Lord of the Golden Flower

REQUESTED ! 

I want to add another reason to my previous post as to why Glorfindel’s death sucked. Because his death sucked. Like, really sucked, and not just because he was that close to surviving that duel. Because can we just recognize how thoroughly Glorfindel killed that thing? I’ve heard/read posts and whatnot about this fight, like when a new fan has a question about it, right? Some explain that Glorfindel fought the Balrog and the Balrog fell off a cliff, taking Glorfindel with him. That they both died from the fall when they hit the bottom of the chasm. That Glorfindel drove the Balrog back to the edge of the cliff until it fell, so it was fortunate they were fighting on top of crag and not a field or something. That yes, Glorfindel was an epically skilled warrior, but that the fall off the cliff is what killed the Balrog. But you know what, in Glorfindel’s defense, I want to debunk that. Because that Balrog would have died regardless if it fell or not. And because, mainly, it’s NOT TRUE. In short, that fiery demon was royally screwed. 

For one thing, in the dynamics of that particular fight, Glorfindel was the instigator of that duel, not the Balrog: 

“…that Balrog that was with the rearward foe leapt with great might on certain lofty rocks that stood into the path on the left side upon the lip of the chasm, and thence with a leap of fury he was past Glorfindel’s men and among the women and the sick in front, lashing with his whip of flame. Then Glorfindel leapt forward upon him and his golden armour gleamed strangely in the moon, and he hewed at that demon that it leapt again upon a great boulder and Glorfindel after.” 

The Balrog didn’t confront Glorfindel. Glorfindel confronted it. And not only that, but the Balrog was actually trying to get away from him. The aggression and fight that Glorfindel faced it with was intense and frightening enough that he forced the Balrog to yield ground, forcing it up higher on the pinnacle. 

“Now there was a deadly combat upon that high rock above the folk; and these, pressed behind and hindered ahead, were grown so close that well nigh all could see, yet it was over ere Glorfindel’s men could leap to his side. The ardour of Glorfindel drave that Balrog from point to point, and his mail fended him from its whip and claw.” 

So begins the infamous “deadly combat” of this duel on the mountain peak. It was a fast fight as far as such things are measured and everyone could see it as Glorfindel was giving it his all. And his skill and “ardor” were as such that the Balrog was being driven wherever Glorfindel forced him to move, no matter how much whip and claw and who knows what else he was being attacked with. 

(On a side note, could Tolkien have described a more cinematically epic battle? There is a lot of delicious epicness in regards to battles/duels fought in the Silmarillion, but in terms of how an epic showdown is often brought to life on the big screen, I don’t think Tolkien could have gone more out than what he did with Glorfindel; alone on top of a mountain peak, dueling with a fiery monstrosity while everyone’s literally just looking up from below, watching him) 

“Now had he beaten a heavy swinge upon its iron helm, now hewn off the creature’s whip-arm at the elbow.” 

Not only do we have a head wound, but also an arm amputation, one right after the other. What heathen roar did the Balrog unleash when Glorfindel cut off its arm? Can the refugees of Gondolin who were watching still hear the echoes of it? 

“Then sprang the Balrog in the torment of his pain and fear full at Glorfindel, who stabbed like a dart of a snake; but he found only a shoulder, and was grappled, and they swayed to a fall upon the crag-top.” 

Okay, so at this point of losing its arm, the Balrog is actually now terrified of this Elf, who apparently could move so fast and deadly that it couldn’t compensate, particularly after the loss of its infamous whip-arm. (Does a Balrog have blood, by the way? Is there anything falling out of its arm? Dripping magma, maybe? Unimportant.) Taking who is who into account, it’s clear that it was Glorfindel who “found only a shoulder” and that he himself “was grappled” in turn. So he manages to take hold of the Balrog again, despite that the demon was springing away from him, and that while he had the Balrog’s shoulder, the Balrog managed to seize him. That’s what “grapple” means, to seize another or each other in a firm grip, like in wrestling where you engage in close quarters. 

So in this stage of the duel, Glorfindel somehow got the Balrog’s shoulder, but it involved somehow seizing it. My theory is that he stabbed his sword deep enough into (or through) the Balrog’s shoulder that the sword caught there, twisting in his grip and causing the demon even more torment and that he couldn’t wrestle the sword free while they “swayed” literally body to body in a vicious wrestling match on top of the pinnacle. It’s plausible this was the case because it’s customary during any fight to stay outside of your enemy’s reach, and so when Glorfindel couldn’t pull his sword free from its shoulder, he found himself now wrestling with the Balrog that his caught sword now brought him in close quarters with. I say this because, as we see in the next verse, his right hand and sword were no longer available. 

