Q: Was Elrond a Member of the Eldar?
ANSWER: Yes, Elrond was a member of the Eldar. He was, on his father Eärendil’s side, descended from the High Kings of the Noldor-in-Exile, the House of Fingolfin. And Elrond was, on his mother Elwing’s side, descended from Thingol Greycloak, the High King of the Sindar (and Lord of Beleriand).
As one of the Peredhil (Half-elven), Elrond was a member of a special family that combined the ruling lines of the High Elves (Noldor), Grey Elves (Sindar), and the Three Houses of the Edain (the Folk of Beor, the Folk of Haleth, and the Folk of Marach).
According to a note published in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, Elrond and other members of the Peredhil had naturally long lifespans but the note appears to extend or follow upon a passage that was dropped from the earlier Silmarillion narrative in which Manwë declared that any children of Elf-Mortal unions were mortal by nature.
Hence, when the Valar gave a special choice to Eärendil and Elwing to choose which kindred they would be fully included in, they became full Elves. This choice was also given to Elrond and Elros. Elros chose to be fully of Mankind, but Elrond chose to become an Elf. He was therefore, for all intents and purposes, one of the Eldar, but of mixed heritage (as were many Elves born in Middle-earth after the Noldor returned in exile).
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I’m curious, what relevance does being of the Eldar hold for those Eldar that were born outside of Aman? For instance, there’s the passage in “The Fellowship of the Ring”
“And here in Rivendell there live still some of his chief foes: the Elven-wise, lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas. They do not fear the Ringwraiths, for those who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm live at once in both worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they have great power.”
Would this passage apply to Elrond? Certainly he was born of a lineage of Kings, and Idril and Thingol had seen Valinor with their own eyes, and he had a drop of the blood of the Maiar too…but Elrond had never dwelt in the Blessed Realm. And if those of the lineage of the Eldar are not included, who are these Elven-wise that live in Rivendell that have dwelt in the Blessed Realm? Can we presume that there are Noldor present, besides Glorfindel, that had made the great journey before the First Age began?
We can only guess at who among Rivendell’s folk might have dwelt across the Sea, but Elrond, at least, was considered the wisest “in lore” (according to Aragorn). Glorfindel told Aragorn that “few even in Rivendell [could] ride openly against the Nine; but such as there were, Elrond sent out north, west, and south.” One can argue there must have been at least two others of similar power and capability comparable to Glorfindel. Some people, I think, favor accepting Elladan and Elrohir as elven lords of such power because of the way Legolas admires them later in the book. I don’t think that’s entirely necessary. Some of the unnamed counselors of Elrond’s household could have been Noldor who were born in Aman.
One does not need to be born in Aman to be one of the Noldor or one of the Eldar or one of the High Elves. The Silmarillion says in several places that the Noldor increased their numbers after returning to Middle-earth in exile; clearly those children were “High Elves” but they were not “Elves of the Light”. Nor would they have necessarily wielded power against both the Seen and the Unseen, but perhaps some among them could have been tutored to be that perceptive.
This is all largely speculative, of course. I don’t know of any definitive statements by J.R.R. Tolkien, not even in his various private notes and essays.
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