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happy 15 years
We have two film adaptations of Gil-galad: Lord of the Rings (which was cut, but we know he exists) and Rings of Power. And neither of these film adaptations matches Gil-galad!!
I want to talk about his appearance now, specifically that in both film adaptations, Gil-galad has dark hair and a gold color in his design.
The book Gil-galad, despite being from the Golden House of Finarfin, has silver hair.
Also, Gil-galad's entire image is associated with silver. And that's why the gold color in both designs doesn't match Tolkien's vision of Gil-galad.
Let me explain about silver:
1. Silver hair
2. Silver armor and shield, thanks to which Ereinion was given the epessë Gil-galad, which means 'star of radiance.'
As in the name Gil-galad 'star of radiance' given to Finwain, last High-king of the Eldar, because of the radiance of his silver hair, armor, and shield that, it is said, could even in the moonlight be seen from many leagues afar.
-The Nature of Middle-earth, Part Two: IV Hair
Even the poem about the Fall of Gil-galad mentions this:
His sword was long, his lance was keen,
his shining helm was seen afar;
the countless stars of heaven's field
were mirrored in his silver shield.
- LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring, A Knife in the Dark
3. Gil-galad's heraldry features silver stars (he himself is like a silver star)
4. Aeglos (Gil-galad spear) means 'snow-point' or 'icicle.' The element aeg means 'point,' from the root AYAK ('sharp, pointed'); and the element los means 'snow.'
This is referring to a winter theme, and winter is associated with white/silver and blue (colour of Gil-galad's heraldry).
The book Gil-galad is a solitary silver star ('solitairy' because he never married) who led his people and fell in Mordor.
But long ago he rode away,
and where he dwells, none can say;
for into darkness he fell his star
in Mordor where the shadows are.
- LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring, A Knife in the Dark
#Lotr Gil-Galad is forgiven because the Nature of Middle-earth had not yet been published#I actually love dark-haired Gil-galad#but let's popularize the silver-haired one#no son of Fingon#silmarillion#ereinion gil galad#gil galad son of orodreth#gil galad#house of finarfin#tolkien#lord of the rings#lotr#rings of power#tolkien elves#silm thoughts
Reblogged
So, the thing is, Gil-Galad knows little of his family. He was old enough to remember the face of his great uncle, and remember the day Finrod marched to his doom with blurry, unsettling memory of a child; he remembers his father's tired face and his mother's raised voice; remembers his sister's soft hands and sad eyes and the long, dark, quiet halls of Nargothrond in the last months of its life. Having matured under Cirdan's steady guidance, those faces became memories, and memories tended to dull with time, when his sharp mind was needed elsewhere, when to linger in the embers of barely-there childhood was an indulgence Gil could not allow himself. Always looking forward, always thinking, planning, listening to heartbeats of people looking up to him, relying on him, trusting him—there was no time for self-pity. Cirdan, in his ancient wisdom, told Gil day will come when memories will come crashing, suffocate him under the weight of them, bury him under rubble like Nargothrond had once swallowed his mother; to that Gil could only think it would be a miracle, for him to live so long his past comes to haunt him.
So it is strange, to stand face to face with someone of his lost bloodline.
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Elwing for @rana-temporaria as my first doodle of the new year! Thank you for your request, and I hope you have a lovely day too. :)
TAR-ALDARION AND GIL-GALAD
I am trying to understand the friendship between Gil-galad and Tar-Aldarion. As we know, Tolkien wrote that Aldarion was Gil-galad's friend and advisor, and Tolkien emphasizes the word “friend” several times. This means that their relationship was indeed warm.
We don't know how Aldarion and Gil-galad interacted, or what adventures Aldarion had in Middle-earth, because the story “Aldarion and Erendis” doesn't mention any of that, and it's mostly told from Erendis's point of view. According to Tolkien's plan, this is the only story that has survived from all the legends of Númenor, and the legends of Aldarion's travels in Middle-earth have been lost, which is, of course, very sad.
Tar-Aldarion is a controversial character. He is a wise, far-sighted ruler, but as a person he is selfish and neglects his family.
If I can imagine how two elves with conflicting personalities, such as Finwë and Thingol, could have been friends before the Great Journey of the Elves, how did Gil-galad, who seems to me to have a more noble character, become friends with Aldarion?
