteration and enlargement at different dates (including 'writing back' to confirm the links between it and The L. of the Rings). It lacks a thread on which its diversity can be strung. It also presents in a more acute form than even the difficulties that I found in The L. of the R.: the need to acquaint an audience with an unknown mythology without reference to the tales; and to relate a number of long legends dependent on the mythology without holding them up with explanatory digressions.5
Christopher Tolkien's edit of The Silmarillion includes the version of the storyline of Celeborn and Galadriel in the First Age with which readers are most familiar. There are notably few mentions of Celeborn in the text of The Silmarillion proper. And the references to Galadriel's life partner that exist are reminiscent of those of spouses of male heroes in that book—not that Celeborn is not a leader and a warrior as well. I will argue that, as significant as Galadriel is to Tolkien, her husband is no trophy-spouse or powerless consort, but a hero in his own right. In the "Index of Names" to The Silmarillion, the entry for Celeborn is brief: "Celeborn Elf of Doriath, kinsman of Thingol; wedded Galadriel and with her remained in Middle-earth after the end of the First Age."6 There is no romantic first-meeting scene of Galadriel and Celeborn like that of Beren and Lúthien, or even the growing attachment between Idril and Tuor, much less the fairytale-like description of Aragorn falling in love with Arwen that one finds in the "Appendices" to The Lord of the Rings.
We are informed that Galadriel met this kinsman of Elu Thingol in Doriath, where the bulk of the attention, description, and dialogue are given in passages relating to Galadriel's encounters with Melian the Maia. Meanwhile, however, the texts state that in the midst of that apprenticeship Galadriel fell in love with that tall fellow with the silver hair. When Finrod leaves to build his famous halls of stone, we read that "Galadriel his sister went not with him to Nargothrond, for in Doriath dwelt Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol, and there was great love between them" (emphasis added). Therefore she remained in the Hidden Kingdom, and abode with Melian, and of her learned great lore and wisdom concerning Middle-earth."7
Celeborn's silver hair is not mentioned until he appears in The Lords of the Rings, but it is implied in the etymology of his name: "' celeb' silver (Quenya telep, telpë, as in Telperion) in Celeborn, Celebrant, Celebros. Celebrimbor means 'silver-fist', from the adjective celebrin 'silver' (meaning not 'made of silver' but 'like silver, in hue or worth')."8 Marnie makes the point, which is well-taken, that Tolkien's naming of Celeborn carries great significance:
The golden hair of Galadriel and the silver hair of Celeborn are both signs of some importance. Taking Galadriel's first - she gets the unusual (yes - golden hair is unusual among elves, who are mostly dark) colour by virtue of her Vanyarin blood. Her grandmother was a Vanyar elf. Now the Vanyar are the elves who are closest to the Valar - the gods. So Galadriel's Vanyar hair is a sign of holiness. One might almost say it's a mark of spiritual authority. And this goes well with the rest of her character, which is most active in the realm of the supernatural.
Celeborn's silver hair, by contrast, marks him as a member of the royal family of the elves of Middle Earth. It's a genetic trait borne by the kin of Elu Thingol, who was the first and greatest King of the Sindar elves of Middle Earth (and acknowledged over-lord of the Nandor and Silvan elves). As native nobility, Celeborn's hair is a badge of legitimate rulership; a mark of temporal authority. And this too, I would say, goes well with his character, which is most active in the realm of the material and practical.9
It is an interesting aside that Celebrían their daughter and the wife of Elrond is widely assumed to have had the royal Sindarin silver hair as well. I was unable to locate a direct citation, but one could assert that her name itself is evidence enough.
Celeborn's relationship with Thingol, spelled out in The Silmarillion, along with the straightforward assertion of the strong-willed Galadriel's love for him, indicates that this illustrious couple is well-matched. Each is of royal blood, acknowledged competence, and strong character.
