Q: Where Does Tolkien Say that Elrond and Elros Joined the Host of Valinor?
ANSWER: In answering the question “How Was Beleriand Destroyed in the War of Wrath?” I mentioned that Elrond and Elros “also joined the Host of Valinor”. A reader asks how I know that. Well, Elrond himself is our first source of information. In “The Council of Elrond” he says:
‘I remember well the splendour of their banners,’ he said. ‘It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so.’
How many “hosts of Beleriand” could Elrond have seen? He was born near the end of the First Age, after all the great Elf kingdoms had been destroyed.
Our second source of information is found in “Akallabeth”, where Tolkien writes:
In the Great Battle when at last Morgoth was overthrown and Thangorodrim was broken, the Edain alone of the kindreds of Men fought for the Valar, whereas many others fought for Morgoth…
Who were these Edain who served the Host of Valinor? Presumably they were freed from their enslavement, or were recruited from among wandering survivors.
In his final conception of the story of Elrond and Elros Tolkien wrote that they were adopted and raised by Maglor. Christopher Tolkien incorporated this detail into the published Silmarillion but he made no attempt to connect Elrond (and Elros) with the Edain or to explain Elrond’s words at the Council. Of course, he warned readers not to look for a complete consistency between The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings in the “Foreword”.
But for Elros to appear out of nowhere and become king of the Dunedain is rather thin writing. Elros was a late addition to the story of the Peredhil. Elrond was the original “first King of Numenor” and Tolkien only gave him a brother after many experimental revisions to several stories. Hence, he did not have time to flesh out the details of their lives during the First Age (or we could say he used that time to work on other minutiae). Nonetheless we must conclude that Tolkien intended to establish Elros (and possibly Elrond) as a leader of the Edain in Beleriand in order to give him some legitimacy. While this is pure speculation it is consistent with Tolkien’s other accounts of how leading families were established. Someone rises to notability and is then rewarded with a lordship.
Nonetheless, Elrond’s words make it clear he had seen the Host of Valinor in action. I find it hard to accept that he might have been a distant observer, uninvolved in the action. He and Elros would have been old enough to fight by the time the final battle occured.
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Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
As always, your skill and knowledge leaves little with which to quibble and much to admire. Yet there’s one point… [quote]Nonetheless we must conclude that Tolkien intended to establish Elros (and possibly Elrond) as a leader of the Edain in Beleriand in order to give him some legitimacy. [/quote]
There’s no question of legitimacy, with or without a role in those battles. Look at their blood line. Can’t do much better than direct descent from Finwë and Elwë, plus close ties to Ingwë. We don’t know why Oromë chose Ingwë, Finwë, and Elwë to come to Valinor, but surely thereafter, the phrase, “Anointed by the gods” comes to mind. Bëor and Huor and Beren (oh my)! We don’t know how the founder of the House of Bëor became a chieftain, but I’d be amazed if he didn’t have noteworthy forebears; Melian (Mama Maia!)… Luthien and Eärendil come nearly as an afterthought. The only problem for young Elros and Elrond was living up to great expectations.
For an egalitarian like myself, a dirty truth of Tolkiens’ world (let’s give Christopher some credit) is that “blood will out.” While not every member of a Royal household distinguished him/herself in leadership, it’s hard to find a great (or even middlin’) leader who was not of distinguished bloodline. Of the Fellowship, only Samwise lacked a pedigree. Otherwise, only Thorongil of Gondor and Rohan comes to mind (and that was a case of Blood incognito).
The early life of Elrond and Elros always intrigued me, but if they were raised by Maglor wouldn’t that mean that, at least for a while, they would spend time with remaining ‘feanorian’ followers, or in general with the Noldor/High Elves and remnants of wandering Sindar? If so it would be interesting to know how they came to terms with the fact that it was the feanorian faction that caused the slaughter at Arvernien in third kinslaying, and were de facto responsible for their mother Elwing ‘missing’ (they would not know what happened to her) and imagine how they would react seeing Earendil during War of Wrath, in a cool flying ship 🙂 haha. It’s a shame that this entire period is less known: after third kinslaying the last free realm would be Isle of Balar with Cirdan and young Ereinion Gil-Galad in charge and some rebels wandering elves and men (and even more enslaved) on the mainland of Beleriand, I wonder whether Maglor and Maedhros joined the Host of Valinor as well, whether Cirdan sent his ships and Gil-Galad fought making his first marks. Altogether interesting.