Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Character Bios

Elladan

Meaning: Elf-man

Other Names: Elboron (HoME only)

Location(s): Rivendell

Race/Species: Peredhil

Dates: III 130 to IV

Parents:
father: Elrond of Rivendell
mother: Celebrían of Lórien

Siblings:
Elrohir (twin)
Arwen

Description:

Table of Contents:

Description
History
Skills
Etymology

Description

...two tall men, neither young nor old. So much alike were they, the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart; dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair, clad alike in bright mail beneath cloaks of silver-grey.

Ch 2, Book 5 The Passing of the Grey Company, RoTK, LOTR

And have you marked the brethren Elladan and Elrohir? Less sombre is their gear than the others', and they are fair and gallant as Elvenlords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell.

Ch 2, Book 5 The Passing of the Grey Company, RoTK, LOTR


History

In 2509 Celebrían wife of Elrond was journeying to Lórien when she was waylaid in the Redhorn Pass, and her escort being scattered by the sudden assault of the Orcs, she was seized and carried off. She was pursued and rescued by Elladan and Elrohir, but not before she had suffered torment and had received a poisoned wound.

RotK, Appendix A, I, iii, Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur

2510 [Christopher Tolkien notes that the following passage was struck out of the typescript before the final version of 'The House of Eorl' in Appendix A of RotK. It comes in the description of the battle of the Field of Celebrant, when the army of Gondor was in peril]

Riders came out of the North and broke upon the rear of the enemy...
In the forefront of the charge they saw two great horsemen, clad in grey, unlike all the others, and the Orcs fled before them; but when the battle was won they could not be found, and none knew whence they came or whither they went. But in Rivendell it was recorded that these were the sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir.

Peoples of Middle-earth, Part 1, Ch IX, The Making of Appendix A, iii, 'The House of Eorl'

In his boyhood Arathorn also had been fostered in that house, and he was a friend of Elladan and Elrohir, the sons of Elrond, and often he went a-hunting with them. Now the sons of Elrond did not hunt wild beasts, but they pursued the Orcs wherever they might find them; and this they did because of Celebrían their mother, daughter of Galadriel.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 1, Ch 9, The Making of Appendix A: The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen

Elrond passes Over Sea. The end of his sons, Elladan and Elrohir, is not told: they delay their choice, and remain for a while.

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Letter 153 to Peter Hastings (draft)

Skills

It is to be assumed that Elladan and Elrohir learned medicine and healing skills from their father. In the chapter ‘The Houses Of Healing’, Aragorn, needing help with the many wounded, ‘sent for the sons of Elrond, and together they laboured far into the night.’



Etymology

Elrohir, Elladan: these names, given to his sons by Elrond, refer to the fact that they were 'half-elven' ... Both signify elf + man...Elladan might be translated as 'elf-Númenórean'. Adan (pl. Edain) was the Sindarin form of the name given to the 'fathers of men'…

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Letter 211 to Rhona Beare,

Contributors:
Lyllyn 19Dec02 with thanks to Tyellas
Elena Tiriel 2Dec04
Jay of Lasgalen 5 Feb 2008

Related Library Entries

Characters Search

      

View all Bios

Places

No related places

Go to Places

Full Text Search