And oh man, this next verse…talk about the final nail in the coffin. 

“Then Glorfindel’s left hand sought a dirk, and this he thrust up that it pierced the Balrog’s belly nigh his own face (for that demon was double his stature); and it shrieked, and fell backwards from the rock…” 

Imagine that, if you will. A dirk is a long thrusting dagger, and Glorfindel shoved this thing so far up the Balrog’s torso that it almost went into his face. From belly to face. Considering that the Balrog was twice the size of Glorfindel, that means Glorfindel most likely had to shove his arm inside the beast in order to keep thrusting the dirk upward and into its head. 

That Balrog didn’t trip over its feet and fall off the cliff. Glorfindel didn’t shove it and just got lucky that the Balrog lost its balance and fell off. That Balrog fell because it could no longer stand. It fell because it could no longer fight. And it was dead before it hit the bottom of the chasm. 

“…and falling clutched Glorfindel’s yellow locks beneath his cap, and those twain fell into the abyss.” 

And literally, with its last dying breath, the Balrog grabbed Glorfindel’s hair as it was falling and took the Elf with him. 

…. 

Tolkien writes right after that this was “a very grievous thing” and I think I have to agree. Not only because Glorfindel was most dearly beloved by all the people of Gondolin, but because Glorfindel should have survived that duel. He should have lived. While I do wonder what injuries Glorfindel did suffer, if he caught fire and how badly if so, he himself didn’t actually undergo any serious wounds, apparently too fast on his feet for the Balrog to land a fatal blow, and it was only because the demon grabbed his golden hair with its last moments of life that he died. Did I mention his death sucked? 

Good Valar, can you envision just what the people of Gondolin saw when this duel went down? Were they rendered silent as they watched? And you want to tell me that the Balrog died because it fell off the cliff? At this point, it probably would have jumped off the cliff just to get away from Glorfindel. That “shriek” the Balrog let loose when Glorfindel gutted him from navel to nose? Tolkien called it “the death-cry of the Balrog”. I think it’s a testament to the Balrog’s terrible might that it managed to still have the strength to grab hold of Glorfindel’s hair after that. That Balrog didn’t die because it fell: it fell because it died. And it died because Glorfindel killed it. (What does a Balrog’s shriek sound like, by the way? Not its roar or grumble, but a shriek.) Thanks to Glorfindel, it got beaten on the head, lost its whip, lost its arm, lost the use of its shoulder, and Glorfindel “hewed at that demon” so much that the Balrog was actually running away from the Elf. Or tried to, rather, because Glorfindel just kept on his tail, chasing him up the mountain, relentless, giving no quarter, lethal, and undeniably an awesome sight to behold. And then, to top off the three critical wounds Glorfindel dealt the demon, the Balrog was then literally gutted. 

So to reiterate: that Balrog was DEAD. Deader than a doornail in that duel with Glorfindel.

Also, never forget that in his second life in Middle-Earth, Glorfindel seemed much the same–a formidable warrior from whom enemies flee. The Witch-King fled from him at the Battle of Fornost (whereas he attempted to still attack Eärnur), and again when ALL of the Nazgul were looking for Frodo, Glorfindel was the one who chased after them and not the other way around.

‘It was my lot to take the Road, and I came to the Bridge of Mitheithel, and left a token there, nigh on seven days ago. Three of the servants of Sauron were upon the Bridge, but they withdrew and I pursued them westward. I came also upon two others, but they turned away southward.’ – Glorfindel, The Fellowship of the Ring

“From what it said of Glorfindel in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings it is evident that he was an Elda of high and noble spirit: and it can be assumed that, though he left Valinor in the host of Turgon and so incurred the ban, he did so reluctantly because of kinship with Turgon and allegiance to him, and had no part in the kinslaying of Alqualondë.”

As part of the research for writing I have delved into part of the canon Tolkien gave us for his works which I haven’t seen a great discussion on, nor have I seen it much used in any works, role-playing or fiction. That is the of Sanwe-latya - which is “Thought Opening”, or telepathy in simple terms. Tolkien himself wrote a discourse on the subject which can be found here, entitled Ósanwe-kenta, which is an ‘enquiry into the communication of thought’.

