Elrond

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Character
Name: Elrond
Occupation: warrior, healer, scholar
Relationships: Eärendil & Elwing (parents), Maglor (foster father), Elros (brother), Celebrían (wife), Arwen (daughter), Elladan & Elrohir (sons), Galadriel & Celeborn (parents-in-law), Aragorn (son-in-law)
Fandom: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion
Other:
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Elrond is a secondary character in Tolkien's universe. A mixed-race mongrel (Maiar, Noldorin/Telerin Elf, Men) whose family tree reads like the Silmarillion Who's Who,[1] he's perhaps the only character to appear in all of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings & The Silmarillion. He is played by Hugo Weaving in the Peter Jackson films, a rather controversial choice.[2]

Canon

He was as noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer.

—'A Short Rest', The Hobbit

Having mixed parentage, Elrond & his family have the gift-cum-curse of choosing whether to live as Elves or Men. Elrond chooses immortality while his brother & his daughter both choose mortality. And that's just the start of the angst-mobile; his history is marked by repeated losses: his parents desert him at the sack of Sirion; his king Gil-Galad is killed; his wife is tortured by orcs & sails West to heal. He bears Vilya, the elven ring of air.

Fandom

Elrond's name appears in the prominent fansite, Council of Elrond, as well as in the German site, Elronds Haus. He's a relatively popular character in LotR & Silmarillion fanfiction, especially in proportion to his significance in the text. A little Elrond-centric gen fiction appeared even before the Jackson films, and the character appears in many subsequent gen works. These often focus on angsty situations such as his upbringing by Maglor after the sack of Sirion, his choice of immortality in the context of Elros' choice to be human, his grief over Celebrían, and his relationship with Arwen and his grief over losing her. His friendship with Bilbo, his complex relationship with Aragorn, and his choice of the Fellowship members are other common topics. Elrond is often seen as a healer or advice-giver in works that focus on other characters.

Elrond & Celebrían, his canonical wife, get occasional romances, and he's known to be susceptible to Mary-Sues, but other m/f pairings are relatively rare. He is a popular partner in m/m slash, where he's paired with a wide range of elves and occasionally men such as Isildur. The most common pairings on the slash archive Library of Moria in June 2016 were with Legolas, Glorfindel, Erestor, Gil-galad and Thranduil.[3] The Elrond/Gil-Galad pairing has its own archives, King and Herald & One Ring To Bind Them. In the early 2000s, there was a disconnect between slash fandom and other fans, with some considering it canonically impossible for Elrond to pair with anyone except Celebrían.

Fanart is rather less common. Occasional art appeared in printzines before the Jackson films. Although there are the usual photomanips, an unusually high proportion of post-film works are not based on Weaving's appearance. Art often depicts clothing, jewellry & hair in detail.

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

Gen

Elrond/Celebrían

Slash

Fanart

Doujinshi

Vids

Meta

Archives & Fansites

References

  1. ^ crack-van: The Silmarillion: An Overview (accessed 14 June 2016)
  2. ^ For example, Marnie writes the character has been thwarted by the movie, where both Elrond and Celeborn have (IMO) been seriously let down in the looks department. No offence to either Hugo Weaving or Marton Czokas, but neither of them could exactly be called 'beautiful'... in 'That tall fellow next to Galadriel.' A short article about Celeborn. (accessed 19 June 2019)
  3. ^ Library of Moria: FPS (accessed 15 June 2016)
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