To backtrack a little into the period immediately following the destruction of the Two Trees and the Darkening of Valinor, Melkor arrives in Middle-earth and decides to take advantage of the element of surprise and the fact that the majority of the Noldor are on their way to Middle-earth. It is interesting to speculate what role Celeborn might have played as a kinsman of Thingol and a Sindarin prince. In the last days of the starlit era in Middle-earth, Melkor attacks the unsuspecting Sindar and their allies of the Laiquendi and the Naugrim. The First Battle of Beleriand was fought shortly before the Noldor arrived with the defense against Morgoth organized by Thingol: "Now the Orcs that multiplied in the darkness of the earth grew strong and fell, and their dark lord filled them with a lust of ruin and death." They poured out of the gates of Angband shrouded in clouds by Morgoth and "passed silently into the highlands of the north." The days when the realm of Thingol had been home to many "small kindreds far sundered" but living in peace had ended. The Orcs surrounded Menegroth on all sides and separated Thingol as well Círdan in the Falas. Thingol then
called upon Denethor; and the Elves came in force from Region beyond Aros and from Ossiriand, and fought the first battle in the Wars of Beleriand. And the eastern host of the Orcs was taken between the armies of the Eldar, north of the Andram and midway between Aros and Gelion, and there they were utterly defeated, and those that fled north from the great slaughter were waylaid by the axes of the Naugrim that issued from Mount Dolmed: few indeed returned to Angband.10
Thingol had militarily survived that battle, but at great cost,11 and never again could he claim to be able to defend Beleriand against the incursions of Morgoth, but withdrew within the borders defined by the Girdle of Melian. We do not know if Celeborn participated militarily in that action, but logic tells us that he almost certainly did, for Thingol brought his warriors out of Doriath for the last time, and that most significant of Thingol's military adventures surely would have included his kinsman Celeborn. Known in the Second and Third Age as a capable warrior and battle leader (the instances of which will be covered in more details later below), Celeborn had to have had some significant experience in his long history.
After the mention of Celeborn and Galadriel living together in Doriath during the First Age, they are given no further role in the course of the rather dramatic events involving their kin on both sides throughout the remaining years of the First Age. We hear nothing of any role of either in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, or the Sack of Doriath by the Dwarves, or where they might have been when the Sons of Fëanor attempted to take the Silmaril from Dior. We read nothing of any involvement of Celeborn or Galadriel in the lengthy accounts of the events surrounding Beren and Lúthien. There is only a passing reference to the relationship of Celeborn to their son Dior's wife:
At that time Beren and Lúthien yet dwelt in Tol Galen, the Green Isle, in the River Adurant, southernmost of the streams that falling from Ered Lindon flowed down to join with Gelion; and their son Dior Eluchíl had to wife Nimloth, kinswoman of Celeborn, prince of Doriath, who was wedded to the Lady Galadriel.12
Setting aside the discussion of "Celeborn as Teleporno" question for the moment, Christopher Tolkien explicitly states that one is not given a complete and internally consistent account of the comings and goings of Galadriel and Celeborn, but is only able to make a series of assumptions about the activities and whereabouts of Celeborn and Galadriel at the end of the First Age.13
In Unfinished Tales, Christopher Tolkien states that after the successful conclusion of the War of Wrath, the peoples of the Eldar were encouraged to return to Aman. Galadriel, however, does not go. In the version recounted in "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn," she does not return, not because she is forbidden, but
[f]or love of Celeborn, who would not leave Middle-earth (and probably with some pride of her own, for she had been one of those eager to adventure there), she did not go West at the Downfall of Melkor, but crossed Ered Lindon with Celeborn and came into Eriador.14
The introductory pages to The History of Galadriel and Celeborn and of Amroth King of Lórien in Unfinished Tales most interestingly give us further information about Celeborn and his origins. This version of the story states that he is the grandson of Elmo, a brother of Thingol who is not mentioned anywhere else. Christopher Tolkien calls Elmo
a shadowy figure about whom nothing is told save that he was the younger brother of Elwë (Thingol) and Olwë, and was 'beloved of Elwë with whom he remained'. (Elmo's son was named Galadhon, and his sons were Celeborn and Galathil; Galathil was the father of Nimloth, who wedded Dior Thingol's Heir and was the mother of Elwing.15
Thus, Celeborn is a distant cousin of Galadriel, the granddaughter of Olwë king of Alqualondë. In the controversial latest drafts of the story of Amanyarin Celeborn, which will be covered in the final section of this biography, Olwë is not Celeborn's great uncle and but his grandfather. The version which is most internally consistent with the published Silmarillion text would be the Elmo version.
