By Oshun
Printer-friendly
Downloadable PDFBy Oshun |
Printer-friendly Downloadable PDF |
Author's note: Last month we published the first part of a biography of the sons of Elrond. We traced the lines of the descent of Elladan and Elrohir through the various houses of both the Eldar and the Edain. Describing the special relationship of the Elves of Rivendell with the Dúnedain of the North, we showed how Elrond preserved the line of the heirs of Isildur and how his sons are drawn to participate with him in that purpose. This last segment will deal with the War of the Rings and the story of the twins as it is recounted in The Lord of the Rings.
Those who are fascinated by Elladan and Elrohir may look for satisfaction of their boundless curiosity in The Lord of the Rings. They may feel as though the brothers' presence in the book could have been larger or pursued in greater detail. The reader, however, must not forget that the history related in The Lord of the Rings is that of a transitional period between when the story of the struggles of the Elves held center stage and the period when, as Galadriel told the Fellowship members, "We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten."1 Nevertheless, despite the fact that these part-Elven sons of the beloved and venerable Elrond2 are reduced to allies and helpmates in The Lord of the Rings, their significance in the fabric of the story is much greater.
Central to Tolkien's legendarium is the importance of Elladan and Elrohir's grandfather Eärendil, who is the "only one who could speak for both Elves and Men."3 Only Eärendil could obtain aid from the Valar when it was most desperately needed in the losing fight against Morgoth. It seems reasonable and necessary in his final denouement of this long saga that Eärendil's progeny should be included, if no longer in principal roles. To have bypassed them entirely would have been to drop a stitch in a tapestry over which Tolkien had toiled for so long. To have included them as swashbuckling, scene-stealing heroes would have undermined the finality of the transition from the Age of the Elves to the Age of Men. The Elves had already led their battles; the time had come for Men and Hobbits to play a leading role in the destiny of Middle-earth.
After decades of construction of his epic body of work, The Lord of the Rings is Tolkien's generally recognized conclusion or the winding down of the project. This is not to say he stopped working on the as-yet-unpublished Silmarillion. Any serious scholar or avid fan of the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium is grateful to Christopher Tolkien for conducting an extensive edit of Tolkien's drafts to produce a readable and published version of The Silmarillion. However, like his father, CT could not stop niggling. He followed with the heavily annotated twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth. Therein he collected from the remainder of Tolkien's still unpublished drafts, rejected texts, and all manner of new starts and replacements, leaving the reader with unplumbed depths to explore and a myriad of further choices. One does not find much in those texts about Elladan and Elrohir specifically, but the availability the expanded material enables one to place their history and purpose more securely within the context of the legendarium.
Even the most casual reader will immediately notice the differences of style from The Silmarillion to The Hobbit and, finally, The Lord of the Rings.
The Silmarillion is written in the loftiest style of the three main texts. Dawn Felagund notes in an essay tracking its narrators within the text (highly recommended reading) that "[w]ritten as it is as a pseudohistorical text, The Silmarillion employs language that signals its purpose as a work of history." She goes on to note that, in addition to acknowledgment of both written and oral texts, on occasion specifically named, as in the case of the Noldolantë or the Lay of Leithian, in other instances "[l]ess specific are attributions to groups of characters, such as the Vanyarin Elves or the vague 'the wise.'"4 Contributing to The Silmarillion's tone of high fantasy are also those unspecified (and ubiquitous to works of myth, legend, and fable) attributions which Dawn also points to, "it is said, it is told, or it is sung."5
Wayne G. Hammond notes that The Hobbit is written in what he calls a "playful children's-story mode," while explaining that Tolkien, having been asked by his publisher for a sequel, began The Lord of the Rings using the same light tone and plain language of "parental narration" he had used before. But this form was no longer to his liking in the new book, "and The Lord of the Rings very quickly became more elaborate and sophisticated, and darker in tone."6
The form he chose returns to the history format of The Silmarillion, but a history written in a much later age by a very different people. This is a book written by Hobbits with their particular style and focus. (The Red Book of Westmarch was touched by other hands and there were in-story versions, but that fascinating story is best saved for another essay.) So, the story of the Ring War is composed in omniscient third person, "but everything that was written in The Lord of the Rings follows a certain scheme: what was written was either the first-hand or second-hand account of someone that was actually present to experience the events of the story."7 Finally, off to Rivendell!
