Q: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Peredhil
Properly answering the following questions really doesn’t call for long blog posts. So I thought I would publish a simple FAQ-like document.
Q: How Many Peredhil Were There?
ANSWER: Officially, according to J.R.R. Tolkien, only the sons of Eärendil were called the Peredhil. Despite the fact that the literal meaning of the word is “half-elven”, the only textually verified answer is TWO. Tolkien seems to have used the Sindarin word as a title for Elrond and Elros, but it could be that the title was only historically significant when they were the only two alive in Middle-earth.
But given that Eärendil himself, and Dior (Elwing’s father) were also half-elven, it follows that there were more than 2 half-elves. And, in fact, we know that the Silvan elf Mithrellas bore two children (Galador, a son, and Gilmith, a daughter) to Imrazór the Númenórean. So we know of a total 6 purely half-elven characters from the stories.
Most people consider Elwing to be half-elven, too. She was given a choice of kindred by the Valar. And she had two brothers, Elured and Elurin, who were sadly lost as children when Doriath was overrun by the Fëanorians. And the three children of Elrond — Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen — were also granted a choice of kindreds. So they are also considered to be half-elven.
If you wish, you can lump all these people together in the full count of Peredhil, or you can say that Tolkien may have formalized the word as a special title for Elrond and Elros.
Q: Were Peredhil Born Mortal or Immortal?
ANSWER: Many Websites say that all Half-elves could choose to be either mortal or immortal, and that simply isn’t true.
According to Unfinished Tales, the half-elven were born mortal and probably had a maximum natural lifespan of about 400-500 years. But Galador did not live that long. He seemed to only live as long as any Gondorian of Númenórean descent.
Dior was a mortal man, not an elf. He was never given the chance to choose a kindred. Some people argue that he must have been “of elven ways” (to borrow a phrase from role-playing games) simply because the Elves of Doriath accepted him as their king. But Tolkien never said that Elves refused to live under a mortal king. In fact, Legolas led many Elves to live in Gondor under Aragorn’s rule at the start of the Fourth Age.
The choice of kindreds, as many people call it, was only bestowed upon Eärendil because he was the messenger whose coming had been foretold. He spoke on behalf of Elves and Men, pleading with the Valar for their intercession in Middle-earth. Elwing was also given the choice because she willingly went with him to Aman and accepted whatever fate he would suffer. And as a special grace, the choice was also extended to their sons.
Because Elrond chose to be an Elf, his children were given the grace to live as Elves until he left Middle-earth. And then they had to decide if they would stay and become mortal or go with him. Arwen chose to become mortal for Aragorn’s sake, but Tolkien says in Letter No. 153 that Elladan and Elrohir “delay their choice, and remain [in Middle-earth] for a while.” I have often speculated they were extended this grace because of their service in the War of the Ring, and perhaps because of their many years of fighting Sauron’s forces.
Q: Did Peredhil Lose Their Pointy Ears When Choosing to Be Mortal?
ANSWER: Despite the nonsense you’ll find on the Web, J.R.R. Tolkien’s elves do not have pointed ears. There is no story in which J.R.R. Tolkien describes any Elf or Half-elf with pointed ears.
Hence, when choosing to be mortal, Arwen did not magically lose any pointedness in her ears. Tolkien doesn’t say her physical appearance changed in any way after she married Aragorn, or after Elrond sailed over Sea.
Q: Could There Have Been More Half-elves Than Tolkien Named?
ANSWER: Many Tolkien fans wrongly believe there were only 3 marriages between Elves and Men. In fact, what Tolkien wrote was that there were only 3 marriages between the Eldar and the Edain. So, theoretically, some of the Eldar could have married non-Edainic Men. I don’t believe Tolkien meant to imply that, but if you’re running a role-playing game or writing fan fiction you’ve got a loop-hole to play with there.
But he didn’t limit the number of marriages between non-Eldarin Elves and Men. We know that Mithrellas fell in love with a Man and married him. So it’s clearly conceivable that he could have imagined other such marriages (had he wanted to). That’s not to say there had to be such relationships – but there’s no reason to assume there weren’t any. Tolkien didn’t limit those relationships.
In the short story “Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth” we learn that Andreth (an Edainic woman) fell in love with Finrod’s brother Aegnor, who loved her but refused to be with her. And in The Silmarillion Finduilas, daughter of Orodreth, fell in love with Turin, a mortal man.
All that said, I think that if Tolkien imagined other unnamed pairings of Elves and Men, he would have seen them as being few and far between. It would have been emotionally harsh on both members of such pairs to deal with the inevitable separation they must experience. Rather, I suspect that many such couples would be unable to act on their feelings – simply because they couldn’t overcome the differences of their natures.
