The White Council

Re: Elrond

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : : : I have been wondering why people don't think Elrond was that powerful. In previous threads people have said this. I was just curious why people think this way? If you look at his lineage you would see that he has some of the greatest elven/men blood in his veins. He was the herald of Gil-Galad. This might not sound like much but consider that Eonwe was Manwe's herald and he : : : : led the attack that overthrew Morgoth. Elrond was probably tthe commander of Gil-Galad's forces. Sort of a second in command. He was also sent to help out Eregion(militarily wise). He was set up as some sort of provincial leader. He was in charge of Imaldris. He also had the greatest Ring of Power except for The One. Many of these things point to him as being a good military leader/fighter and yet people say that except for being wise he was no good. Basically I just want to know what you all think about Elrond.

: : : In my opinion, Elrond was powerfull but tempered and used his power differently than other powerfull elf lord before him.

: : : Many people compare Elrond to the elf lords of the First Age, and find him lacking in comparison. Not really a fair comparison, IMO. Yes, there are things that point to Elrond being powerfull. However, those things are not spelled out in detail, as they are about First Age elf lords.

: : : Too many people equate being powerfull with military leadership or fighting ability, and not with wisdom. Since nothing is written about Elrond slaying hundreds of orcs, confronting trolls etc., people assume that he was not capable of doing so, and therefore not powerfull.

: : : Some people also equate power with the size and population of the land, city etc. under control of a leader. The exact size, population and nature of Imaldris is not given. To many, it seems to be quite small. They therefore assume since Imaldris is small, Elrond cannot be very powerfull.

: : I belief that Elrond was the most powerful (with the possible exception of Glorfindel) elf of the TA. Still he was not the equal of FA elves. This is because elven strength declines over time. However their wisdom did not decline. I think Elrond was the wisest of all the elves. Could you imagine what Feanor, Thingol, or even Turgon would have done at the council with the fate of the One ring being debated.

: : Thorin

: I think Elrond was just a strong as FA elves. He just used his strength differently. I think many people make the mistake of thinking of the decline of elvish strength as a decline in the strength of individual elves, and not as a decline in the strength of the elven people, as a whole, to influence the world around them. I believe the latter is what Tolkien ment when he said elvish strength had declined in the TA. : ~Aelmer

I think it depends on what considers powerful; I believe that Elrond was one of the most politically powerful Elves in Middle-earth in the Third Age, though I certainly do not think he was militaristically powerful.