Q: Why Did Elrond Stay in Rivendell?
ANSWER: The full question is “Why did Elrond stay in Rivendell and send Glorfindel and his sons to war during the Third Age?” The question can be answered in more than one way. For example, in terms of constructing the story, Elrond symbolizes a stopping point on the hero’s journey. In Letter No. 131, which Tolkien wrote to publisher Milton Waldman in 1951, he said of Elrond:
Elrond symbolises throughout the ancient wisdom, and his House represents Lore – the preservation in reverent memory of all tradition concerning the good, wise, and beautiful. It is not a scene of action but of reflection. Thus it is a place visited on the way to all deeds, or ‘adventures’. It may prove to be on the direct road (as in The Hobbit); but it may be necessary to go from there in a totally unexpected course. So necessarily in The Lord of the Rings, having escaped to Elrond from the imminent pursuit of present evil, the hero departs in a wholly new direction: to go and face it at its source.
It could be argued that a historical figure with as much “weight” behind him as Elrond would either threaten to displace the true major characters of the tale (Frodo and Sam) or he would fail of his promise and leave the reader wondering why so much is made of Elrond when he accomplishes so little? Hence, it makes no sense for Tolkien as a writer to send Elrond into the adventure.
Based on information provided in The Lord of the Rings Elrond has a history of leading armies into battle, even during the Third Age (in one section of the appendices Tolkien notes that during the wars with Angmar Elrond brings help over the mountains from Lothlorien). But people have noted that Elrond may have abstained from war because he was a great healer. Tolkien gave this principle some consideration in his essay on “Laws and Customs Among the Eldar”, in which he wrote:
…For instance, the arts of healing, and all that touches on the care of the body, are among all the Eldar most practised by the nissi; whereas it was the elven-men who bore arms at need. And the Eldar deemed that the dealing of death, even when lawful or under necessity, diminished the power of healing, and that the virtue of the nissi in this matter was due rather to their abstaining from hunting or war than to any special power that went with their womanhood. Indeed in dire straits or desperate defence, the nissi fought valiantly, and there was less difference in strength and speed between elven-men and elven-women that had not borne child than is seen among mortals. On the other hand many elven-men were great healers and skilled in the lore of living bodies, though such men abstained from hunting, and went not to war until the last need….
Elrond’s function as a great healer is most pronounced in the later Third Age, after he has set aside the sword and warfare. Tolkien never explains where or how this shift in Elrond’s practices occurs but it does seem rather profound. On the other hand, Aragorn himself practices both war and healing, and it is through his healing powers that he earns the love and trust of the people of Minas Tirith, who acknowledge him as their rightful king.
Tolkien therefore seems to be of two minds on the matter concerning healing and the taking of life. But there is another “in story” reason that may explain why Elrond remained in Rivendell: he was the Keeper of Vilya, mightiest of the Three. Unlike Gil-galad, who never used any of the Three Rings in the Second Age, Elrond had used Vilya to help heal the hurts of Middle-earth and its inhabitants throughout the Third Age. The Ring’s power was active throughout the Third Age, along with those of Nenya and Narya. Hence, Elrond may have faced a greater risk in going out to war as his ability to field armies diminished than Gil-galad might have, had he survived into the Third Age.
So while we cannot provide a definitive answer for why Elrond chose to stay in Rivendell and only send out emissaries such as his sons and Glorfindel, there are certainly plausible explanations. Elrond was also the chief of the Eldar in Middle-earth. He would not have customarily sought out adventure on the road. Most of the Elven kings in Tolkien’s stories who went out to war eventually died on the battlefield. Those who remained at home did not do so out of cowardice but they survived many an age by acting prudently. It would have behooved both Elrond and his people for him to behave prudently at the end of the Third Age.
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