Christopher Tolkien also notes that it can be considered
a natural assumption that Celeborn and Galadriel were present at the ruin of Doriath (it is said in one place that Celeborn 'escaped the sack of Doriath'), and perhaps aided the escape of Elwing to the Havens of Sirion with the Silmaril – but this is nowhere stated. Celeborn is mentioned in Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings as dwelling for a time in Lindon south of the Lune; but early in the Second Age they passed over the Mountains into Eriador. Their subsequent history, in the same phase (so to call it) of my father's writing, is told in the short narrative that follows here ["Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"].16
The simplest version of the post-War of Wrath events as they relate to Celeborn and Galadriel is that they arrive in Lindon, the coastal region west of the Blue Mountains. Celeborn is said to rule the fiefdom of Harlindon under King Gil-galad, high king of the Noldor. This makes sense, since the people of Harlindon are largely Sindar and Celeborn's kinsman Thingol was historically the leader of the Sindar.17 Galadriel and Celeborn eventually come to Eregion where they lived for a time in harmony with Celebrimbor and the jewelsmiths of Gwaith-i-Mírdain. In one version of the events preceding Sauron's war against the Elves in Eregion as recounted in Unfinished Tales, Tolkien writes that,
In Eregion Sauron posed as an emissary of the Valar, sent by them to Middle-earth ('thus anticipating the Istari') or ordered by them to remain there to give aid to the Elves. He perceived at once that Galadriel would be his chief adversary and obstacle, and he endeavoured therefore to placate her, bearing her scorn with outward patience and courtesy. . . . Sauron used all his arts upon Celebrimbor and his fellow-smiths, who had formed a society or brotherhood, very powerful in Eregion, the Gwaith-i-Mírdain; but he worked in secret, unknown to Galadriel and Celeborn. Before long Sauron had the Gwaith-i-Mírdain under his influence, for at first they had great profit from his instruction in secret matters of their craft. So great became his hold on the Mírdain that at length he persuaded them to revolt against Galadriel and Celeborn and to seize power in Eregion. . . . Galadriel thereupon left Eregion and passed through Khazad-dûm to Lórinand, taking with her Amroth and Celebrían; but Celeborn would not enter the mansions of the Dwarves, and he remained behind in Eregion, disregarded by Celebrimbor. In Lórinand Galadriel took up rule, and defence against Sauron.18
In The Silmarillion, Celeborn is said to have fought alongside Elrond in the defense of Eregion. He and Elrond narrowly escaped Sauron to the vale later to be called Rivendell, where Elrond would establish a permanent refuge for the Elves driven out of Eregion.19 In the aftermath of the defeat of Sauron, Celeborn and Galadriel settled in Lindórinand, the land of the Silvan Elves that was originally ruled by King Amdir; after Amdir died in the Battle of Dagorlad, his son Amroth succeeded him.20 (Yes, Amroth is mentioned briefly as the son of Galadriel and Celeborn, but only the one time. Like so many other alterations of this story, Amroth as a son of Celeborn and Galadriel would change other storylines such as parts relating to the war against Sauron in Eregion and the events of the Last Alliance.)
For the last several years some version or another of the biography of Celeborn has been percolating at the back of my mind. It was difficult to separate the two characters Galadriel and Celeborn since, as often or not, in the texts, they are referred to together. As mentioned above, Galadriel holds the more prominent place of the two in Tolkien's legendarium. (In the Kindle version of Unfinished Tales, Celeborn is mentioned 115 times in comparison to 170 references to Galadriel. There is an even greater emphasis upon Galadriel in the Kindle single-volume The Lord of the Rings, with her name being cited 104 times and Celeborn with only 52 references. In The Silmarillion the name Galadriel appears 39 times to Celeborn's 14 matches.) She is cited in Unfinished Tales, as "the greatest of the Ñoldor, except Fëanor maybe, though she was wiser than he, and her wisdom increased with the long years."21 Celeborn, however, is not an insignificant character, particularly in The Lord of the Rings. Marnie makes an apt remark comparing and contrasting the role of Galadriel and Celeborn as partners in Lothlórien:
Galadriel is the goddess-like one, who protects the realm with magic. What's less well known is that she stayed in Middle Earth at all, at the end of the First Age, largely for love of Celeborn, who would not leave. He is the one with the emotional investment in the land and the people of Middle Earth. But for him it's likely there would be no Lórien.22
I will refer the reader to my two-part biography of Galadriel, which contains a summary of most of Celeborn and Galadriel's joint encounters with the Fellowship in Lothlórien. But, I want to repeat, for emphasis and because it is so gorgeous, the depiction of the first meeting of the Fellowship with the Lord and Lady of the Golden Wood. Legolas has already in the previous chapter marvelously described as their land as the "heart of Elvendom on earth."23 Arguably, some of the most magnificent and otherworldly imagery in the whole of Tolkien's legendarium are contained in the chapters "Lothlórien" and "The Mirror of Galadriel" that paint such a vivid, nearly filmic picture for the reader.