Frodo, our point-of-view character, arrives unconscious in Rivendell; he has been stabbed by the infamous Morgul-knife and barely escaped capture by the Ringwraiths at the Ford of Bruinen. We, therefore, do not immediately meet Elladan and Elrohir. We do keep hearing about them from other characters. Frodo first meets their sister Arwen. The fact that he does not yet meet her brothers is important enough to note:
So it was that Frodo saw her whom few mortals had yet seen; Arwen, daughter of Elrond, in whom it was said that the likeness of Lúthien had come on earth again; and she was called Undómiel, for she was the Evenstar of her people. Long she had been in the land of her mother's kin, in Lórien beyond the mountains, and was but lately returned to Rivendell to her father's house. But her brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, were out upon errantry; for they rode often far afield with the Rangers of the North, forgetting never their mother's torment in the dens of the orcs.8
For a brief initial mention, this is a fairly complete profile of the Peredhil twins. They are busy in the field during these troubled times with their frequent companions and fellow guardians of the North, the Dúnedain Rangers. And after the passage of time, one of Elladan and Elrohir's driving motivations remains the terrible fate of their mother.
After waking from days of suffering, Frodo, finally restored to health, is given a place of honor at dinner with all of Elrond's housemates and guests, including a number of Elves and other folk who would be considered luminaries even within the halls of Rivendell. To his surprise he meets "Glóin, one of the twelve companions of the great Thorin Oakenshield" from whom he heard many stories of the doings of the Dwarves of Eriador. Frodo marvels at the Elves, including Glorfindel with his shining golden hair and "his face fair and young and fearless and full of joy,"9 the most arresting among the crowd except perhaps for Elrond himself:
His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars. Venerable he seemed as a king crowned with many winters, and yet hale as a tried warrior in the fulness of his strength. He was the Lord of Rivendell and mighty among both Elves and Men.10
Whilst we have received no description of Elladan and Elrohir at this point in the story—they are out chasing down Sauron's minions—one might be persuaded to consider the picture of their sister Arwen above and add that to the description of Elrond we also received from Frodo and those may give us a hint as to what the sons of Elrond might look like.
We know that Elladan and Elrohir were born in the same year, thus, unquestionably are twins. Tolkien uses a statistically improbable number of twins in his legendarium. We are not told if they are fraternal or identical, although their resemblance to one another is remarked upon:
Presently Éomer came out from the gate, and with him was Aragorn, and Halbarad bearing the great staff close-furled in black, and two tall men, neither young nor old. So much alike were they, the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart: dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair, clad alike in bright mail beneath cloaks of silver-grey.11
Elrohir is mentioned a total of fifteen times in the in Kindle one-volume Lord of the Rings, while Elladan tops him by one with a count of sixteen.
