"Star in the darkness, jewel in the sunset..."

Brazilian. Female. 33 yrs old. Still learning my way through digital painting. Primarily Tolkien, but occasionally other fandoms. Please do not repost. NO AI. Not new to tumblr. Same handle on instagram and twitter.

[hailearendel]

Elladan or Elrohir, or both (lol) are ready!!!!

I couldn't help making them twinkle in the dark

[hailearendel]

A sketch of my beloved halfelven twins

[hailearendel]

A sketch of my beloved halfelven twins

[self-destructinganimal]

Celeborn and Elrond

(thoughts and head canons brought to you by 1:30am angst)

Re-reading some Tolkien tonight and surprised to realize I forgot Celeborn is present at both the 2nd and 3rd kinslayings.

And I guess this just added so much to his character for me.

We've always understood where his distrust of the dwarves come from, considering they murdered his relative King Thingol, but I am all of the sudden besieged by these glorious head canons involving his relationship with Elrond's family.

Imagine him fighting at the Ruin of Doriath, potentially seeing Dior and Nimloth fall. What if he were part of the reason Elwing survived? What if he was one of the few that spirited her away and escaped to the havens?

What if he watched her grow up, himself in a position of guidance and counsel as a Prince of Doriath (Galadriel says he's the wisest among elves, he has to earn that somewhere!). He sees her fall in love and marry Eärendil, and during this time he helps run and develop the refugee settlement in Sirion.

He is a support to Elwing's leadership when Eärendil sails and celebrates with the rest of the makeshift community when they have two twin boys. Maybe he thinks of the two twins who were lost to them previously? Maybe he sees in them, glimpses of the king he loved, or the people he cherished that he lost? Maybe he helps Elwing watch them on occasion because he desperately wants them to have a safe and happy life?

And then when the letter came from Maedhros, what advice did he give Elwing? What choices were made then that led to that disaster wherein he lost the twins and their mother.

But imagine that years later he hears the twins are alive, and maybe he meets with them again if Galadriel and he stopped in Lindon before they settled in Eregion. Regardless, we do know he meets up with Elrond again, now a young commander as they make a desperate stand against Sauron during the siege of Eregion. He stays with Elrond through the siege of Imladris, and is no doubt probably an invaluable source of wisdom and strength for the young lord. I imagine that during this time of conflict, they must grow very close.

Does he help console a shattered Elrond when Gil-galad is struck down during the Last Alliance and so many of the elves are lost to Sauron's malice?

How does he react later, in peace times, when his daughter tells him who is the love of her heart? I cannot help but think that Galadriel and he were overjoyed to hear that the person who was by this time, much a son to them already, a close friend and confidant, a noble and kind descendent of those whom they had loved and learned from - would be their daughter's husband.

Imagine their joy over the happiness of those two, the celebration of their three beautiful grandchildren - and the great pain they all shared over Celebrían's capture, torment and choice to sail. I think it's possible all three of them might have broken if they did not have the support of each other in those dark moments.

And then at the end of all their long labors against Sauron and the powers of darkness, Elrond and Galadriel sail, and Celeborn, choosing to stay behind till the bitter end, remains to say goodbye to all they have loved - alone.

What does he think of, what memories does he revisit, what does he mourn and celebrate as all trace of the elves diminishes from Arda? When he says goodbye to Thranduil and goes to spend his final days with his beloved grandsons - do they tell him their choice? Do they accompany him to the havens as he sails? Do they go with him and there is no record of it? Or do they bid him goodbye and sunder from their family forever like their sister.

Who knows but Tolkien what choice the sons of Elrond made at the end, but we do know that here at last, Celeborn the wise, turns his face towards the shores where his beloved wife, his beloved daughter, and his beloved son, wait for him, and sets sail for the last time.

[hailearendel]

A Finrod sketch 🫶🏻

[hailearendel]

"But they remained a people apart, and were ever after known to Elves and Men as the People of Haleth. Haleth remained their chief while her days lasted, but she did not wed, and the headship afterwards passed to Haldan son of Haldar her brother." ❤️🥹

[nimphelos]

little celebrían dancing with her mother. cel has albinism so nighttime is more enjoyable for her and her light sensitivity

not sure which day this could be applicable for, so posting for day 7 of @arafinwean-week :)

[thyinum]

Since it’s Tolkien’s birthday here’s some of my favorite fanart I did ✨

[hailearendel]

"'Many things I can command the mirror to reveal', she answered, 'and to some I can show what they desire to see. But the mirror will also show things unbidden, and those are often more profitable than things which we wish to behold...'" (LOTR, Book II, Chapter VII)

[mhevarujta]

It's funny how Celeborn is being called boring and his relationship with Galadriel is being hated upon by people who claim that they're all about Galadriel being valued, because this is literally what this dynamic is all about.

In a world where many people treasure gold and jewels, Celeborn's treasure is Galadriel. Yet he never treats her as an object. He never handles her as something fragile to be put aside and to be protected and marveled at. They fight the long defeat together. They find a place to call home. They realize their ambitions and rule their lands together. When the time comes, she follows her path to go West and diminish, thus passing her final test, and he is allowed to linger to the place that has been his second love, knowing that he and Galadriel will meet again. Even so, it still hurts him that he has to let her go despite it being temporary.