Q: Do Tolkien’s Half-elves Need to Sleep?
ANSWER: This is similar to the question about whether Elves sleep in Tolkien’s world. Yes, Elves sleep. So do Half-elves. That’s just a biological necessity for Men, Elves, and Half-elves.
Q: Was Lúthien Tinúviel A Half-elf?
Technically, yes, Lúthien was a half-elf. Her mother was Melian of the Maiar, so she was not an Elf. But Melian took a self-incarnated form in which she was capable of bearing a child to Thingol – so presumably her body was elven.
Some Websites use Lúthien’s return to life as a mortal as evidence that all Half-elves had a choice about kindreds, but that’s not correct. Lúthien died as an elf. She was given a different choice: to become one of the Maiar and to remain in Aman with her mother’s people, or to return to Middle-earth as a human/mortal woman. She chose to be mortal so she could be with Beren, who was also restored to life. But they were commanded to have nothing more to do with mortal men.
And it is perhaps for this reason that people believe their son Dior was born immortal. However, logically, if both his parents were mortal he could himself only be mortal. Tolkien never wrote of anyone being born immortal to mortal parents. Lúthien was a normal, mortal human woman when she gave birth – just as Elros was a normal, mortal man when he married and had a family.
Q: Do Half-elves Fade?
ANSWER: Technically, only Elrond and his children could have potentially faded. His parents were both required to settle in Aman, so they would not fade as the Elves of Middle-earth were doomed to fade. And none of the other Half-elves were given the grace of choosing to be immortal, so they all died natural deaths (sometimes violent deaths).
Hence, fading was not a natural fate for the Half-elves and because Elrond carried one of the Three Elven Rings of Power, he didn’t age naturally even as an Elf aged.
Q: Could Arwen Have Taken Ship After Aragorn Died?
ANSWER: No. Arwen became mortal when her father (Elrond) left Middle-earth. Some people argue that if Elladan and Elrohir could delay their choices, then Arwen should have been able to delay hers, too. However, Arwen made a clear and irrevocable choice. In “The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen”, she says there is no longer any ship that could bear her west.
Her words are explained by the poem “The Last Ship” in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, where a mortal woman (Firiel) is invited by a shipload of Elves to join them as they sail over Sea. She steps into the water to join them but she sinks into the clay and she sadly says, “I cannot come. I was born Earth’s daughter!”
Once Arwen became mortal she could not sail on any Elven ship seeking the Long Road without the permission of the Valar (or maybe Ilúvatar). Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, and Gimli were all permitted to sail over Sea by special grace.
Q: How Does a Half-elf Choose To Be Immortal?
ANSWER: There is no special ceremony. The only three accounts where Peredhil make such a choice are in the stories of Lúthien, Eärendil and Elwing, and Arwen. For each of them, it was simply a matter of saying, “I choose to be …”
Some of them had to choose immediately (Lúthien, Eärendil and Elwing, Elrond, and Elros). But Elrond’s children were able to defer their choices for thousands of years.
Other Half-elves, to whom such choices were not given, could have wished for immortality all their lives and they would have remained mortal.
Q: Could Mithrellas Have Chosen To Be Mortal Like Lúthien?
ANSWER: Although this is not exactly a question about the Peredhil/Half-elves, some people have asked if Mithrellas could have become mortal. And Tolkien doesn’t provide any path to mortality for her. She didn’t die and speak with the Valar. She simply left her husband and children one night, taking ship over Sea.
So mortality is not a normal choice for any Tolkien elf. Lúthien was special in that she was the child of a Maia, and she had achieved great deeds against Melkor because of her love for Beren.
This article is featured in the Middle-earth Blog Hot Zone.See Also
Could Half-elven Families Ever Become Fully Elven?
Are All Half-elves Given A Choice of Kindreds?
How Many Elf-Man Marriages Were There In Middle-earth?
Was Elrond A Member of the Eldar?
Of Which Elvish Kindred Was Elrond Accounted?
Did Elladan and Elrohir Go To the Havens?
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Tolkien Elves
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This question is slightly tangential, but even if Tolkien never said that Elves had pointy ears, is it possible that he described them as having sharp ears, in the sense of being keen listeners? If he had, I could see how some people might misinterpret the description and think that it’s literal.
There is no Tolkien story anywhere that describes the shape of elf ears. All arguments for pointy ears either use abandoned (The Etymologies) or irrelevant (the 1938 letter to Houghton Mifflin Co. and The Etymologies) texts to make their points (pun fully intended). In other words, the idea that Tolkien elves have especially pointed ears is complete and utter nonsense based on cherry-picked texts that ignore the stories.