The hobbits had been nearly two months in the House of Elrond, and November had gone by with the last shreds of autumn, and December was passing, when the scouts began to return. Some had gone north beyond the springs of the Hoarwell into the Ettenmoors; and others had gone west, and with the help of Aragorn and the Rangers had searched the lands far down the Greyflood, as far as Tharbad, where the old North Road crossed the river by a ruined town. Many had gone east and south; and some of these had crossed the Mountains and entered Mirkwood, while others had climbed the pass at the source of the Gladden River, and had come down into Wilderland and over the Gladden Fields and so at length had reached the old home of Radagast at Rhosgobel. Radagast was not there; and they had returned over the high pass that was called the Dimrill Stair. The sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir, were the last to return; they had made a great journey, passing down the Silverlode into a strange country, but of their errand they would not speak to any save to Elrond. [emphasis added]12
It would appear that we have confirmation later as to where Elladan and Elrohir had traveled and why their destination was closely guarded. When the Fellowship, without Gandalf, arrives in Lothlórien, Galadriel tells them, "Your quest is known to us. . . . But we will not here speak of it more openly."13 One might find it interesting (or even humorous) that Galadriel, appearing all witchy-wondrous and opaque, is actually telling the visitors something they have already heard. Cranky Haldir, that master of finesse and diplomacy, had already let that drop almost as soon as they crossed the border into Lothlórien:
"[We] have heard rumours of your coming, for the messengers of Elrond passed by Lórien on their way home up the Dimrill Stair. We had not heard of hobbits, or halflings, for many a long year, and did not know that any yet dwelt in Middle-earth. You do not look evil! And since you come with an Elf of our kindred, we are willing to befriend you, as Elrond asked; though it is not our custom to lead strangers through our land."14
Perhaps Haldir was not talking about Elladan and Elrohir, but about some other loose-lipped scouts passing back to Rivendell by way of the Dimrill Stair, or one might be reading entirely too much into this and it is simply a tiny oversight on the author's part.
The next time we encounter Elladan and Elrohir is in Rohan. Frodo and Sam have separated from the Fellowship and are slogging toward Mordor, and Gandalf with Pippin in tow has ridden for Minas Tirith. So the reader is now treated to a view of Elrond's sons primarily through the eyes of Legolas and Gimli and somewhat less through Aragorn. We also can see them in their own element: that is within the Grey Company with their long-time co-combatants of the Dúnedain.
All roads by then appear to lead to Gondor. In a suspenseful moment, while Théoden is sending out riders to muster his forces, readying for war, he receives word of the approach of a company of unknown horsemen. This turns out to be men of the Dúnedain, riding south to aid Aragorn, accompanied by Elladan and Elrohir:
'Halbarad Dúnadan, Ranger of the North I am,' cried the man. 'We seek one Aragorn son of Arathorn, and we heard that he was in Rohan.'....
'All is well,' said Aragorn.... 'Here are some of my own kin from the far land where I dwelt. But why they come, and how many they be, Halbarad shall tell us.'
'I have thirty with me,' said Halbarad. 'That is all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste; but the brethren Elladan and Elrohir have ridden with us, desiring to go to the war. We rode as swiftly as we might when your summons came.'
'But I did not summon you,' said Aragorn, 'save only in wish. My thoughts have often turned to you, and seldom more than tonight; yet I have sent no word. But come! . . . . Ride with us now, if the king will give his leave.'15
Aragorn is very happy to see them. This is perhaps as good as place as any to insert an aside on their personal relationship with Aragorn. It is interesting to note that Elladan and Elrohir do not spend their lives simply chasing after Orcs, nor are they uncomplicatedly noble warriors who brave physical hardship and danger only to assist the surviving yet beleaguered Dúnedain of the North. Nor is their purpose to finally and most importantly serve as Aragorn's kingsguard and allies in their fight to free Middle-earth. We are given to understand through many small nuances that they are not only potent mentors and protectors of Aragorn but provide personal and human support in face of the rising darkness.