At first, I think it was a genuine friendship. Aldarion first arrived in Middle-earth with his grandfather, still young, without any grand, far-reaching plans, not even being the heir to the throne. Just a young man whom his grandfather, in honor of his coming of age, decided to take with him on the first journey in the history of Númenor to Middle-earth.
So Aldarion appeared before Gil-galad and Círdan. A young man with an open heart, ready to learn everything new about shipbuilding. And I am 100% sure that Círdan and Gil-galad saw Eärendil in Aldarion. Aldarion, being a descendant of Eärendil, did indeed resemble him: fair hair, blue eyes, and a longing for the Great Sea.
Gil-galad showered Aldarion with gifts, as can be seen in the story of Aldarion and Erendis. Aldarion, in turn, also gave gifts to Gil-galad.
Gil-galad listened to his advice regarding the languages of mortals and their culture. He saw in this young man a gift of foresight and wisdom, qualities dear to Gil-galad as a ruler.
But Gil-galad saw in Aldarion the personality that he displayed in Middle-earth. But did Gil-galad know how Aldarion's behavior was criticized in his native Númenor, how his wife suffered, how his father worried, how Aldarion left his daughter too early by Númenórean standards and set off on another voyage?
Perhaps Aldarion did not mention this in his conversations with Gil-Galad, but if he did mention that he had left his young daughter and wife for the Sea, did this cause Gil-galad some disappointment?
What really must have caused tension for Gil-galad was Aldarion's plans for Middle-earth. Massive deforestation and the indigenous peoples fear of the Númenóreans.
I think that in the end it was pure friendship, but as Aldarion grew older, it may have become more political than sincere. Gil-galad valued Aldarion's advice, but already understood that he had to be more cautious with him. However, Gil-galad also took into account the need to maintain friendly relations with the Númenórean prince as a future ruler and possible ally against Sauron. Therefore, deforestation was permitted, as was the construction of the harbor of Vinyalondë. This investment ultimately paid off in the future war against Sauron.
But did Gil-galad ever learn that Aldarion was driven not by the Great Sea, but by something else, something even the prince himself did not understand? It was a desire for greater dominion, for the glory of Númenor. I think Gil-galad saw this in Aldarion's descendants.
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Looking at the parts on Númenor in Unfinished Tales (and the LOTR appendix chronology) made me notice something Tolkien does with the history of Númenor that is very thoughtful, very important, and often neglected by other fantasy authors: he distinguishes between fighting on the right side and being the good guys, and he even delves into how those two things can work against each other.
Three times in particular, the Númenoreans help to defend Middle-Earth against Sauron. In Aldarion’s time, in the 800s, Aldarion spends much time establishing and rebuilding a port/haven on the coast of southern Eriador, to guard against invasion of the north through what will later be the Gap of Rohan. In 1700, Tar-Minastir sends a large force to drive back Sauron and rescue Gil-galad and Elrond and their people after the forging of the Rings and the destruction of Eregion. And, of course, near the end of the Second Age Ar-Pharazon sends the vast fleet and army that takes Sauron captive.
And each of these times are associated with successive stages in Númenor’s moral decline.
Aldarion is the first warning sign. His father, Tar-Meneldur, a wise man, discourages his voyaging, accurately fearing that it “sows the seeds of recklessness and the desire of other lands to hold”. Aldarion likewise marks the beginning of Númenoreans regarding nature as something to be valued for its use rather than for itself: trees as timber, not as forests. This is also when the Númenoreans begin to log Eriador - their logging will eventually be so extensive that, whereas virtually the whole area from the coast to the Misty Mountains to the Gap of Rohan was forested at the start of the Second Age, by the time of LOTR only the tiny fragment of the Old Forest remains. It’s not for nothing that the trees there are hostile to Men (and Hobbits). (This may not have been happening in the same way in Aldarion’s time - in Númenor he spends great efforts on replanting trees, nothwithstanding the ecological distinction between ‘tree plantations’ and ‘forests’, and he may have done the same in Middle-earth - but it’s still the starting point.)
And he does work extensively in Middle-earth to build defences against Sauron (or ‘the shadow in the east’; they don’t know it’s Sauron yet) and is described as “the friend and counsellor of Gil-Galad.” Yet the very growth in power, pragmatism, and expansionism that is involved in doing this is the start of Númenor’s downward path.
