Q: Were There Any Elves Left in Lindon?
ANSWER: The question as asked is not specific enough for me to be sure of what the reader wants to know but I will assume you mean “were there any elves left in Lindon after Elrond, Galadriel, Cirdan, and Gildor sailed over sea?”
There is no specific resource that says there were Elves living in Lindon in the Fourth Age. In Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings there is a quoted passage (meaning it is attributed to a hobbit commentator) that says:
‘At its greatest Arnor included all Eriador, except the regions beyond the Lune, and the lands east of Greyflood and Loudwater, in which lay Rivendell and Hollin. Beyond the Lune was Elvish country, green and quiet, where no Men went; but Dwarves dwelt, and still dwell, in the east side of the Blue Mountains, especially in those parts south of the Gulf of Lune, where they have mines that are still in use. For this reason they were accustomed to pass east along the Great Road, as they had done for long years before we came to the Shire. At the Grey Havens dwelt Círdan the Shipwright, and some say he dwells there still, until the Last Ship sets sail into the West. In the days of the Kings most of the High Elves that still lingered in Middle-earth dwelt with Círdan or in the seaward lands of Lindon. If any now remain they are few.’
However, in “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age”, published in The Silmarillion, Tolkien wrote:
‘Take now this Ring,’ [Cirdan said to Gandalf]; ‘for thy labours and thy cares will be heavy, but in all it will support thee and defend thee from weariness. For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill. But as for me, my heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores, guarding the Havens until the last ship sails. Then I shall await thee.’
White was that ship and long was it a-building, and long it awaited the end of which Círdan had spoken. But when all these things were done, and the Heir of Isildur had taken up the lordship of Men, and the dominion of the West had passed to him, then it was made plain that the power of the Three Rings also was ended, and to the Firstborn the world grew old and grey. In that time the last of the Noldor set sail from the Havens and left Middle-earth for ever. And latest of all the Keepers of the Three Rings rode to the Sea, and Master Elrond took there the ship that Círdan had made ready. In the twilight of autumn it sailed out of Mithlond, until the seas of the Bent World fell away beneath it, and the winds of the round sky troubled it no more, and borne upon the high airs above the mists of the world it passed into the Ancient West, and an end was come for the Eldar of story and of song.
Then again, J.R.R. Tolkien does say that Elves continued to live at Rivendell long into the Fourth Age. Elladan and Elrohir deferred making their final choice of kindred and continued to live at Rivendell with many High Elves. After some undisclosed number of years Celeborn joined them.
In the past I and other people have inferred that someone must have remained in the Grey Havens to build the ship that Cirdan finally used to sail over Sea, but to be honest that would not be necessary. After all, Legolas was able to build a ship when he finally left Middle-earth after Aragorn’s death.
Tolkien also wrote that the Palantir which had been kept at Elostirion (the highest of the three elf-towers on the border of Lindon) went over Sea with Elrond and the others. Hence, there would not have been any reason for the Elves of Rivendell (or other places) to make pilgrimages to Lindon, as they would have been unable to use the Palantir to look upon Aman, which was the purpose of Gildor’s trips to Lindon (according to Tolkien’s notes in The Road Goes Ever On).
If you are writing fan fiction or developing a role-playing campaign, you are certainly free to say there were Elves remaining in Lindon in the Fourth Age. Doing so would not contradict anything Tolkien wrote, but I would advise that you keep their community or groups rather small — perhaps no more than a few dozen individuals in any place, at least if they are High Elves (Noldor).
It might be more plausible to suggest there were Sindar or Nandor dwelling in Lindon. You’ll have to decide that for yourself.
I would not make any bar bets on the determination of whether Elves continued to live in Lindon in the Fourth Age. I don’t think it can be shown they were there either way, unless some obscure linguistic essay published in one of the newsletters has something to say on the matter.
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