Elrond

Elrond Half-elven (FA 525 - ?) was Lord of Rivendell, one of the mighty rulers of old that still remained in Middle-earth on into its Third Age.

He was the son of Eärendil and Elwing, and a great-grandson of Lúthien, born in the Beleriand, in the First Age, making him well over 6,000 years old by the time of the War of the Ring. Elrond's brother was Elros Tar-Minyatur, the first Kings of Númenor. His wife is the Lady Celebrian of Rivendell, who bore three children. The first two, twin brothers Elladan and Elrohir and the third, Arwen Undómiel, future Queen of Gondor. Through his wife Celebrian, in modern (or real life) terms, Lord Celeborn of Lothlorien is his father-in-law, and Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien is his mother-in-law.

Elrond in the books
Born at the refuge of the Havens of Sirion soon before its destruction by the sons of Fëanor, Elrond and his 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. Maglor eventually released them, feeling sorry for them.

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

Near the end of the Second Age, he claimed he was Gil-galad's herald at the Battle of Dagorlad, where Sauron was defeated and "killed" by Gil-galad and Elendil (who were also killed) at the gates of his own citadel. In the year TA 109, he wed Celebrían, daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel. In the year TA 130, twins were born named Elladan and Elrohir, and in 241 a daughter, Arwen Undómiel. He led the Council of Elrond, on the 25th of October of the year TA 3018, at which it was decided that their only choice was to destroy the Ruling Ring.

Elrond remained in Rivendell until the destruction of the One Ring, and of Sauron, when he went to Minas Tirith to see his daughter Arwen wed Elessar (also known as Aragorn or Strider), 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.

In the books

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

In the movies

 * The Fellowship of the Ring
 * The Two Towers
 * The Return of the King

Elrond in the movies
In the movie trilogy by Peter Jackson, Elrond is played by Hugo Weaving.

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, for 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.

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 the fate of men in the books, though not as scornfully as he was in the movies. The fate of men did, in fact, stand on the edge of a knife, and to show this, possibly, Peter Jackson had to make Elrond more hopeless and desperate.