It’s quite a complex piece and delves deep into the relation of the body (hröa) and the spirit (fëa) in relation to the ability to mind-speak or not and the difference in abilities between incarnates and other beings (namely the Valar, Maiar and the lesser Maiar). Needless to say, I don’t want to go over it all now, which is why I’ve provided the link for anyone who is interested in the details.

However, I do use this process in my writing, so thought it would be good to make an explanation of some of the head-canons I’ve weaved into my verse, using the canon material as provided.

It’s said by Tolkien that incarnates (in this case I’m going to refer to the elves, as Men are referred to as having much less control of their spirits and are thus unable to use this kind of communication for the main part) have by their nature their spirits tied to their body, so any kind of mind-speak is impeded, or ‘dimmed’ by the mind needing to pass through the mantel of the body and then the other persons’ body in order to be heard. That’s why it’s so much easier for the other beings to use this form of communication, as they are not so closely linked to their bodies.  

He states that in order for incarnates to use this communication they need to use some kind of strengthening for it to be effective - so it’s usually used therefore in times of great urgency (joy, grief or fear) or if someone has authority it may also lend force to the thought of one who has a duty towards another, or of any ruler who has a right to issue commands or to seek the truth for the good of others. However, it only works if all people involved are open to it because no-one can invade someone’s mind at all if they will it.

So that basically means that whilst the elves can use telepathy to speak to one another, they don’t tend to in normal circumstances. It goes on later to state that more plainly again, as it is so difficult and spoken languages are so much more effective, it is hardly used and pretty much falls out of even thought to do so. 

All of this is canon, so then comes in my take on things.

Part of LACE (a part often disregarded by fandom for ahem ‘shipping’ reasons) is the bit about the Eldar and marriage.  We all know that Tolkien was a Catholic and for his elves sex = marriage. The part that isn’t usually explored is that it is said that the Eldar can tell if an elf is married by a look in their eyes and the timbre of their voice. Being a scientist, a Medical Biochemist by training, I couldn’t just take that as some ‘elven magic’ thing so I thought about how that must work and given the information we have about the elves having a greater (than Men) control over their fëa, this might be explained in that their  fëa have to be bound to one another in some way through the act of marriage. This would not only explain a double timbre perhaps in their voices but perhaps some odd eye thing to do with the soul (very romanticised, but then this is high fantasy). A bonding of  fëa  would then also explain the marriages being for all eternity (unless one dies and then willingly gives up the bond aka Miriel).

If we put these two things together it can be conceivable that two married Eldar would find the Sanwe-latya, or ‘mind-speak’ much easier and perhaps at times, much more preferable, to spoken language. They wouldn’t have the barrier of the body to get through in order to communicate and it’s said to work over distances too, which would be very handy in a great number of circumstances. The greater the distance, it’s said, the less well the communication works, which would presumably be the same in this case too, so no, I don’t think that elves in Valinor could ‘talk’ to the elves in Middle-Earth.

For Glorfindel, I think that after his re-embodiment and time with Olórin, made him as like a lesser-Maiar, so I personally take that as meaning he was taught to have greater control of his fëa. 

‘For long years he remained in Valinor, in reuinion with the Eldar who had not rebelled, and in the companionship of the Maiar. To these he had now become almost an equal, for though he was an incarnate (to whom a bodily form not made or chosen by himself was necessary) his spiritual power had been greatly enhanced-’  J.R.R.Tolkien, Last Writings, Glorfindel II

Short answer: No.

Long answer: The key to this is that, in between Maeglin betraying Gondolin and “now”, Glorfindel has died, gone to the Halls of Mandos, and been reembodied (”reborn”). And one of the huge perks of being reembodied is that the Valar don’t return you to the land of the living until you’re good and ready. In “Laws and Customs Among the Eldar” Tolkien says that spirits in the Halls of Mandos were “corrected, instructed, strengthened, or comforted, according to their needs”, and that “those who were healed could be re-born, if they desired it.” And of Glorfindel specifically, Tolkien wrote:

Glorfindel, after the purging or forgiveness of his part in the rebellion of the Noldor, was released from Mandos and became himself again… We can thus understand why he seems so powerful a figure and almost ‘angelic’. For he had returned to the primitive innocence of the First-born.

