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Unwritten Tales of Love and War in Middle-Earth - Page 8

© Michael Martinez

Gil-galad had taken refuge with Cirdan on the Isle of Balar after or perhaps before the fall of Nargothrond. Cirdan was another of Thingol's relatives, and an ancient lord of the Sindar. He must have been a great influence on Gil-galad, and though their people would have been a mixure of Noldor and Sindar, Balar's culture should have been mostly Sindarin in nature. In fact, the Eldar on Balar should have benefitted the most from living like the Falathrim, Cirdan's people, who were accustomed to living by and off of the Sea. Celeborn certainly had no reason to dislike or distrust Cirdan. So, Celeborn seems to have had little reason to dislike Gil-galad. Hence, there should have been no problem between Celeborn and Elrond with respect to Elrond's association with Gil-galad. In the end, we must either conclude that Celeborn had an undocmented reservation about Elrond (which presumably lasted through the War of the Last Alliance). Or else Elrond (and Celebrian) chose not to pursue a marriage while the Eldar of Middle-earth were under immediate and constant attack. The Second Age is incomplete not just in the details Tolkien left us about the nations and wars, but also in the stories of the individuals. We have glimpses of tales and shreds of history, personal and great, to appreciate. But the reader is left with an unsatisfied hunger for more. Elrond is probably the most difficult character to understand in the entire mythology. He neither leads his people into destruction, nor saves them. Yet he suffers great loss through no fault of his own, and he accepts the loss with a grace and dignity which is hard to find elsewhere in the Tolkien mythos. It would help tremendously if we knew the full story concerning Elrond and Celebrian. It's not like they didn't have 2400 years together, minus a few vacations to keep the love fires raging. But Elrond, for all his fame as a great warrior, healer, and scholar, really didn't achieve much. There is conflict around him but not within him. Or, rather, the internal conflicts he strives with are only revealed as backdrops for other characters' conflicts. Like the stories of Aldarion and Gil-galad, the story of Elrond is important to the Second Age, and yet we know so little of it. Elrond deserves better than to be endlessly included as a footnote in the histories. He deserves a little pain, after which comes rewarding love, even if it is darkened by Celebrian's torment amid the Orcs, and subsequent departure over Sea. I'm still hoping we'll one day be treated to "Of Elrond and Celebrian, and the history of Rivendell". Maybe there is an unopened box at Marquette University, or in someone's attic. Keep your fingers crossed.

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