I understand. I was just wondering if Tolkien ever described Elves’ ears as being “sharp” without referring to their shape. Maybe he said that they were sharp-eared in the same way that they were sharp-eyed, and people took it wrong.
There is nothing like that, of which I am aware, except in the texts I mentioned above that people use.
Okay, thanks
Elves already often had pointy ears before Tolkien. So he didn’t need to do anything to create the misconception. People just pictured his elves the way they pictured elves on greeting cards and the like.
That doesn’t put pointy ears on Tolkien’s elves. He described his characters as he wanted them to appear. He even painted some of his characters, including elves. He put pointy ears on the Hobbits but not on the Elves. Stop and think about how all these arguments for pointed ears rely on texts that aren’t included in his stories. It’s all wishful projection of something he chose not to include.
He went to the trouble to describe their eyes, voices, and hairstyles. Nothing about ears.
It’s also significant that the classic view of elves prior to Tolkien was that they were tiny human-like creatures. So the argument that Tolkien’s elves must have had pointed ears because of prior depictions of them implies Tolkien’s elves must also have been tiny – and that clearly contradicts the texts. You can’t use the same logical argument to prove two opposing points. Tolkien didn’t want his elves to be confused with the traditional tiny pointy-eared variety – just as he didn’t want his goblins to be confused with George MacDonald’s soft-footed goblins and he didn’t want his dwarves to be confused with Disney’s dwarves.
Oh, I am not saying his elves had pointy ears, because they didn’t.
I am saying that the misconception doesn’t stem from anything he wrote, like the OP thought he might have written “sharp ears,” meaning very sensitive. What happened is that people latched onto what they thought elves already looked like, except for making them tall. The second driver for the pointy ear is that roleplaying games wanted their elves to be instantly distinct from humans, and changing the ear shape was a quick way to do that, without needing to hire talented artists. Then people backported Dungeon & Dragon elves into Lord of the Rings. But in both cases, the picture people got of elves had little to do with Tolkien. Just like long hair. I do not believe Tolkien ever said that Elrond or most other elves had long hair. Yet, now people will insist they all do.
I see I misunderstood your earlier comment. You’re making good points.
If you mean the intensity of their sense of hearing, Tolkien doesn;t use specific description of that, and as far as I know he doesn;t use the words to describe their hearing, though I would assume that Elves do have particularly strong sense of hearing, at the very least the elven hearing is noted (jokingly most like in typical elven manner):
“Yes, they are elves,” Legolas said. “and they say that you breathe so loud they could shoot you in the dark.” Sam hastily covered his mouth.”
Whether this is literarl truth that Elves have super keen hearing, maybe. The eyesight is the most obvious super sense of the Elves 🙂 the Elves themselves were also capable of being almost completely noiseless in their movemetns. As is said time and gain Tolkien actually never in stories described the elven ears proper, when he describes physical appearance he focuses either on hair or eye color or the like or words highlighting the beauty.
I never thought there was any question about Elwing being half-elven. One thing that never seems to be commented on is the fact that Tolkien very carefully delineated the family tree of Elrond and Elros so that they were descended from all Three Houses of the Eldar as well as the those of the Edain.
All the half-elves I can recall were the offspring of human men and elf-women. Of course I haven’t got round to reading History of Middle Earth, etc. Are there any mentions of male elves marrying human women, do we know? Maybe Tolkien never thought of such a union working out, but the omission seems odd.
No marriages but Aegnor fell in love with an Edainic woman.
In History of Middle-earth 5, the parts dealing with the end of the Silmarillion and the choices of Earendil and Elwing, there’s a statement from Manwe that “all those who have the blood of mortal Men, in whatever part, great or small, are mortal, unless other doom be granted to them”.
There’s no evidence of this being removed in the subsequent textual history of this chapter, but yet Christopher Tolkien omitted it from the published Silmarillion and never gave context nor explanation for why.
That’s a shame as it would have stopped a lot of subsequent misunderstanding. But it remains a further definite statement on this matter from Tolkien.
Perhaps neither Tolkien foresaw that the status of the offspring of elf and human would be an issue for readers? When Christopher brought out The Silmarillion he admitted that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with it, and implied that he had had to edit out a lot of material (and rewrite other texts) to make it hang together. If he missed Manwe’s pronouncement, or at least did not see it until later, that’s just the way it went. In the 1970s I doubt if anyone could have foreseen that the internet would one day give Tolkien fans a platform on which they could disagree forever about every detail!
You are so right. They could never have foreseen the endless questions and debates. It’s fun to speculate but people should stop getting so irate when someone disagrees with them. And I know I have been accused of doing that, but it was the personal attacks that always set me off.