When the members of the Fellowship are guided into the presence of the Lord and Lady of the Golden Wood, one might say that the reader who remains unaffected by a sense of wonder has no soul (well, at least no imagination):
The chamber was filled with a soft light; its walls were green and silver and its roof of gold. Many Elves were seated there. On two chairs beneath the bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side by side, Celeborn and Galadriel. They stood up to greet their guests, after the manner of Elves, even those who were accounted mighty kings. Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory.24
I liked book-Celeborn at my first glimpse of him in The Lord of the Rings. I absorbed him as a sympathetic and powerful non-Noldorin Elf, while also viewing him as perhaps one of those Elves who might have been distinguished "from the High Elves of the West" as "more dangerous and less wise," as Tolkien describes Thranduil's people in The Hobbit25 But still, one can imagine Celeborn to be" descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West . . . and grew fairer and wiser and more learned, and invented their magic and their cunning craft in the making of beautiful and marvellous things."26
All of those useful and wonderful gifts presented by Galadriel and Celeborn to the Fellowship were made not by the Noldorin craftsmen of Silmarillion fame but by the Galadhrim and Sindar of Lórien who were experts in their own right at this form of enhanced Elven craftsmanship. (There is an extensive description and listing of those gifts in the biography of Galadriel published on this website a short time ago. I would refer the reader to that section27 of the biography rather than repeat all of the same details and citations here.)
It is, however, worth noting that some of the magic experienced by the Fellowship in Lórien is of the highest level of sophistication reminiscent of the type involved in making of the Rings of Power, the Silmarils, or the Palantíri—for example, Galadriel's Mirror or the phial holding the light of Eärendil's star. Other gifts, however, seem reflective of a type of craft more based in practical magic and enhancement of nature which one might expect of the Wood-elves and the Sindar—the hithlain rope and the restorative soil given to Sam, or Celeborn's helpful advice on travel plans and his thoughtful gift of boats. The Elven "invisibility" cloaks skate on a fine edge between clever craftsmanship and actual enchantment. The reader is allowed to interpret how much of their effectiveness is based in craft and how much is supernatural.
Marnie writes in a strong ironic tone in her essay "That tall fellow next to Galadriel" that Peter Jackson's film representation of Celeborn in the iconic moment of the first meeting referenced above is underwhelming to say the least in comparison to the book version. She tends to blame Peter Jackson's editing and casting decisions as one of the reasons why the fandom of the early 2000s initially did not respond more positively to film-Celeborn. He is not breathtakingly beautiful (in the way that PJ's Legolas or Arwen or Galadriel can be in the films—partly due to his choice of actors but also his use of cameras and lighting). Beauty is not a throwaway characteristic as it is used by Tolkien, so it should not be casually undermined. But PJ does so most notably in the case of Elrond and Celeborn in the films—they are decent looking, middle-aged men, not wholly unappealing, but without the heart-stopping, shocking effect of these beautiful, immortal Elves, whose only sign of age can be read in some non-physical, indefinable way by looking deep into their eyes.
She explains how she had been captivated by and sympathetic to other characteristics of book-Celeborn:
To expect Celeborn to be gentle and courtly and faintly regretful is to expect him to behave like a member of a different race. He's not an Exile, yearning to return to Valinor, like Galadriel and Gildor, or a ringbearer, afflicted with the melancholy of Sea-longing, like Elrond. He's a Sindar; fiercer, more changeable, more emotionally involved in Middle Earth; operating in a different mode of elvishness than the other elf-lords in the book.28
She also writes of how she was most eager to discover if the movies had inspired fanfiction related to Galadriel's interesting husband:
'But where's the stuff about Celeborn?' I was mystified - thousands upon thousands of stories about Legolas, hundreds of thousands about Haldir for God's sake - a bit part border guard - thousands of tales about the most obscure Feanorians. Nothing about Celeborn.
