Summary
There have only been a few, obscure references to the character of Celebrían, Elrond’s wife, inThe Lord of the Rings. All that is known about her is based on the details given in J.R.R. Tolkien’s unpublished manuscripts, especially in “The History of Galadriel and Celeborn and of Amroth King of Lórien” (Unfinished Tales).
An Elf-lady of Lothlórien, Celebrían was the daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn, and later became the Lady of Rivendell. This raises the question – where exactly was Celebrían inThe Lord of the Rings?
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Who Was Elrond’s Wife?
Early in the Second Age, Celeborn and Galadriel traveled to Lindon after the latterrefused to return to Valinor, and ruled over a group of Elves underGil-galad, the High King of the Ñoldor. It was during this time that Celebrían was born. Tolkien tried to define the exact year of her birth in different manuscripts, but it is likely that it was around SA 300. Christopher Tolkien also noted later on that “the time and place of Celebrían’s birth, whether here [referring to a place near Nenuial between 350-400 of the Second Age] or later in Eregion, or even later in Lórien, is not made definite”. Celebrían reportedly lived in Eregion, a realm that her parents established to the west of the Misty Mountains, with her family untilthe Ñoldorin prince Celebrimbortook over. They left by the way ofthe mines of Khazad-dûmand headed towards Lothlórien (or Lórien), a Nandorin settlement in the valley of the Anduin, sometime between SA 1350 and SA 1400. Her parents eventually became the Lord and Lady of Lothlórien, after the death of King Amdír in theWar of the Last Alliance.
In other versions of the story, however, Galadriel went to Lothlórien alone with Celebrían while Celeborn remained in Eregion. After the fall of Eregion during the War of the Elves and Sauron, Celeborn went to Rivendell (which was founded by Elrond) to help strengthen the Elven forces against Sauron. In SA 1701, Galadriel and Celebrían also arrived at Rivendell, which is where Celebrían met Elrond for the first time. Elrond is said to have fallen in love with her immediately but did not express his feelings to her. It is believed that the family went to the coastal region of Belfalas afterward.
There is a large gap in history from this point onwards until TA 109, when Celebrían married Elrond. They went on to have three children: the twins Elladan and Elrohir in TA 130, and Arwen in TA 241. Having inherited the Elfstone from her mother, Celebrían later gave it to her own daughter. In the book,Galadriel gives it to Aragornwhile saying, “This stone I gave to Celebrían, my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope.”
In earlier writings, Celebrían had a brother named Amroth, and she married Elrond much later, in TA 2500. They had children in the same century, including another son named Finduilas instead of Arwen.
What Happened to Celebrían?
About 500 years before the War of the Ring began, when the race of the Dúnedain began to wane, the Orcs were increasing in number around Eriador and the Misty Mountains — thus, putting many of the Free Folk at risk. In TA 2509, while Celebrían was traveling from Rivendell to Lothlórien (via the Redhorn Pass over Caradhras in the Misty Mountains) to visit her parents, she was ambushed by the Orcs. According to Appendix A ofThe Lord of the Rings(“Annals of the Kings and Rulers”), they tormented her and gave her a poisoned wound. Elladan and Elrohir eventually found and rescued her before she was killed, and took her back to Rivendell. Elrond managed to heal her wounds, but Celebrían was unable to fully recover from the whole ordeal. Haunted by the memories of her suffering, she wished to leave Middle-earth as she felt there was no happiness left for her there anymore. She ultimately decided to leave her family behind and sail over the Great Sea tothe Undying Lands in the westthe following year. Elladan and Elrohir apparently never forgot the pain and anguish their mother had gone through, and often rode with Aragorn and the Rangers of the North to attack and kill Orcs (along with other servants of Sauron) to avenge her.
On 29th September 3021 (a couple of years after Sauron had been defeated),the Ring-bearers (including Elrond and Galadriel)all leave Middle-earth in the White Ship and head towards the Undying Lands, where Celebrían is presumably reunited with her family at last. This is confirmed inThe Peoples of Middle-earth, in which Tolkien writes, “After the destruction of the Ruling Ring, the Three Rings of the Eldar lost their virtue. Then Elrond prepared at last to depart from Middle-earth and follow Celebrían.”
However, there are also contradictory details in other unpublished works, which state that Celebrían was actually slain by the Orcs instead of being imprisoned in TA 2600.
