Elrond

Elrond Halfelven, Lord of Rivendell and one of the mightiest of the Eldar remaining in Middle-earth, stands at the centre of the struggle against Sauron as a counsellor, healer, and keeper of ancient lore. His memory reaches back to the Elder Days, and his lineage—son of Eärendil the Mariner and Elwing, descendant of Lúthien and Beren—makes him a living bridge between the First Age and the Third. In the War of the Ring, his house becomes the last refuge of wisdom and the place where the fate of the Ring is decided.

Lineage and Ancient History

Elrond is the son of Eärendil and Elwing, born in Gondolin before its fall, and thus carries the blood of both Elves and Men. He was the herald of Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth, and marched with his host in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. At the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, he witnessed the final combat on the slopes of Orodruin where Gil-galad died and Elendil fell, and where Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron's hand. Elrond alone, with Círdan, stood by Gil-galad in that last mortal contest, and he counselled Isildur to cast the Ring into the fire—counsel that was refused. This moment haunts the entire Third Age, for Elrond knows that the Ring was not destroyed but taken as a weregild, and that its survival would one day bring the world to the brink of ruin.

The Lord of Rivendell and the Council

After the fall of Gil-galad, Elrond founded the refuge of Imladris, Rivendell, the Last Homely House east of the Sea. There he gathered lore, healed the weary, and kept watch over the North. He is described as ageless, neither old nor young, with hair dark as the shadows of twilight and eyes grey as a clear evening, in which there is a light like the light of stars. Venerable as a king crowned with many winters, yet hale as a tried warrior in the fullness of his strength, he is mighty among both Elves and Men. When Frodo Baggins is brought to Rivendell after the flight to the Ford, Elrond cures him of the Morgul-wound, removing a splinter of the blade that had been working inwards for seventeen days. It is Elrond who convenes the Council of Elrond, summoning representatives of all the Free Peoples—Elves, Dwarves, and Men—to decide the fate of the One Ring. He speaks the Tale of the Ring from its forging in the Second Age to its discovery by Bilbo, and it is he who declares that the Ring must be destroyed, and that the road to the Fire lies through Mordor. When Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, Elrond accepts his choice, saying that the task is appointed for him and that if he does not find a way, no one will.

The Choice of Arwen and the Passing of the Elves

Elrond's deepest personal sorrow is bound up with his daughter Arwen. As one of the Half-elven, he was granted the choice of which kindred to belong to, and he chose to be of Elven-kind, remaining in Middle-earth until weary at last. But to his children a choice was also appointed: to pass with him from the circles of the world, or to remain and become mortal. Arwen chooses mortality for the love of Aragorn, and Elrond must accept that their parting will be sundered by the Sea and by a doom beyond the end of the world. After the destruction of the Ring and the crowning of King Elessar, Elrond's work is finished. He surrenders the sceptre of Annúminas to Aragorn, and at the Grey Havens he boards the white ship with Galadriel and Gandalf, bearing the ring Vilya, mightiest of the Three, and departing Middle-earth for ever. His final gift to Frodo is the promise that the Ring-bearer may also pass into the West, and he speaks the words that echo through the end of the Third Age: 'I think, Frodo, that maybe you will not need to come back, unless you come very soon.'