Next, we have Tar-Minastir, who drives back Sauron from Eregion during the War of the Elves and Sauron, following the forging of the Rings of Power, when Gil-galad, Elrond, and the Elves of Eregion are almost defeated. Unfinished Tales says “he loved the Eldar but envied them” and built a high tower to gaze westwards towards Valinor. And it is in the immediate aftermath of his rule that Númenor enters its phase of exploitative imperialism: his son Tar-Ciryatan is “a mighty king, but greedy of wealth; he built a great fleet of royal ships, amd his servants brought back great store of metal and gems, and oppressed the men of Middle-earth.” The next king, Tar-Atanamir, likewise “exacted heavy tribute from the men of the coasts of Middle-earth”, and was the first to be openly hostile to the Valar and the Eldar. The Silmarillion describes Ciryatan and Atanamir as “proud men, eager for wealth” who “laid the men of Middle-earth under tribute, taking now rather than giving”.
(As an aside: this is a period where I’m particularly curious about what Gil-galad and Elrond were thinking, and the decisions they had to make. The Númenoreans have just recently decisively rescued them, and it may not be going too far to say the Elves of Eregion and Lindon are military dependent on Númenor. And yet the Númenoreans are now mistreating and oppressing the men of Middle-earth. How to balance military/political pragmatism and ethics? Are the Númenoreans friends or not? Should they be trying to do anything to stop Númenorean empire? Can they do anything? Does benefitting from Númenorean military might while not doing anything make them complicit? Do they try to talk to the Númenoreans? And for Elrond in particular, on top of the moral vs pragmatic concerns, there’s the knowledge that it’s his brother’s descendents and successors who are doing this - in a sense, the only family he has left.)
And lastly, of course, we have Ar-Pharazon, who defeats Sauron but without being any better than Sauron, and who is corrupted by him, wreaks devastation on the men of Middle-earth and on his political opponents at home, and leads Númenor to its destruction.
It feels like this reinforces the themes of The Lord of the Rings, that victory over evil is not one by seeking to overpower it, but by renunciation of power. The downfall of Númenor highlights this by contrast by showing the corrupting force of accumulated imperial power, even when used against a foe that is genuinely evil.
Elrond wore a mantle of grey and had a star upon his forehead, and a silver harp was in his hand, and upon his finger was a ring of gold with a great blue stone, Vilya, mightiest of the Three. — The Return of the King
I REALLY wanted this image from the book, but they decided not to do it in the film :(
Did Celebrimbor have a soft spot for Finarfin's house?
1. In one version, he's in love with Galadriel. But even without that, in all versions, Celebrimbor holds Galadriel in high regard. Great friendship writes Tolkien. He made Galadriel Nenya, one of the three elven rings, and Elessar, according to one legend. (This can be read in Unfinished Tales and HoME, XII)
2. Tolkien wrote that Celebrimbor to love Finrod while he lived in Nargothrond (can be read in HoME, XII)
3. Celebrimbor, as a good Noldo, lives under the rule of High King Gil-galad. But one detail: he likely knew Gil-galad while living in Nargothrond (Gil-galad son of Orodreth). He made Vilya especially for Gil-galad, the most powerful of the three rings.
And somewhere in the plot field Annatar appears, in the canon about his appearance it is only said 'fair appearance', But a frequent fanon is that Annatar is a blond. And this is logical, fair like fair hair??? One person once wrote that Annatar was so liked by Celebrimbor because he could resemble Finrod. Sauron met Finrod, he knows what he looks like. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Sauron fell into that friendly image of Finarfin's house.
What am I getting at?
Blondes force Celebrimbor into making jewelry
Annatar and the rings, Galadriel and Elessar. Unexpectedly, Nenya and Galadriel, Vilya and Gil-galad)
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🌌Melian & Thingol
“But he came at last to a glade open to the stars, and there Melian stood; and out of the darkness he looked at her, and the light of Aman was in her face. She spoke no word; but being filled with love Elwe came to her and took her hand, and straightway a spell was laid on him, so that they stood thus while long years were measured by the wheeling stars above them; and the trees of Nan Elmoth grew tall and dark before they spoke any word.”
I think it's a huge omission that we have Fëanor & Elrond, which explores their dynamic, but no Lúthien & Elrond
Elrond actually has so many connections with everyone that even with a great desire one could write down Fëanor as his grandfather (those who love the Fëanorian Elrond). But Elrond chose the legacy of Lúthien, not even his father Eärendil (Elros is the heir of Eärendil). Elrond's daughter, Arwen, is said to be the second Lúthien. I would really like to see more exploration in fanfiction in the direction of Lúthien & Elrond
