'Encounters with Elrond'!

[inzilbeth]

A couple of years ago, I begun what was to be my next big project after writing ‘Aspects of Aragorn’. My intended subject this time was Elrond whom I’ve loved ever since I heard [it was read out to me by my teacher when I was eight] that line in ‘The Hobbit’ about Elrond being as kind as summer. For some reason that spoke to me and I’ve been fascinated by the character ever since. Writing Elrond’s tale, with his being halfelven and living in all four Ages, I felt would provide some very different challenges from writing Aragorn’s story.

 

Well I was right about that! Putting flesh on the few bones Tolkien provided proved unexpectedly tricky and things haven’t gone quite to plan. Most of the story is still only in the planning stages, Elrond’s early years not being as easy to unravel as I had initially imagined. Unfortunately, because  of my uncertainty over the validity of what I had already written and my continued dithering over how to proceed, other projects eventually took precedence and, as a result, to date I’ve actually only completed a rather pathetic two chapters. With the loss of impetus, I finally decided that, instead of trying to write the whole thing first, I'll just post each chapter as and when they are ready. The first, ‘The Haven’s of Sirion’, I’ve just put up at SoA and can be found here: http://www.storiesofarda.com/chapterlistview.asp?SID=6536

My most grateful thanks, as always, to my two wonderful betas, Cairistiona7 and Estelcontar1.

 

 Chapter three, ‘The Choice of the Peredhil’ is also ready for posting, though the wheels have complete come off what should have been the second chapter.

 

Here I had great difficulty deciding on the most likely course of events surrounding Elrond’s and Elros’s return to the Havens. Under the cut is the sum total of what we have to go on and any thoughts would be most welcome!

 

According to ‘Letters’, no: 211 dated 1958. Elrond and Elros ‘were so called, because they were carried off by the sons of Feanor….The infants were not slain, but left like ‘babes in the wood’, in a cave with a fall of water over the entrance. There they were found: Elrond within the cave, and Elros dabbling in the water.’ [Elrond meaning Star-cavern, while Elros; Star- dew or spray]. According to an attached note, the interpretations of the names in ‘The Silmarillion’ [Star-dome and Star-foam], were later.

 

According to the Tale of Years in ‘The War of the Jewels’, the boys were 6 years old at the time of the kinslaying at the Havens and they were 58 yrs old when the Second Age began.

 

In ‘The Lost Road’, it says:  Of the Eldar who remained after the War ‘among these were Maglor… and with him for a while was Elrond Halfelven, who chose, as was granted to him, to be among the Elf-kindred; but Elros his brother chose to abide with Men.’

 

And in ‘The Silmarillion’ it says: In Middle-earth dwelt also Gil-galad the High King, and with him was Elrond Half-elven, who chose, as was granted to him, to be numbered among the Eldar; but Elros his brother chose to abide with Men.’

 

  Now, all this suggests to me that Elrond and Elros only acquired their names after they had been ‘found’ in the cave. And the ‘babes in the wood reference’ would seem to imply that they were very young at the time.

 

The question is: who found them and when!

 

Were the boys discovered in a cave by Maedhros at the time of the kinslaying and was it subsequently Maglor, perhaps, who gave them their names?

 

Or, were they found when the sons of Feanor returned them some time later, and was it, then, the people of the Havens who chose their names?

 

We do know Elrond and Elros were 6 years old at the time of the kinslaying, so, if it was the latter and they were found when being returned by Feanor’s sons, then, given that they were clearly still very young at that time [‘babes in the wood’], they couldn’t have remained with Maglor for very long at all. To me, this would make sense and seems to tie in with the account in ‘Letters’. Then, once Maedhros and Maglor had seen the Silmaril in the sky and had realised it was now out of their reach, they might well have concluded that there was no need to continue holding the boys as hostages and so decided to return them, leaving them safely in a cave, where they could be found later.

 

Alternatively, if it was the former and the sons of Fëanor found the boys in a cave at the time of the kinslaying, perhaps they had even been left there by their mother in an attempt to conceal them from the invading host, this would seem to tie in better with the note in ‘War of the Jewels’ stating that Elrond was still with Maglor at the end of the War of Wrath. By then, he would have been 58 years old so there’s no question that he was a babe when he eventually returned to Gil-galad!

 

It’s an important question but there doesn't seem to be an answer. It matters enormously because the fate of the boys and the length of time they dwelt under the care of the sons of Fëanor would inevitably impact hugely upon how Elrond and Elros eventually chose their differing fates. I’ve come up with one possible scenario for this but I’m by no means certain it’s the right one!

 

And, being the stickler for canon that I am, it’s this feeling that I might have got it all wrong which has completely hampered my progress with telling this story! For instance, I had already written the first chapter - just posted -  based on these few lines in ‘The Silmarillion’: ‘they told that Elros and Elrond were taken captive, but Elwing with the Silmaril upon her breast had cast herself into the sea,’  when I came across this additional information in ‘The Shaping of Middle-earth’: ‘And yet Maidros gained not the Silmaril, for Elwing seeing that all was lost and her child Elrond taken captive, eluded the host of Maidros, and with the Nauglafring upon her breast she cast herself into the sea, and perished as folk though.’ My version includes an account of Elwing’s capture, so this earlier account effectively makes it completely wrong.

 

I suppose the question is; how much does any of this matter and how much importance should be given to the alternative versions. There are, after all, other discrepancies in the HOME accounts, such as Elrond for a time being the only son of Eärendil and Elwing who went on to make the choice that was later Elros’s, to become first lord of Númenor. Also we have a period when it was ‘Maidhros’, not Maglor, who befriended him. This sort of earlier discrepancy didn’t particularly bother me when writing Aragorn’s story, since, although I did use some material provided in HOME, the ranger I wrote about was definitely tall and wore muddy boots; I most certainly didn’t pay too much attention to the clog wearing Trotter!

 

Overall, I tend to take the view that, where the earlier accounts differ, the latest one applies, though this policy would be disastrous for the structure of ‘The Silmarillion’ if applied to Galadriel's tale. Conversely, where HOME or ‘Letters’ reveal unique material, I consider it to be canon, hence my desire to include the babes in the cave story, if only I can decide on how it all fits together!

Edit: I am gratefully indebted to lisa-gk for pointing out this additional information in 'Peoples' which I had forgotten about completely. This later piece throws doubt on the validity of the cave story and opens the way for further interpretations!

Elrond is said to mean ‘Star-dome’ (WotJ - Quendi and Eldar, 1959-60); in “PoMe - The Shibboleth of Fëanor” (from

1968 or later) it says that the names Elros and Elrond “were formed to recall the name of their mother Elwing' with Elros meaning 'Starlit foam'”; in “PoMe - The Problem of ROS” (also 1968 or later) “Elrond was a word for the firmament, the starry dome as it appeared like a roof to Arda; and it was given by Elwing in memory of the great Hall of the throne of Elwe in the midst of his stronghold Menegroth that was called the Menelrond,...”, and finally in letter 345 (1972) Elrond meant “The vault of stars”.

 

!