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Who Is Like the Wise Elf? - Page 3

© Michael Martinez

Each Elf who encounters the Hobbits in the story accumulates some new experience, and gains a little wisdom thereby, but the Elf who exhibits the most growth is Legolas. By traveling with Frodo and the Company of the Ring, Legolas gains a unique experience which even Feanor, Finwe, Elwe, and all the great Elves of old cannot match. He seems a bit rustic when the reader first meets him in "The Council of Elrond", but by "Many Partings" Legolas has proven he possesses the wisdom and courage of a great leader, and that he can take on the wider world without stumbling in wide-eyed fashion. Some of the Elves, such as Lindir in Rivendell, would seem a bit out of place in the mortal world. Legolas may not be one of the Elven-wise, but he is a wise lord of the Elves. So, if a wise lord of the Elves is not one of the Wise, how does one join the elite club? Are only lords of the Eldar admitted to the ranks of the Wise? If so, does Celeborn, originally conceived of as a Wood-elf, count? Or are only Noldor and Sindar considered eligible? And who makes the final determination? How do the Elves recognize their Wise lords, as opposed to their wise lords? Erestor was the chief counsellor of Elrond's household, but was he, like Elrond (and probably Glorfindel) one of the Wise? Were Elrond's sons, Elladan and Elrohir, who elicited a great deal of admiration from Legolas, counted among the Wise? Or, being only about 3,000 years old, were they still working on their apprenticeship? There may have been only four Elves at the time of the War of the Ring whom all readers would regard to be numbered among the Wise: Cirdan, Glorfindel, Galadriel, and Elrond. Most people would probably accept Gildor, too. And maybe a lot of people would accept Celeborn despite the contrast Tolkien draws between Galadriel and Celeborn. But all other Elves and Half-elves encountered in the story, including Arwen and her brothers, and Erestor and Legolas, are merely wise Elves, not members of the Wise (so far as we know). The distinction, if there is one, seems to be that the Wise were members of the great families of the Eldar, the royal houses, except for Glorfindel. But Glorfindel was himself an ancient prince among the Eldar in their greatest city in Middle-earth. Cirdan and Galadriel were both very ancient, Cirdan being the elder of the two. He had communed with one or more of the Maiar and Valar before the rebellion of the Noldor. And he may have communed with them after the First Age. Galadriel had lived in Aman and therefore had known many of the Valar and Maiar personally. She would have learned directly from the master architects of creations. And later, after the rebellion of the Noldor, Galadriel was introduced to Melian, who had taught the Sindar of Menegroth many things.

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