Innocence
by Soledad Cartwright
Appendix A: About Elrond's lost loves
Deborah addressed a problem in one of her reviews, and I'm truly grateful that she did, because it gives me the opportunity to say a few things about my view of Elves, particularly about Elrond. I didn't want to put this into the reviews, because it became rather lengthy, and I was forced to react to a few rather... contraproductive remarks to other stories anyway, and don't want it to become a custom that I'd write reviews to my own stories. That's just silly.
This essay was originally inserted after Chapter 4, and I only intended to let it online for a week or so. But then several people asked me to re-post it, and I decided that the best place for it would be an Appendix. This way, if someone is not interested in my ramblings, can easily avoid them.
Now, the problem in question was Elrond having lovers, before and after his - in my opinion voluntary and very happy - marriage with Celebrían. The reason why I try to answer this and explain myself - which is a very silly thing from an author to do, and shows that she failed to express herself through the actual story - is, that I don't want my stories to bee mistaken for the sort of fics where Elrond merrily screws around with everyone who comes into his reach, including his own sons. (Grrrr!!!)
The fact is: if I established the idea that Elves consort freely before they bond themselves for eternity - and I did, as you know if you've read this story so far -, I don't see why Elrond should be any different.
I know, it doesn't match the image of many people made of him, especially not after the movie, where he was portrayed as an incompetent, sour person with serious mental problems and no compassion towards anyone. Sorry, movie-goers, but that movie just killed for me the Elves in general and Elrond, Galadriel and Legolas in particular. Not to mention Aragorn, whom I only can think of with bewilderment and slight disgust, ever since I've seen the movie for the first time.
Not that it was all bad, you know. After all, it gave me Boromir, and for that I'll be eternally thankful. But the Elrond in the books is a strong and dignified person, which the Elrond in the movie is not. Not for me, anyway, but taste is a very personal matter, as we all know.
As for Elrond's relationship with Legolas, I've meant to establish in ''Of Riddles of Doom and Paths of Love'' that it was not some lightly-taken thing. Legolas had been in love with Elrond for a long time, and he saved his life after Celebrían's departure due to this fact. Still, I see it as a comfort thing - for both of them. Being fairly young for an Elf, it gives Legolas emotional support (he had gone through some serious mental traumata during his life, and his father is too traumatized himself to help him properly), and it anchors Elrond to Middle-earth (and to life), until Sauron finally will be overthrown and he can follow the call of the Sea.
Also, we know that Legolas is betrothed and will get his own marriage bond after Elrond's departure, so in my opinion it matches the original idea of young Elves learning from older, more experienced lovers before getting married. Which idea I actually found by a fellow fanfic writer with the pen name Chayenne Dancer, so credit shall stand here where it is appropriate.
Of course, what I've envisioned about the love life of Elves in general and Elrond in particular, would certainly not find the Great Maker's approval. He was a devoted Catholic, and believe me, I know exactly what narrow-minded Catholic upbringing can do to a person. I had one myself. While the problem is not being Catholic of course, but having a very narrow and unflexible moral system.
Which doesn't mean that I would throw morale as a whole overboard. I only find the idea that Elves would spend centuries - or even millennia - in celibacy, highlly unrealistic, especially concerning the fact that they are beings who originally came from pagan folklore.
For me, this is the same problem as forcing all Catholic priests to live in celibacy. Celibacy is a lifestyle that presumes a special summoning. People either have it - in which case they become monks or nuns or hermits -, or they have not. Most of them haven't. Expecting them to live in such manner anyway is unrealistic and inhuman.
Now, I can actually imagine certain Elves having this summoning: dedicated healers or lore-masters or even Wise under certain circumstances, who want to consider all their energies on the work they do - though, in my opinion, even these would have been introduced to physical loving by an experienced partner when reaching maturity, this being almost necessarily part of a culture which lives in such close unity with the seasonal changings of nature. They would simply chose not to take any partners later.
But since we know as a canonical fact that Elrond had fallen in love at least once (with Celebrían, regardless any other concepts that might emerge from the side of fellow writers), got married and fathered children, we can be assured that he was not the type for celibatory life. Certainly not during those 2500 years he spent with his beloved wife.
Why would he have done so during the rest of his incredibly long life? At the time of the Ring Wars he was at least 6000 years old (I have no sources at hand that could tell me the date of his birth, sorry). Could we realistically expect him to have spent the majority of it alone?
I brought him together with Fíriel as a casual affair, because I thought that their shared past would give them some sort of comfort. It's almost a consensus among fanfic writers (except the homophobic ones), that Elrond did have a thing with Gil-galad - of what nature ever it might have been. But he did leave Gil-galad's curt to found Imladris, at which time their relationship most likely had been over. So I let him return to Fíriel, who was not only a fellow healer and fighter, but also some sort of family for him, having known him since his early childhood.
I decidedly gave him Fíriel as a consort, because Fíriel isn't some beautiful, young (and stupid) maiden, only good enough to warm his bed. She's marred by old scars (visible and invisible ones) and brand marks, she's strong-willed, determined and battle-hardened, with a deep hatred for those who had murdered her family. So, for her it might even be some help to learn how Elrond had come to terms with Maglor.
After Celebrían's departure, however, what Fíriel and Elrond once had had, would not have been enough to save him from fading. For at that time he had already known true love. Therefore a much stronger emotional engagement was needed to keep him alive, and Legolas, who actually was in love with him (at least to a certain extent), was able to provide that. I won't analyze the nature of that love here, though (mostly because I haven't thought properly about it yet).
What I wanted to emphasize here, was, that it cannot be spoken of promiscuity in the case of Elrond. In my interpretation - and you all can feel free to disagree, although it would not change the way I intend to write him - he had four different relationship at five different times (and not parallel to each other), and all these affairs had a different level of devotion. The one whom he truly loved was, as I see it, Celebrían. That's why he entered the eternal bond of marriage with her.
Closing the matter, I don't want to start a debate about this
topic here (or the usual war of reviews). This is how I see the
whole thing; you can agree or disagree. My e-mail is no secret,
if you want to tell your opinion, feel free to write me
personally. I would very much prefer to let my work speak for me
on this site.
Sincerely,
Soledad