There's so much talk about people LOVING the concept of a guy being absolutely in love with and in awe of his wife, but when it actually happens (and Tolkien was admirably ahead of his time in writing such a ship and in making Galadriel the most important of the two, and possibly the most important among his elves as he kept editing) it's not enough.

I also love this one version of Galadriel choosing this specific name, which was given to her by Celeborn, because it was the most beautiful of her names. In Tolkien names have meaning and importance, and many characters gain names that they either do or don't want through the way they are seen by others. There's something so special to me about Galadriel feeling so seen and understood and seeing such beauty in the name that Celeborn gave her, that she chooses this upon all the other names given to her by family and since much earlier. And everyone around her falls in line because on the one hand they probably saw how fitting it was and on the other she has THAT kind of power to those around her. She has the will and strength to shape who she is and how she wants to be perceived.

[celedrielarchive]

How do you think about these variants of Celeborn?

i love all of them but i especially love the Doriath prince Celeborn and what it meant for him to leave Doriath with Galadriel and to let Galadriel go at the end of the Third Age. Those are the moments that make it especially clear why Galadriel chose him!🤍 I love that she stays for him and he leaves for her. And after staying by her side for three ages of Middle-earth he lets her go on her most important journey while he himself stays behind for a while because his second love after Galadriel is Middle-earth itself. And clearly that’s not an easy choice for him to make! He’s Galadriel’s most devoted husband and Middle-earth’s most devoted child💛

[calirph]

𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐎 as 𝐄𝐋𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐃

in the rings of power: 2.07.

[hailearendel]

DEAD

[hailearendel]

Drawing Galadriel again 🫶🏻

[lilaccatholic]

I got this while scrolling on instagram to try to convince me to join threads and I—

We did it. We finally saved her.

[securus-judicat-orbis-terrarum]

In the Middle Ages there were retellings of Orpheus and Eurydice where she did get out. See the tale of Sir Orfeo.

[flannelunderpants]

Who has the post about how the myth changed because Christ conquered death?

[incomingalbatross]

@flannelunderpants

link to post

[tuulikki]

Instinctively, I’m sure everyone already intuited in their souls that Professor JRR Tolkien wrote a translation of Sir Orfeo ✨

He’s the “hope” guy. Of course he did!

He even did an edit of the extant Sir Orfeo texts to try to reconstruct what an earlier form of the Middle English text might have been.

[anghraine]

I originally compiled a set of quotes about how Elrond and his children are not identified exclusively as Elves a couple of years ago in a reblog, but I wanted an easier version of my post for reference, so here it is:

The distinction between Elves and half-Elves is most glaring with Elladan and Elrohir, but there’s an interesting description of Elrond as great among Elves and Men, as if (despite his fate lying with Elves) he’s both/neither. And, of course, when Aragorn wishes for Elrond as he goes about healing, he describes Elrond not as a better healer because he’s an Elf, but because “he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power” (ROTK, “The Houses of Healing”).

In addition, I think the language used around Elladan and Elrohir is really interesting. When they show up with the Dúnedain of the North, Legolas says of them, “they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell” (ROTK, “The Passing of the Grey Company”). They are like Elven-lords because they’re Elrond’s sons, but not actually called Elven-lords.

When we actually see Elladan and Elrohir, we hear: “So much alike were they, the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart: dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair” (same chapter). They look as fair as Elves. But when the Grey Company, including Elladan and Elrohir, goes to the Paths of the Dead:

“The company halted, and there was not a heart among them that did not quail, unless it were the heart of Legolas of the Elves, for whom the ghosts of Men have no terror” (same chapter).

Later, as the armies of the west make their way to the Black Gate, we hear:

“And from that evening onward the Nazgûl came and followed every move of the army. They still flew high and out of sight of all save Legolas…” (ROTK, “The Black Gate Opens”).

Even the random minstrel of Gondor at the Field of Cormallen addresses those present at the victory celebrations with:

“Lo! lords and knights and men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Dúnedain of the North, and Elf and Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire…” (ROTK, “The Field of Cormallen”).

So the exceptional nature of Elrond and his children does seem a) accurate, given the exclusion of Elladan and Elrohir from generalizations about Elves, and b) very generally understood and accepted.

Oh, and there’s also Tolkien’s extratextual translation of Elladan and Elrohir’s names:

“Both signify elf+man. Elrohir might be translated ‘Elf-knight’; rohir being a later form (III 391) of rochir ‘horse-lord.’ Elladan might be translated ‘Elf-Númenórean’” (Letters 282).

Rohir is “a later form” of rochir because it’s Gondorian/Númenórean usage. The El- in both names and the suffixes indicating 'mortal man' clearly refer to Elrond’s family—so for instance, Elladan can only be considered a Númenórean of any kind through Elrond. If, as Elrond’s sons with a fully Elvish woman, they are not considered Elves, this can only be all the more true for Elrond himself.

[hailearendel]

Aragorn as a teenager and as a young ranger 🥹

[nimphelos]

bëor accompanied by finrod