Elrond

"He was noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer."

- -The Hobbit

Elrond, the Half-elven (ca. FA 532 - ?), Lord of Rivendell, was one of the mighty rulers of old that still remained during the Third Age of Middle-earth.

First Age
Elrond was the son of Eärendil and Elwing, and a great-grandson of Lúthien. He was born in the refuges of the Havens of Sirion in Beleriand late in the First Age, soon before its destruction by the Sons of Fëanor, making him well over 6,000 years old by the time of the War of the Ring. Elrond and his twin brother, Elros, were captured alive. This caused their parents to fear that they would be killed, but instead they were taken up by the brothers Maedhros and Maglor who together raised Elrond along with his twin brother. Maglor eventually released them, feeling sorry for them.

Second Age
Elrond's twin brother chose the Fate of Men and became Elros Tar-Minyatur, the first King of Númenor. Elrond chose to be counted among the Elves. His wife was the Lady Celebrian of Rivendell, who bore him three children. The first two children were twin brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, and the third was Arwen Undómiel, future Queen of Gondor. Through his wife Celebrian, Lord Celeborn of Lothlorien was his father-in-law, and Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien was his mother-in-law.

Elrond went to Lindon with the household of Gil-galad, the last High King of the Ñoldor, when Beleriand was destroyed at the end of the First Age, choosing (like his parents but unlike his brother) to be counted among the Elves when the option of kindreds was given to him.

In the Second Age, Elrond was sent to Eregion by Gil-galad, and after the destruction of Eregion he fled to Eriador where, with the remaining Ñoldor of Eregion, he founded Rivendell within a steep-sided valley. Upon this occasion, Gil-galad entrusted Elrond with Vilya, one of the elvish Three Rings. By the end of the Third Age, Rivendell would become one of the last remaining strongholds against Sauron

Near the end of the Second Age the Last Alliance of Elves and Men set out from Rivendell to Mordor with Gil-galad in command of the Elven forces and Elendil and his sons in command of the forces of Men. The Army then traveled to Mordor, and for several months fought the Battle of Dagorlad, were they were joined by the Dwarves led by Dain, eventually leading to the defeat of Sauron's forces. Sauron himself was defeated when Isildur used Narsil to cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger, claiming the Ring for himself. Before discovering that Isildur had claimed the One Ring Elrond went to find Gil-galad and, upon finding him dying on the battlefield, he was given a confession by Gil-galad about the true identity of the ring that he had given him many years ago, and that (unbeknownst to him) he had been the keeper of one of the three Elven Rings, Vilya.

Soon after revealing this information Gil-galad passed away. After grieving for Gil-galad, Elrond, with haste, went in search of Isildur. Upon finding him he tried to convince Isildur to throw the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, but the seduction of the ring made Isildur refuse. Elrond said he would not force the Ring from Isildur, and left the problem to be dealt with by Men. After this was discussed the commanders, having defeated Sauron and the forces of Mordor, decided to head back to their own lands and see to their own affairs. Isildur was then named High King of Gondor and took his father's throne, while Elrond returned to Rivendell at the end of the war. There were tremendous losses on both sides of this conflict; the Last Alliance, in addition to losing Gil-galad, also lost Elendil, his younger son Anarion, and countless other Men and Elves. The Orcs also lost countless numbers, they remained few until the power of Sauron was restored.

Third Age
In the year TA 109, Elrond wedded Celebrían, daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel. In the year TA 130, twins Elladan and Elrohir were born, and in TA 241 a daughter, Arwen Undómiel. He helped Thorin Oakenshield's expedition to retake the Lonely Mountain {Erebor} by discovering and translating the Moon Writing on Thorin's map. On the 25th of October of the year TA 3018 he held the Council at which it was decided to attempt to destroy the One Ring.

Elrond remained in Rivendell until the destruction of the One Ring and of Sauron, after which he went to Minas Tirith to see his daughter Arwen wed Aragorn, King of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor. On 29 September, 3021, aged 6,520 years, Elrond left Middle-earth to go over the sea with the other Ring-bearers, never to return.

Appearances in the books

 * The Fellowship of the Ring
 * The Return of the King
 * The Hobbit
 * The Silmarillion

Etymology
Elrond is a Sindarin name that means 'Star-dome'.

Powers and Abilities
Elrond was an exceptionally gifted warrior in battle and had commanded various armies of the Free Peoples well, including the Last Alliance. He was just as effective at leadership and gave much wise insight. He could use foresight to view lands and events far away from Rivendell. He was also adept at healing others, though whether through medical knowledge or magic isn't known.

Elrond was one of the most incorruptible of leaders of Middle-earth. Aragorn speculated that among the few capable of completely resisting Saruman's power of speech were Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf. Elrond also opposed Sauron when Sauron offered partnership with the Elves.

Portrayal in Adaptations
In the movie trilogy by Peter Jackson, Elrond is played by Hugo Weaving, who has also played Agent Smith in the popular action thriller The Matrix series. Hugo Weaving has also voiced Megatron in the live-action Transformers film trilogy and was also "V", in the movie V for Vendetta.

Elrond's personality is completely different in the movies; he even goes as far as to try to convince Arwen to go to Valinor. (There is also no indication that she is not an only child.) He seems to be bitter towards men, including Aragorn, in spite of some of his ancestors' belonging to this race. This portrayal resembles Thingol, father of Lúthien.

This did not happen in the books and Elrond in fact raised Aragorn as his own son after Aragorn's father Arathorn died (though in the film Elrond does encourage Aragorn to become King). In the context of the books, Elrond's condition that Aragorn simply become King before marrying his daughter is a gracious gesture, especially in comparison to the extravagant demands of Thingol, and there is never any indication that he feels anything but love for his foster-son.

Like the rest of the Elves, Elrond was portrayed as somewhat aloof, even among his own kind, quite the opposite of the warm demeanor associated with Elves (especially those of Rivendell) in the books.

But it is also said that Elrond was very much like his character in the book, only that he feared for the fate of men more deeply in the films. In fact, it is also possible that Elrond feared for the fate of men in the books, though not as scornfully as he did in the movies.

Appearances in the movies

 * The Fellowship of the Ring
 * The Two Towers
 * The Return of the King
 * The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Elrond in The Lord of the Rings Online
Elrond makes his first appearance in the game if the player selects to play an Elf. Elrond is with the player as the dwarves attack. He gives the character items that vary depending on the character's class. After this, he brings the player to another room where the player's master/teacher is waiting. After a brief tutorial battle between the player and the teacher Elrond tells the pair to go out to confront the enemy while he hides the relics sought by the dwarves.

Elrond next makes an appearance when the player's character returns to the shrine, just before it collapses on their former master. Elrond is outside and tries to comfort the player character, saying that "you can blame his death on me". He remarks on what they have just witnessed before the screen fades to black and the game advances in time by 600 years.

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