Théoden is indeed glad to welcome them. What had seemed like a possible threat emerging from the North turned out to be allies, and impressive ones at that. Théoden expresses it succinctly: "'It is well!' he said. 'If these kinsmen be in any way like to yourself, my lord Aragorn, thirty such knights will be a strength that cannot be counted by heads.'"16
Gimli and Legolas are discussing among themselves their impressions of both Aragorn's serious, stalwart kinsmen and speculating about who had called them and how they came to arrive just in time for the next big push. Gimli describes the Dúnedain as "Stout men and lordly they are, and the Riders of Rohan look almost as boys beside them; for they are grim men of face, worn like weathered rocks for the most part, even as Aragorn himself; and they are silent."17
But Legolas points out the contrast with the Dúnedain, Aragorn's long-time mentors, and the Peredhil twins: "'And have you marked the brethren Elladan and Elrohir? Less sombre is their gear than the others', and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell.'"18
Aragorn's kinsmen are fit if rugged well past the age when ordinary men not carrying the blood of Númenor would be starting to show their age and slowing down. Yet these compatriots of Aragorn are, as Gimli said, "like weathered rocks." On the other hand, Elrond's sons show no such weathering after living more than two thousand years under the sun. Instead they are "fair and gallant as Elven-lords." (Their Mannish blood is not showing.)
Much is made in fanfic and other discussions of possible Mannish characteristics which could have been attributed to Elladan and Elrohir's diluted Elven bloodline. One point to remember is that Elrond's children are much more than half-Elven (not that it matters since one might say that the so-called Choice of the Peredhil depends very little upon numbers—see more about that below).
But, in fact, at that fateful meeting in Rohan, they stand out even in comparison to full-blooded Númenóreans, sharing the blood of Elros, as not simply Elven, but of Elven nobility. Like Arwen, one cannot look upon them without recognizing their singularity.
The gossipy exchange of information about how and why the twins and the Grey Company show up is very entertaining:
'Why have they come?'... asked Merry....
'They answered a summons...,' said Gimli. 'Word came to Rivendell, they say: Aragorn has need of his kindred. Let the Dúnedain ride to him in Rohan! But whence this message came they are now in doubt. Gandalf sent it, I would guess.'
'Nay, Galadriel,' said Legolas. 'Did she not speak through Gandalf of the ride of the Grey Company from the North?'19
Meanwhile Aragorn is discussing their plans with his brothers and Halbarad. Elrohir tells him, "I bring word to you from my father: The days are short. If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead." Finally, Aragorn approaches King Théoden and graciously takes his leave, explaining they have chosen to take their own path to the coming battle:
'The Paths of the Dead!' said Théoden, and trembled. 'Why do you speak of them?' Éomer turned and gazed at Aragorn, and it seemed to Merry that the faces of the Riders that sat within hearing turned pale at the words. 'If there be in truth such paths,' said Théoden, 'their gate is in Dunharrow; but no living man may pass it.'
'Alas! Aragorn my friend!' said Éomer. 'I had hoped that we should ride to war together; but if you seek the Paths of the Dead, then our parting is come, and it is little likely that we shall ever meet again under the Sun.'
'That road I will take, nonetheless,' said Aragorn. 'But I say to you, Éomer, that in battle we may yet meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor should stand between.'
