Who Was Elrond's Father?
Image Source: CultureSlate
Last week, The Rings of Power seemed to explore the theme of fatherhood. First, Celebrimbor waxed nostalgic about Elrond’s father, the one the Orcs call Lord Father tearfully killed one of his “children”, and then Durin IV expressed his frustration with his overly cautious father. To soothe his anger, Elrond used the lack of a father as a means of urging Durin to reconcile with his.
This focus on fatherhood makes it as good a time as any to discuss Elrond’s father, as this nameless figure came up twice in the episode.
Who is Elrond’s father?
Interestingly, Elrond has had two fathers.
RELATED:
Elrond’s Birth Father
Image Source: Jenny Dolfen
Elrond was born a half-elf at the end of the First Age. In Middle-earth history, Half-elves are rare, because of the mortal effect of an immortal choosing a mortal partner. In Elrond’s family, however, they’re pretty common. Elrond’s father was also a half-elf, and arguably one of the most famous. His father’s name was Eärendil.
A half-elf himself, it was not long after he was a young boy of seven that the great Elven city of Gondolin was sacked and destroyed by Morgoth. Fleeing with his parents, he and his parents came to live in the Elven realm of Arvenien. There he met Elwing, whom he wed and they then had two children, the twins Elros and Elrond.
Earlier, his parents had departed over the western ocean. After the birth of his sons, he constructed a ship with the purpose to find them. Elwing came into possession of the Silmaril that Beren had taken from Morgoth. The news of the jewel that had come to cause so much suffering for the inhabitants of Middle-earth came to the ears of the sons of the jewels’ creator, Fëanor’s children. They came in search of their father’s precious jewel and committed another kinslaying, slaughtering the people of Arvernien.
Elwing, to save her children and avoid capture, took the Silmaril and threw herself into the ocean, but the Vala Ulmo turned her into a great white bird. She flew her way to Eärendil’s ship, and together they sailed to Valinor, the home of the Valar. There, Eärendil begged them to intercede and save the free people of Middle-earth that they had once cared for. The Valar heard his plea and came to Middle-earth to defeat Morgoth once and for all.
Image Source: Tolkien Gateway
For his deeds in getting the Valar to come to the aid of Middle-earth, Eärendil and Elwing were given the choice to be as Elves or as Men. Elwing chose to be an elf, and Eärendil followed suit. As a result, Eärendil was granted the duty of protecting the sun and moon by traveling through the night sky with the Silmaril that Elwing had rescued. After his nightly travels, he returns to Elwing in a great white tower the Valar constructed for her.
While Elwing and Eärendil may not win parents of the Age awards for leaving their children behind, the boys were cared for. By their own captor.
Elrond’s Foster Father
Image Source: Elena Kukanova
Maglor was born to the greatest craftsman of the Elves, Fëanor. He was Fëanor’s second son, and thus, when the Silmarils — the great jewels filled with the light of the Trees of Valinor that Fëanor had made — were stolen by Morgoth, Fëanor and his sons swore an oath to pursue their kind’s greatest possessions until they retrieved them. This oath would ultimately turn out to be their downfall and the cause of much suffering and kinslaying. Maglor and his brothers hunted the Silmarils across Middle-earth, slaying the dark forces of Morgoth, and his own kind.
His hunt took him and his remaining brothers to Arvernien. After the slaughter, one of the assailants, Maglor, found the two boys. Grieved by his actions against his own kind, he took pity on the boys and hid them in a cave. In time he came to admire the twins and took them into his own household to raise them. They came to see each other as family, despite Maglor’s prior actions.
Eventually, Maglor bound by the Oath of Fëanor as well, continued to search for the remaining Silmarils, having lost the one Elwing had possessed when she returned to Valinor. When he and his brothers had found the other two, they stole it from the Valar. However, their past evil deeds in the name of retrieving the Silmarils had corrupted them, and the Silmarils burned their hands. Maglor could not endure the pain and threw his into the sea. From then on, he wandered the shores singing sad songs until he faded from knowledge and what became of him is unknown.
While Elrond was talking about Earendil in the show, Maglor was instrumental in Elrond’s story, as he found his way from Maglor’s care to the service of Gil-galad. While Elrond’s paternal parentage is rife with tragedy, and redemption, his eventual ascension to a great Elven lord after his service to Gil-galad makes him that much more admirable.
Both his fathers would be proud of what he became.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): Eärendil Fandom, Maglor Fandom