Celebrimbor

Celebrimbor was a Ñoldorin prince, and the last in the line of the House of Fëanor, who lived in Middle-earth. He was a ruler of Eregion in the Second Age, and a master smith. He is remembered primarily for his creation of the three greatest Elven Rings of Power: Vilya, Narya, and Nenya.

First Age


Celebrimbor was the son of Curufin, who was the fifth son of Fëanor (son of Finwë and his first wife Miriel) and Nerdanel. During the First Age, he lived with his father in Nargothrond, but took no part in the deeds of Curufin and Celegorm regarding Lúthien, Beren, and Finrod. He in fact repudiated his father's deeds, and did not follow his father and uncle when they were expelled from Nargothrond.

Second Age


Celebrimbor settled in Eregion in the Second Age and started dealing with the Dwarves of the realm of Khazad-dûm. In SA 1500, Sauron, calling himself Annatar ("Lord of Gifts"), befriended the Ñoldor of Eregion. He claimed to be an emissary of the Valar, especially Aulë, and instructed them in the art of ring-making. Celebrimbor distrusted him, but the smiths of Eregion were deceived. Under the guidance and instruction of Sauron, the smiths openly made rings to learn the craft, but unknown to them the craft taught by Sauron incorporated a binding magic into the rings.

In secret, Sauron forged the One Ring, a master ring that would rule all the lesser rings, to enable him to rule Middle-earth via its influence over those who used the other rings. When Sauron placed the One Ring on his finger, claiming dominance over all the Rings of Power and their bearers, the elves knew his true identity and intentions. Celebrimbor and the elves of Eregion defied Sauron by withholding the other rings from him. The greatest of the rings (aside from the One Ring) were created by Celebrimbor himself, and these were never touched by Sauron and thus were uncorrupted by him, although they were still subject to the One Ring. These were the three Rings of the Elves, the fairest of the Rings of Power. Celebrimbor named them Vilya, Narya, and Nenya after the principal Middle-earth elements of air, fire and water, respectively. He sent the three rings away for safekeeping: Vilya and Narya to Gil-galad in Lindon; and Nenya to Galadriel in Lórien.



Sauron retaliated by attacking Eregion, laying waste to the realm. Celebrimbor was captured in the chaos and was forced, under torture, to disclose where the lesser rings were, but he would not reveal the whereabouts of the three greatest of them that he had sent away for safekeeping. Celebrimbor died from his torment; his body was shot with arrows and hung upon a pole, and was later paraded as a banner as Sauron attacked the elves. He was the last direct descendant of the line of Fëanor, save perhaps for his father's brother Maglor, whose fate is unknown and is said by some legends to still wander the shores of the Sea.

Etymology
His father-name was Telperinquar, which means "Silver-fist" or "Hand of silver" in Quenya. It comes from the words telpë ("silver") and quár ("fist"). His mother-name remains unknown. The name Celebrimbor is the Sindarin translation of his father-name, which comes from celeb ("silver") and baur ("fist").

Character
Unlike both his father and his grandfather, Celebrimbor was portrayed as being both selfless and kind, and was neither prideful nor covetous of that which he created. He was described to have an "almost Dwarvish obsession with crafts"; he became a famous artificer and smith in both Gondolin and Eregion. His love for crafts took him to Eregion, where he was introduced to a precious metal and called it Mithril. Mithril was mined by Dwarves in their nearby Mine Realm of Khazad-dum, later renamed Moria. Great friendship with the Dwarves of Moria developed, skills and secrets were shared between the two peoples for many years via The High Road which was built between the two realms. But a long period of peace would not last, for upon realizing the trap which Sauron had devised for him, Celebrimbor was filled with anxiety and fear for his people, and was later described as the heroic defender of Eregion.

Important Works



 * Rings of Power
 * The Nine Rings of Men (with Annatar)
 * The Seven Rings of the Dwarves (with Annatar)
 * The Three Rings of the Elves
 * Doors of Durin (with Narvi)

Other forms of the legendarium
In some accounts, Celebrimbor was a Sindar elf, an ancestor of Daeron, who used Feanorian scripts.

Later, Celebrimbor was changed and became of Ñoldorin origin, and a survivor of the Fall of Gondolin. In the Unfinished Tales, a statement claims Celebrimbor to be one of the Teleri who accompanied Celeborn to exile.

Another version of the story has Celebrimbor revolt against Galadriel, after Galadriel and Celeborn established Eregion. Celebrimbor and Galadriel were later reconciled once Sauron's trickery was revealed.

