Hierarchy Among the Elves
((These were both multi-question asks, so I blocked out the other questions to keep this post focused. Plus, it was really fun to go through and redact things, lol.))
This is a really interesting question, and one that I spent some time trying to decide how to answer. Because, in the end, I think it really depends. If we were to look at it from a strictly political point of view, Thranduil comes out on top every time, being the only actual king in the group. But there are other things to take into account:
Ancestors: Galadriel is the daughter of Finarfin and granddaughter of Finwe. Her brothers, Finrod, was one of the greatest lords of the First Age. Her cousins (both the children of Feanor and Fingolfin) were the movers and shakers of Beleriand. (Tied #1)
Friends: Galadriel spent centuries learning from Melian, the Maia Queen of Doriath. She married Celeborn, a lord of Doriath. (#2)
Age/Experiences: By the time of the War of the Ring she is over 7,000 years old, and one of the very very few elves left in Middle Earth who saw the light of the Two Trees. (#1)
Titles: Galadriel has never taken a royal title, though she certainly could have if she’d wanted to (including possibly even the High Kingship/Queenship of the Noldor.) Instead she is simply the Lady of Lorien. (#2)
Wisdom/Power: Tolkien often refers to Galadriel as the “greatest of elven women”, and the mightiest elf in Middle Earth during the Third Age. She is incredibly wise, even without the use of her “powers”, of which she has many. (#1)
Narrative Bias: Tolkien loved Galadriel. Loved her. She’s already important and powerful, but Tolkien makes sure to emphasize this whenever possible. And in later revisions, Tolkien actually went back and kept making Galadriel more important and powerful. She’s definitely the favorite child.
Ancestors: Elrond is the son of Earendil, who basically saved the day in the First Age. He comes from a line of great heroes, including Beren, Luthien, Tuor, Idril, Turgon, Barahir, Huor, and Fingolfin. (Tied #1)
Friends: Elrond spent his “youth” among other heroes including Maedhros, Maglor, Gil-galad, and Cirdan. He married Celebrian, the daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn (basically the most eligible bachelorette in Middle Earth.) (#1)
Age/Experiences: Elrond’s 6,000+ years are nothing to sneeze at, and what he lacks in the more divine experiences of Galadriel’s youth, he makes up in his more worldly experiences serving King Gil-galad and fighting in several wars. (#2)
Title: Rumor has it Elrond could have made a claim to be the next High King of the Noldor, and his brother became the first king of Numenor, so the potential for a royal title is certainly there. But Elrond is only the Lord of Imladris. (#4)
Wisdom/Power: He is incredibly wise, and much more accessible than Galadriel in terms of people coming to him for advice. While he doesn’t have the same power as Galadriel, he is gifted with a good amount of foresight. (#2)
Narrative Bias: Elrond, though initially created specifically for The Hobbit, is the only character to appear in all three major stories (unless you count the Gandalf shout-out in the beginning of the Silmarillion, which I do not.) His close relationship with Gandalf, as well as his strong ties to the men of Numenor and Gondor, put him in the center of the majority of the action in Middle Earth, and he’s always willing to help out with a quest or a war.
Ancestors: Assuming we’re going with the Sindarin version of Celeborn’s background (Tolkien and his multiple, diverging drafts, am I right?), Celeborn is a grand-nephew of King Thingol. A distant though not insignificant, relative. (#3)
Friends: Celeborn’s main connection is to his wife, Galadriel. Beyond this, he had to have been pretty close to Thingol, being a lord of Doriath. He had a somewhat rocky, though important, relationship with Celebrimbor, and developed a good friendship with Elrond. It also seems that he had a good relationship with Thranduil (and possibly Oropher as well.) (#3)
Age/Experiences: Celeborn is likely closer to Galadriel’s age than Elrond’s (and is certainly older than Elrond.) His own resume is pretty impressive - he spent his youth in King Thingol’s court, then went on to help establish the realm of Eregion. He fought in the War of Sauron and the Elves, and then eventually went on to rule Lorien with Galadriel. (#4)
Title: Celeborn, like Galadriel, had the opportunity to claim a few royal titles in Eregion as well as Lorien. However, he remains the Lord of Lorien only. (#3)
Wisdom/Power: He’s no doubt very wise, but tends to fade into the background with his wife being as fabulous as she is. (#3)
Narrative Bias: Celeborn’s character is barely developed beyond being Galadriel’s wife ((EDIT: husband, my bad lol)). Being tied to someone as fabulous as she is, it’s hard for him to stand out on his own.
Ancestors: Thranduil’s father was Oropher, the first Sindarin king of Mirkwood. Oropher must have been a reasonably important elf in Doriath, since he became the leader of the Sindarin elves that travelled east to live among the Silvan elves. (#4)
Friends: Thranduil is somewhat isolated among the elven community, mostly due to the anti-Noldorin origins of his family’s rule. He’s not unknown to Galadriel and Celeborn (and they fight together in the Battle Under Trees), but he’s not particularly close with anyone. His closest political relationship is to the men of Dale and Esgaroth, which (in the grand scheme of politics in Middle Earth) is pretty insignificant. (#4)
Age/Experiences: Thranduil’s age is unknown, but we do know that he lived in Lindon during his youth with Gil-galad. He later travelled east with some other Sindarin elves who wished to live among the Silvan elves and return to their “natural” state. By the numbers, he is the second longest reigning monarch in Middle Earth’s history (as of the War of the Ring, beaten only by Gil-galad), having ruled Mirkwood since his father’s death at the end of the Second Age. (#3)
Title: Thranduil is king of Mirkwood, and the only Elvenking left after the death of Gil-galad. (#1)
Wisdom/Power: Thranduil is, by all accounts, a fair and wise ruler. While he isn’t specifically mentioned as being a member of the White Council, he is still included in much of the business leading up to the War of the Ring, such as guarding the captured Gollum, showing that the other “big players” trust him. (#4)
Narrative Bias: The stories of the elves of Middle Earth are overwhelmingly told from the Noldorin point of view. As a Sindarin elf, this puts Thranduil at a distinct disadvantage. He’s basically sitting on the periphery of the story (except for The Hobbit), and really doesn’t get much attention from Tolkien. (Celeborn largely escapes this fate through his marriage to Galadriel, a Noldo.)
By almost all these categories, Arwen (as well as Elrond’s sons) outrank Legolas. He only beats them on paper, due to technically having the title of Prince, while they do not. But see this post for more information on inherited power among the elves, if interested. The full elf/peredhil issue doesn’t seem to count against Elrond’s children. This is likely because the couples that created the peredhil - Beren and Luthien, Tuor and Idril, were so incredibly important in the First Age that being their descendant is too much of an honor to also be a detriment.
SOURCES: The Silmarillion, LOTR, LOTR Appendices, The Hobbit, The Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle Earth series
((To be thorough I really should have included Cirdan, as well as probably some of the dead elven lords, such as Gil-galad. But this post ended up way too long as it is. Let me know if you want me to go into this issue in any more detail.))