'You will do as you will, my lord Aragorn,' said Théoden. 'It is your doom, maybe, to tread strange paths that others dare not. This parting grieves me, and my strength is lessened by it; but now I must take the mountain-roads and delay no longer. Farewell!' 20
Elladan and Elrohir ride with Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead. In fact, for the entirety of the Ring War, they are never again to leave Aragorn until victory over Sauron is accomplished. On the Paths of the Dead, they provide support, courage, and determination. Tyellas, in her essay on Elladan and Elrohir--which is extensively referred to in Part 1 of this biography--makes a point about the company's fear in those caverns. Courage, however, does not indicate lack of fear:
Elladan carries a torch and walks at the rear; he stands by Aragorn as he examines a corpse. Note that Elladan and Elrohir feel the fear of the Dead, while the fully-elven Legolas does not. "There was not a heart among them that did not quail, unless it were the heart of Legolas of the Elves, for whom the dead have no terror." Elladan has these gloomy lines: "Yes, the Dead ride behind. They have been summoned," and he replies to Gimli's query about where they are with, "We have descended from the uprising of the Morthrond, the long chill river that...washes the walls of Dol Amroth. You will not need to ask hereafter how it came by its name; Blackroot men call it."21
The question that might be debatable here is whether the fear of those caverns and the ghosts awakened there or the dread of being unable to defend and protect Aragorn and win the final battle is more terrifying to the brothers. Elladan and Elrohir have been tasked by Elrond and their grandmother Galadriel to ensure that Aragorn and his company succeed at this mission. So what they fear most might be worthy of discussion. Do they fear the loss of their own lives or failure? One might have more fear of disappointing Galadriel or letting down their father than death itself, than fear of any troop of dead traitors. Nonetheless, Elrond's suggestion to "remember the paths of the Dead" works, and Aragorn and his brave company succeed in bringing the Dead with them to the Battle of Pelennor Fields and turn the tide on the battlefield:
And now the fighting waxed furious on the fields of the Pelennor; and the din of arms rose upon high, with the crying of men and the neighing of horses. . . .22
Théoden had fallen; Éowyn and Merry have been wounded, but the Witch-king also had met his end thanks to a small Hobbit and the valor of the Lady of Rohan. The courage and energy of the defenders of Gondor did not falter. If anything, Éomer and the Riders have assumed a reckless and terrifying ferocity in light of the loss of their king. Still the remaining foes of the free peoples are many and formidable:
It was even as the day thus began to turn against Gondor and their hope wavered that a new cry went up in the City. . . and their last hope left them. . . .
'The Corsairs of Umbar!' men shouted. . . 'The Corsairs are upon us! It is the last stroke of doom!'. . . .23
The newcomers upon the scene did not bring their final doom as they feared, but instead an unhoped-for salvation. Included among the new arrivals, of course, are the sons of Elrond:
East rode the knights of Dol Amroth driving the enemy before them: troll-men and Variags and orcs that hated the sunlight. South strode Éomer and men fled before his face, and they were caught between the hammer and the anvil. For now men leaped from the ships to the quays of the Harlond and swept north like a storm. There came Legolas, and Gimli wielding his axe, and Halbarad with the standard, and Elladan and Elrohir with stars on their brow, and the dour-handed Dúnedain, Rangers of the North, leading a great valour of the folk of Lebennin and Lamedon and the fiefs of the South. But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, Andúril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old; and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil.24
Elrond's sons, grandsons of Eärendil, heroic paladins of the Houses of Lúthien and Bëor, harking back as well to the Noldor of Finwë and Indis and the Sindar of Doriath, needed to be present at this moment to give the perfect balance to Tolkien's continuing history of the intermingling of Elves and Men. Just when all hope seems lost, the arrival of Aragorn and his company brings with it the restoration of hope. In his 1942 essay "On Fairy-Stories," Tolkien fine-tuned readers' and writers' understanding of fantasy fiction by defining the "consolations of the happy ending" and named it eucatastrophe.25 This is not the final eucatastrophe but an interim turn for the better, which foreshadows and enables the movement in that direction. The outcome is not certain, but despair turned to hope on the battlefield.
After the battle is won and the enemy driven back, Aragorn takes it upon himself to heal the surviving casualties, and Elladan and Elrohir, apparently trained by Elrond the great healer, join him in that work. Overwhelmed by the numbers, Aragorn "sent for the sons of Elrond, and together they laboured far into the night."26
The brothers are present at the war council called by Aragorn to determine what their next step should be. They have successfully defended the city of Minas Tirith, but the Ring has yet to be destroyed. Aragorn proposes that they go to the gates of Mordor itself and draw Sauron out:
At length Aragorn spoke. 'As I have begun, so I will go on. We come now to the very brink, where hope and despair are akin. To waver is to fall. Let none now reject the counsels of Gandalf, whose long labours against Sauron come at last to their test. But for him all would long ago have been lost. Nonetheless I do not yet claim to command any man. Let others choose as they will.'