Video games




Celebrimbor appears in the video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, as the wraith assisting the ranger Talion in destroying the forces of Sauron. Developers have revealed that he assists Talion due to the guilt he feels for creating the Rings of Power, and thus he feels ultimately responsible for the trouble Middle-earth is in. However, the Celebrimbor that appears in the game differs from the Tolkien Celebrimbor in that he not only makes the three Elf rings, but he crafts all of the Rings of Power, and when captured helps Sauron reforge the One Ring (via the inscription of the lettering of the Ring upon it); he also gave the Ring a will of its own. However, once Sauron's intentions were revealed to him, he stole the One Ring and used it to command an army of orcs and Uruks to defeat Sauron and claim Mordor. Celebrimbor uses the Ring's power of invisibility to defeat Sauron, however the ring wanted to return to the Dark Lord, and so slipped off of Celebrimbor's finger and onto Sauron's, breaking Celebrimbor's control of the orcs. He was then tortured as punishment, had his family tortured and killed in front of him, before finally being beaten to death with his own Mithril hammer by Sauron.



When the game takes place and the protagonist, Talion, is slain in a blood-ritual, Celebrimbor is bound to the ranger, which allows Talion to return from the dead (in addition to many other abilities). He has no memory of his past, not even remembering his own name until they find an artifact that belonged to him (with the assistance of Gollum,) and with each artifact they find more of his memory is restored. Gollum eventually abandons them, leaving them to find the last artifact in Udûn on their own. They also assist a low ranking captain named Ratbag advance through the ranks until he advances to Warchief, and kill all other warchiefs (leaving Ratbag in charge of all the uruks in Udûn), which leads to his demise after he is blamed for failing to prevent the destruction of a monument to Sauron by the Hammer of Sauron, a Black Captain and a lieutenant of the Black Hand of Sauron (the leader of the uruks in Sauron's stead). Talion (and Celebrimbor) is approached by Lithariel, the daughter of the Queen of the Tribesmen of Núrnen, who claims her mother has summoned Talion to her chambers.

Their job finished in Udûn, they make their way to Núrnen and have an audience with Queen Marwen (who looks similar to King Théoden when he was enchanted by Saruman), who gives them another artifact from Celebrimbor's past.

This artifact gives the wraith and his host their key to confronting the Black Hand: branding. They begin building their army by branding the captains and warchiefs of Núrnen (and optionally Udûn), thus enabling them to confront the Black Hand at his fortress of Ered Glamhoth, the strength of his forces depending on how many warchiefs and captains he branded. They return to the queen to tell her they are prepared to leave when suddenly the Queen begins forcing Celebrimbor out of Talion, saying that they can defeat Sauron "together." As Talion dies, he tells Lithariel, Marwen's daughter, to break the Queen's staff, and when it breaks, the Queen becomes youthful again, and reveals she went to the Istari Saruman for assistance in helping her people survive Sauron's onslaught. Celebrimbor suspects that Saruman may have gone rogue, and may be desiring the One for himself. Marwen nonetheless assists Talion by acquiring them a smuggler, which they use to go to the Black Hand's fortress.

When Talion enters the fortress, a skeleton bound to a pole by rope begins talking directly to Talion, and Celebrimbor reveals that the Tower of Sauron, another Black Captain and the Black Hand's right hand, is responsible for this, and thus is here in the Black Hand's stead. Talion approaches the Black Hand's throne, and as he looks for the Tower, the Black Captain appears in the throne, and reveals the Black Hand went looking for Talion. He addresses Celebrimbor directly, telling him Sauron forgives him and, if he casts off that "corpse" and becomes one with him, he will have his dreams fulfilled. Celebrimbor rebukes the Tower, saying that Talion and the wraith will never surrender.

Failing to deceive Celebrimbor, he reveals to Talion that the Ringmaker deceived Talion by pretending that the Black Hand of Sauron placed a curse on them, binding them together, where in reality Cerebrimbor chose Talion as his "host" and could have released him at any time. Talion insists that the Tower stand up and fight, to which the Tower obliges. He creates illusions of himself, forcing Talion to drain the illusions to sap the Tower of his power.