Worse, in chat rooms and preludes to stories and a multitude of websites devoted to Galadriel, people were calling the character [Celeborn] 'a waste of space', depicting him (if at all) as a cowering hen-pecked husband, or at the very best, as a bit of an idiot, with a zombie-like calm that seemed to come straight from the film. And really, the less said about his appearance in the theatrical version of the film, the better!29
Objecting to those who do not see the relationship of Galadriel and Celeborn as one of collaboration, respect, and equality, she explains Celeborn's wisdom and concerns for dangers being brought within his borders and the threat of those, not only to his lands and people, but to the particular weaknesses of his Lady. He fears her susceptibility to the Ring being brought within their borders. Meanwhile, she gently corrects and explains his grumpiness and volatility, soothes him and the company when he lashes out at the Fellowship, in particular Gimli. Celeborn is quick to anger and also quick to respond to reason, in comparison to Galadriel's remarkable self-discipline and courtly manners.
Marnie particularly objects to those movie fans and readers who wonder if Galadriel has not married down:
I'd also say that, we're agreed, aren't we, that Galadriel is one of the Elven Wise? How wise would it have been of her to marry a husband who was unworthy of her? Why would she call him 'the Wise' and 'a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings' if he wasn't? Wouldn't that make her either a liar or a foolish doting wife who couldn't see beyond her husband's beauty?30
I would have to agree with Marnie that it seems unlikely that any version of Galadriel would have considered marrying beneath herself. And, last but not least among Marnie's insights, I appreciate her assessment of the assistance that Fellowship receive in Lórien. Celeborn in particular offers guidance that it is different and distinct, balancing the help offered by Galadriel:
If he does not read the Fellowship's minds as Galadriel does, he certainly seems to read Aragorn's heart and finds a practical way to ease Aragorn's dilemma. Indeed Aragorn appears to be completely over the moon about the gift of boats - he thanked Celeborn many times and was comforted by it. One might almost say that though Celeborn doesn't see the future he sees the present clearly enough and is quickly ready to respond to difficulties other people haven't quite turned their minds to yet.31
Galadriel expressed her assessment of him succinctly, when she told the Fellowship that
the Lord of the Galadhrim is accounted the wisest of the Elves of Middle-earth, and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings. He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.32
After the fall of the Dark Tower and the passing of Sauron the Shadow was lifted from the hearts of all who opposed him, but fear and despair fell upon his servants and allies. Three times Lórien had been assailed from Dol Guldur, but besides the valour of the elven people of that land, the power that dwelt there was too great for any to overcome, unless Sauron had come there himself.33
Almost simultaneously with the attack of Sauron's forces against the city of Minas Tirith in the Battle of Pelennor Fields and the subsequent Battle of the Black Gate, Dol Guldur launched three separate attacks against the Golden Wood. While the outer woods were ravaged in those assaults, Celeborn's warriors, in coordination with Galadriel's power, managed to hold the center. Once Galadriel had "cast down the walls" of Dol Guldur, Celeborn's warriors were then able to join with Thranduil in thwarting the invasion of his realm:
In the North also there had been war and evil. The realm of Thranduil was invaded, and there was long battle under the trees and great ruin of fire; but in the end Thranduil had the victory. And on the day of the New Year of the Elves, Celeborn and Thranduil met in the midst of the forest; and they renamed Mirkwood Eryn Lasgalen, the Wood of Greenleaves. Thranduil took all the northern region as far as the mountains that rise in the forest for his realm; and Celeborn took all the southern wood below the Narrows, and named it East Lórien; all the wide forest between was given to the Beornings and the Woodmen. But after the passing of Galadriel in a few years Celeborn grew weary of his realm and went to Imladris to dwell with the sons of Elrond.34
Although the texts give no date, nor even the assurance of an eventual departure from Middle-earth for Celeborn, it is implied. It is certainly not impossible that, after the death of his granddaughter Arwen, he might have joined Galadriel in Aman.