Then said Elrohir: 'From the North we came with this purpose, and from Elrond our father we brought this very counsel. We will not turn back.'27
Elladan and Elrohir ride with Aragorn for the Morannon (the Black Gate of Mordor) in one last desperate effort, providing the needed distraction for Frodo and Sam to achieve their opportunity to destroy the ring. (Spoilers: it worked!)
Like any good brothers, Elladan and Elrohir accompany their sister to her nuptials. They arrive together with magnificence leading a party composed of the Elves of Rivendell and Lothlórien up to the gates of Minas Tirith:
Upon the very Eve of Midsummer, when the sky was blue as sapphire and white stars opened in the East, but the West was still golden, and the air was cool and fragrant, the riders came down the North-way to the gates of Minas Tirith. First rode Elrohir and Elladan with a banner of silver, and then came Glorfindel and Erestor and all the household of Rivendell, and after them came the Lady Galadriel and Celeborn, Lord of Lothlórien, riding upon white steeds and with them many fair folk of their land, grey-cloaked with white gems in their hair; and last came Master Elrond, mighty among Elves and Men, bearing the sceptre of Annúminas, and beside him upon a grey palfrey rode Arwen his daughter, Evenstar of her people.28
Tolkien's stunning description of this procession is one of my favorites of many marvelous descriptive passages in The Lord of the Rings. The pageantry of the scene is fitting for what is most likely the last opportunity for the peoples of Middle-earth to view the splendor and beauty of the Elves passing out of history in this moment and into legend.
Last but not of least importance to many particular fans of Elladan and Elrohir is the desire to determine or at very least opine upon how they might have faced the choice of staying in Middle-earth and becoming mortal or belatedly following their father into the West, choosing the Eldar as he had done:
At the end of the First Age the Valar gave to the Half-elven an irrevocable choice to which kindred they would belong. Elrond chose to be of Elven-kind, and became a master of wisdom. To him therefore was granted the same grace as to those of the High Elves that still lingered in Middle-earth: that when weary at last of the mortal lands they could take ship from the Grey Havens and pass into the Uttermost West; and this grace continued after the change of the world. But to the children of Elrond a choice was also appointed: to pass with him from the circles of the world; or if they remained, to become mortal and die in Middle-earth.29
Nowhere are we told definitively when or if the brothers sail for Aman. We know that they do not leave with Elrond. After their father sailed for the West, the brothers stayed in Rivendell for a time. Their grandfather Celeborn came to live with them before passing himself to the Grey Havens to be reunited with his spouse. In the prologue to The Lord of the Rings, we find a brief reference which touches upon this subject:
. . . though Elrond had departed, his sons long remained, together with some of the High-elven folk. It 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.30
It is difficult for this reader to imagine that either one or both of them would stay behind and cause Celebrían any further grief, in light of having spent so many years battling the enemies of the light in regret and anger at the suffering already inflicted upon her. The choice to stay in Middle-earth and deprive her of their company forever seems doubly pitiless in view of the fact that she would have already lost her only daughter.
Tolkien offers further explanation of how the choice of the Peredhil works in a draft letter to Peter Hastings:
Elrond chose to be among the Elves. His children – with a renewed Elvish strain, since their mother was Celebrían dtr. of Galadriel – have to make their choices. . . . When she [Arwen] weds Aragorn (whose love-story elsewhere recounted is not here central and only occasionally referred to) she 'makes the choice of Lúthien', so the grief at her parting from Elrond is specially poignant. Elrond passes Over Sea. The end of his sons, Elladan and Elrohir, is not told: they delay their choice, and remain for a while.31
One might argue that the language "remain for a while" indicates that they eventually sailed West, but he does not tell that story or confirm their departure.
Read comments on this essay | Leave a comment on this essay
(You must have an account on the SWG archive to comment on essays. Click here to register for an account.)
Oshun's Silmarillion-based stories may be found on the SWG archive.
Return to Character of the Month Index
Return to References Home