After the illusions are eliminated, Talion hears his wife Ioreth singing, and when he gets close to her, his wife is revealed as the Tower, who attempts to stab him with a Morgul dagger. However, Talion overpowers him and brutally kills him, stabbing him with his son's dagger four times in the heart, before shoving his sword into the Tower's decaying mouth (both optionally reforged by Celebrimbor). After the Tower's death, Talion reveals his anger at Celebrimbor for his deceit, saying he wanted to be with his wife and son instead of being alone alive. Celebrimbor points out that he wanted revenge, and thus he gave him the means to do so. The Ringmaker refuses to let Talion depart until they have both exacted vengeance on their true target: the Black Hand. Talion reluctantly agrees, and the pair set sail for Núrnen once more.

However, they find the Queen's palace sacked, and blood on the throne. The queen's crown, however, was left, and when Talion picks it up, another set of Celebrimbor's memories are returned to him. They figure the Black Hand has them in Udûn, preparing an exchange for Celebrimbor for the Queen and her daughter. They arrive at the Black Gate, with the Black Hand's elite guards standing watch for Talion. When he arrives riding a Caragor, his branded Uruks and warchiefs are already fighting the rank and file Uruks, but, as Talion finally arrives, with a warchief and a set of captains, the Talons of the Black Hand reveal themselves, with a host of rank and file uruks. After a brutal fight, the Talons are defeated, and the remaining branded Uruks that assisted Talion remain behind to hold position. They climb the Black Gate, and find the Black Hand waiting for them. The Black Captain unleashes a blast of energy that gives Celebrimbor more of his memories: his confrontation with Sauron in the fields of Núrnen ending in a failure, the return of Sauron's ring, and Celebrimbor's family's brutal murder before his eyes, before being murdered himself. This gives Celebrimbor more power as a result. The Black Hand tells Celebrimbor that when they performed the ritual in an attempt to absorb his spirit into the Black Hand's corporeal form (thus reforming an avatar of Sauron, though he would not be at full strength), he gave him a choice. He then tells the Ringmaker that Celebrimbor has no choice in the matter, and performs the blood ritual on himself, absorbing Celebrimbor into the Black Hand and forming the avatar of Sauron. Sauron tries to kill the already dying Talion, but as Sauron is about to deliver the finishing blow, Celebrimbor uses his energy to temporarily stun Sauron, and Talion kills the Dark Lord with his sword.

Celebrimbor, relieved that he has finally exacted vengeance on his and Talion's family, is prepared to leave Talion and, his curse lifted, ready to go to the afterlife. Talion, however, insists that together they should use their powers to combat Sauron, because they both know as long as his Ring exists, he will return again, no matter in what form. Celebrimbor insists that fighting Sauron is mortally impossible, because he tried to take control of a simple avatar and it couldn't be done. Talion asks the Ringmaker if he could die knowing there was chance that they could defeat Sauron, but they didn't take it. Celebrimbor simply disappears, and doesn't answer. Talion, looking at Udûn's red sun, declares that it's time for a new ring, his eyes glowing with the wraith's power.



In Shadow of Mordor's Bright Lord DLC, the game starts off after Celebrimbor steals the One Ring from Sauron, as well as infused a part of his spirit into the Ring (thus enabling him to use some of its power, as well as, unbeknownst to him, cursing him as a wraith as long as the Ring exists). He begins a campaign of turning Sauron's Uruk-hai against him, with an ability known as branding, a key feature in the DLC. He intends to rebuild Eregion and avenge his wife and child (who by this time he believes is dead), as well as tear down everything Sauron has built. At first, the Dark Lord demands he turn over "what is rightfully his," but after building several monuments to Eregion (known as Forge Towers in-game), Sauron becomes increasingly worried, offering the Ring in exchange for his family's quick death (who Celebrimbor believes is dead), and, after branding Uruk-hai warchiefs, Sauron takes notice that Celebrimbor is becoming that which he seeks to destroy: prideful, vengeful, and full of hate. Sauron then makes him a final offer when he brands the final Warchief in Udün: the One Ring in exchange for the rebuilding of Eregion, the safe return of his family, and Celebrimbor at his side. Celebrimbor declines, and moves on to Nürnen. After branding the final warchief in Nürnen, Sauron and Celebrimbor face off in a sword fight, with each one's uruk army battling in the fields of Nürnen. As Sauron does not possess the One Ring, Celebrimbor has the initial advantage. But as Celebrimbor is about to strike the final blow, the Ring slips off his finger and onto Sauron's. Powerless against Sauron, his army taken from him, and his dream of rebuilding Eregion shattered, he drops his sword, and he is seen in chains, as his wife and daughter are killed in front of him. Sauron then takes the form of Annatar, and kills him with his own forging hammer, recovered from the ruins of Eregion.

Celebrimbor is voiced by Alastair Duncan.