Home » Reading & Literature » J.R.R. Tolkien » Celeborn Unplugged - Page 6

Celeborn Unplugged - Page 6

© Michael Martinez

For one thing, Galadriel probably needed to undergo some healing. She had not only been a Keeper of one of the Rings of Power, and therefore subject to the power of the One Ring (albeit indirectly), she was the last living leader of the rebellious Noldor of the First Age. Galadriel had grown weary of her exile with the long years, which regret she had expressed in the song she made for the Fellowship as they left Lothlorien. She most likely needed some time to readjust to being in rapport with the Valar. For she and Elrond were also the last Elven Ring-keepers, and the Rings of Power were originally a second act of Elvish rebellion. Galadriel therefore had to absolve herself of guilt over two "Fall" events. No other living Elf needed that kind of healing. The separation from Galadriel would thus be Celeborn's opportunity to say farewell to Middle-earth. He was emotionally invested in the land in ways Galadriel could not be. Now, there are people who believe fervently that Celeborn came from Aman just as Galadriel had. After all, in the last year of his life, Tolkien himself made this point. But by that time, Tolkien had forgotten much which he had written, which would have been needful for him to know. In Unfinished Tales, Christopher tells us:

Thus, at the outset, it is certain that the earlier conception was that Galadriel went east over the mountains from Beleriand alone, before the end of the First Age, and met Celeborn in his own land of Lorien; this is explicitly stated in unpublished writing, and the same idea underlies Galadriel's words to Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring II 7, where she says of Celeborn that 'He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.' In all probability Celeborn was in this conception a Nandorin Elf (that is, one of the Teleri who refused to cross the Misty Mountains on the Great Journey from Cuivienen).

Remember how I said above that Tolkien couldn't seem to make up his mind about Celeborn? The Nandorin origin for Celeborn didn't last long. Eventually, he became a Sindarin prince -- related to Thingol Greycloak -- who at one time dwelt in Doriath, and later in Harlindon as lord of the Sindar under Gil-galad. That transition was made sometime in the years 1956 to 1965, and probably occurred in the year 1965 itself, when Tolkien modified The Lord of the Rings to stipulate the Sindarin tradition.

The copyright of the article Celeborn Unplugged - Page 6 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish Celeborn Unplugged - Page 6 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.