Elrond Peredhel was a loremaster, herald, warrior, and healer whose influence upon the events of the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth were greater, perhaps, than any other individual. He was the son of Eärendil and Elwing, fostered by Maedhros and Maglor, brother to King Elros Tar-Minyatur, and herald of High King Gil-galad; yet despite his royal associations he never once claimed any throne, preferring to stand as a counselor rather than an overlord.
Amid the War of Wrath, Elrond honed his skills in healing and in battle, though to protect his capabilities for the former he had to limit his accomplishments of the latter. When he and his brother were offered the Choice of the Peredhel, Elrond chose the elven path and officially entered into the service of Gil-galad, whom he had befriended and saw as a second brother.
Elrond served his king throughout the Second Age, becoming a respected advisor, scholar, and lord among the Noldor. When a Maia calling himself Annatar sought entrance to Lindon, Elrond and Gil-galad distrusted him and denied him, though their cousin Celebrimbor would fall under Annatar’s spell. Together they would forge the Rings of Power, only for Annatar to reveal his true identity as Sauron, servant of fallen Morgoth, and ignite a war between him and the elves.
Elrond led a force to aid Celebrimbor when Annatar’s treachery was revealed, but he was too late: Celebrimbor had been captured and Eregion sacked, pushing Elrond to flee north where he discovered a hidden valley. There Elrond established Imladris, a secret stronghold of the elves that would endure many great wars and perils. Though Sauron besieged Imladris, it was eventually liberated by the forces of Gil-galad and Tar-Minastir, King of Númenor and direct descendant of Elrond’s twin brother Elros. Upon Sauron’s defeat, Gil-galad granted Elrond the lordship of Imladris and appointed him his vice-regent in the land of Eriador.
Yet Sauron had not been defeated forever. In the War of the Last Alliance, Elrond served as Gil-galad’s herald one last time and at his king’s insistence received Vilya, the Ring of Air, from him before the final confrontation at the gates of Barad-dûr. There Elrond witnessed the fall of Gil-galad and Elendil of the Dúnedain, those Men of Númenor who had survived its fall and settled in Middle-earth, and the ascension of Elendil’s son Isildur to power as he confronted Sauron in single combat and cut the One Ring from his finger.
Elrond and Círdan, to whom Gil-galad had entrusted Narya, the Ring of Fire, entreated Isildur to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, but Isildur refused their counsel, a choice that would bring about his own end. Though many expected Elrond to take up the kingship of the Noldor after Gil-galad’s fall, he never claimed the title, instead returning to Imladris where he fostered the descendants of Isildur and guarded the heirlooms of his House. Chiefest of these was the blade Narsil, now shattered into pieces after bringing down Sauron, that had once been the sword of Maedhros, Elrond’s foster-father in the Elder Days.
The bearers of the elven-rings met from time to time to discuss matters of grave importance to the Free-peoples of Middle-earth. Often these meetings of what would later be known as the White Council took place in Imladris, but once Elrond and Círdan traveled instead to Lothlórien, realm of Galadriel, bearer of Nenya, the Ring of Water. There Elrond fell in love with Galadriel’s daughter Celebrían, and when he found the courage to bare his feelings to her she returned them in full.
They were married on a joyous spring day, and soon after came the birth of their first children: twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir. They were named in the pattern of Elrond’s family, the el- element hearkening to the names of Elwing and Elros, but the children were also given other names in the manner of the House of Fëanor, of which Elrond counted himself a part due to his connection to his foster-fathers Maedhros and Maglor. Elladan was Farafinwë, the hunter, and Elrohir was Roccofinwë, the horse-master.
Likewise, Elrond and Celebrían’s daughter was given two names as was the fashion of the Noldor in Valinor. Her mother called her Arwen, the noble lady, and her father called her Undómiel, the Evenstar. Undómiel honored all of Elrond’s family: like her cousin Tindómiel, daughter of Elros, she was called after the Star of Dusk and Dawn, in actuality the Silmaril of Elrond’s birth-father Eärendil; but it was also a quiet reference to Míriel, mother of Fëanáro, for both names could be lengthened to Undómíriel and Tindómíriel.
For a time, Imladris saw peace in the Third Age of Middle-earth, allowing for an idyllic youth for Elrond’s children—but all too soon the Shadow would rise again, endangering the valley and its people, though its lord was always ready to defend the home he had carved from the remnant of Arda’s beauty.
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