It is necessary to note that the stories to be found in Unfinished Tales are not presented as self-contained missing pieces of a straightforward history. For example, the story Aldarion and Erendis, a fascinating account of a distinct part of Númenórean history, exists only there and nowhere else. Despite being a polished piece of prose, it is left in an incomplete form with its ending collapsing from a striking novelistic style into brief notes of its possible ending. Similarly, Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin is beautifully written and well-developed, rich in detail, but never completed or merged with others versions of the story of Gondolin. These other segments printed in Unfinished Tales tend more to enhance or expand existing narratives. The story of Celeborn and Galadriel's meeting in Aman and arriving in Middle-earth separately and distinctly from the other princes of the Noldor is the most difficult and problematic of the works collected within Unfinished Tales. It takes the form throughout of sketchier notes and does not present even the beginning of a coherent narrative. Christopher Tolkien explains its difference from other stories and/or drafts collected in Unfinished Tales by stating that
the question of 'consistency', [is] best illustrated from the section entitled 'The History of Galadriel and Celeborn'. This is an 'Unfinished Tale' in a larger sense: not a narrative that comes to an abrupt halt, as in 'Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin', nor a series of fragments, as in 'Cirion and Eorl', but a primary strand in the history of Middle-earth that never received a settled definition, let alone a final written form. The inclusion of the unpublished narratives and sketches of narrative on this subject therefore entails at once the acceptance of the history not as a fixed, independently-existing reality which the author 'reports' (in his 'persona' as translator and redactor), but as a growing and shifting conception in his mind.35
The major issue with Celeborn's evolving history as created in the last days of Tolkien's life and included in Unfinished Tales is that it introduces conflicts and contradictions with already published work with its newly introduced and partial details. "When the author has ceased to publish his works himself. . . . the further knowledge of Middle-earth to be found in his unpublished writings will often conflict with what is already 'known.'"36 When Christopher Tolkien writes of his methods of reconciling "the innumerable 'unauthorised' decisions between variants and rival versions"37 that he included in the construction of The Silmarillion, he posits that, in the case of Celeborn and Galadriel, there is no possible reconciliation of his father's latest thoughts without major alterations to The Lord of the Rings and the already published version of The Silmarillion, not to mention any merging of those with a plethora of details scattered throughout the Appendices and The History of Middle-earth.
In that alternate and last telling of the story of Celeborn (Teleporno) in Unfinished Tales, Celeborn is a noble/prince of the Teleri in Alqualondë and a grandson of King Olwë.38 Meanwhile, Galadriel's character transforms in this last account into one who is bigger, more powerful, and morally superior (although arguably still prideful) than her Silmarillion counterpart. Tolkien seems to be struggling to create a stronger woman character. I might posit, she is more perfect but less interesting. Meanwhile, her partner Teleporno has been upgraded from Úmanyar to Calaquendi in Tolkien's last notes but appealing aspects of his history and identity have been deleted.39 To accommodate this revision, Tolkien would have had to have downgraded the importance of the entire Silmarillion origin story as the background of The Lord of the Rings. The Lord and Lady of Lothlórien would not have participated in the story of Doriath nor would Celeborn have played any role in the fight against Sauron in Eregion, etc. And, if he had not, where did he gain the military skills which serve him so well in the Battle of the Golden Wood? One can speculate that Tolkien wished to elevate Galadriel to a more saintly figure (in Christian terms) or nearly the equal of the Valar at the end of her tenure in Aman.
While some Catholic Tolkien scholars might have welcomed this alteration, this reader and others with a strong attachment to The Silmarillion version might have deeply regretted this change if Tolkien had lived to bring it to fruition. On Tumblr, I stumbled across one amusing and relatable-to-me response to the question "Hey, what's wrong with Telerin Celeborn?" Tolkien fan Anghraine briefly expresses a reaction similar to my own and one that made me grin:
1) Teleporno is the worst name ever.
2) He would be Galadriel's uncle or (full) cousin. Ew.
3) He's identified with the trees and forest, which fits the Sindar far far better.
4) The Telerin!Celeborn story strips Galadriel of a good part of her defiance and moral ambiguity, with correspondingly lower stakes come LOTR (and I love the Sil but I'm ultimately a LOTR girl).
5) Can't see a Telerin man taking the ships and I really prefer Galadriel as a survivor of the Helcaraxë.
6) I really dislike the idea of a mixed Silvan-Sindar community being ruled by two Calaquendi.
7) A Noldo-Sinda romance post-Alqualondë is amazing.40
Obviously, other readers' mileage may vary. However, most readers would agree with Marnie that whether developed as Celeborn or Teleporno, Teleri or Sinda, The Lord of the Rings'
Celeborn is acerbic. His words are harsh, but his actions are consistently kind. Like Thranduil, he is still fiercely engaged with the world - as witness the fact that it is these two who lead the only elf-armies who fight in the Wars of the Ring. If he's occasionally angry and tactless it doesn't prevent him from being either wise or great.41
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Oshun's Silmarillion-based stories may be found on the SWG archive.
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