The emphasis in this last paragraph is on wiping clean any guilt a spirit may feel because of bad actions that they themselves took during life. But the more general description in “Laws and Customs” leads me to believe that it was just as important for a spirit to let go of any resentment or anger held against others.  So, basically, the way I see it is that Glorfindel would have had to forgive Maeglin (or at least accept Maeglin’s part in the fall of Gondolin) in order to be reembodied.

The only reason I could see for Glorfindel still being angry is if he didn’t know about Maeglin’s betrayal before dying (and assuming that he wouldn’t have some how learned about it in the Halls of Mandos.) Things happened pretty fast during Gondolin’s fall, and while I think it’s likely that at some point Tuor or Idril told Glorfindel about Maeglin, there is a possibility that they didn’t get around to it, and Glorfindel died unaware of how Morgoth’s forces found the city. In that case, assuming that Glorfindel didn’t work through his anger in the Halls of Mandos, it’s possible that he got some very bad news upon his reembodiment and is still bitter about it a few thousand years later.

I already made a post and art about my love for this trope but here’s every fic i know of that has this trope (if you know of more HMU) (((I’m next going to do one about this similar trope with figwit/melpomean)))

Fics have their original descriptions from the site they are posted and are the edition by the original poster (some (mainly zimraphel’s) have been archived to ao3 by an archiving account so you could see them there)

Most of these are on Fanfic net bc it was a more popular trope over a decade ago 

Life In Imladris/Dandelion series

A Cause for Celebration by Firestar385 Life in Imladris Arc. SA 1748. Lindir reaches a very important begetting day and Glorfindel thinks it’s a cause for celebration. Mostly fluff. Now Complete. 10k 

Deception and Heartbreak by Firestar385 Life in Imladris Arc. There’s deception in Mirkwood and heartbreak in Imladris. A prequel to Dandelion with a host of new characters and conflicts.  24k 

Dandelion by Firestar385 Life in Imladris Arc Glorfindel finally takes the twins on the orchunting trip he promised them on their majority. Of course, all does not go as planned and tensions with Lindir reach a climax. Now Complete, and the answer to why this is called ‘Dandelion 25k 

Severance by Firestar385 Life in Imladris Arc. In the sequel to ‘Dandelion,’ Glorfindel and Lindir head to ‘Lorien so Lindir can officially sever all ties with his biological father. 13k 

A really good series that has Lindir as a young adult/adult and at a very different place than most of these other works. Some works show a lovely family relationship with Glor and Lindir, while others are set in a time of tension between them.  Well written with both Glorfindel and Lindir’s perspectives.  appearances from Legolas, Rumil, and all the usual residents of Imladris

Sylc’s verse where Lindir is Erestor’s Nephew and Glorfindel’s honorary Nephew 

The Play by sylc  Erestor is bothered by his elfling nephew, Lindir, who has a problem with the play that is to be put on by the elflings this year. 700 words

Lindir Bored by sylc  Lindir is very very bored. In search of amusement, he goes to bother his Uncle Erestor. 1k

In Ten Words by sylc Young Lindir has not done his history homework. He asks his uncle, Glorfindel, to help him. 1.2k 

Night Of The Play by sylc Sequel to “The Play”. It is now the night of the elflings’ play - “The Two Trees” - and almost time for a now fully spider costumed Lindir to be summoned away to participate. 1.7k

The Graveyard by sylc  Elflings Lindir and Melpomaen get caught playing in the graveyard of Imladris. A very cross Glorfindel delivers them to their uncle - Erestor. 1k

Lindir And The Orcling by sylc Young Lindir meets an orcling one night whilst out wandering alone. 1k 

A series of short stories with cute elfling Lindir who has a tendency to be bored and trouble his elders.  Every story is amusing and light and delightful.  

Zimraphel’s verse 

Begetting Day by Zimraphel On the eve of Gil-galad’s first visit to Imladris, a young Lindir asks Glorfindel about his begetting day. Complete. 8k

One of my absolute favorites!  Lindir is a precious child and Glorfindel realizes what he needs to do to be a better father.  Kind but Snarky Erestor, Nice Gil-galad, and a great writing for Elrond.  Just a cute story worth reading many times.  (its the one i made fanart for)

Envinyanta by Zimraphel A reembodied Glorfindel returns from Mandos in the Second Age, only to discover he is the only remaining member of the House of the Golden Flower left in Middle-earth. Sequel to “Finding Courage.” 28k

Glorfindel finds and grows attached to little Lindir while coming to terms with his own rembodiment and reputation.  As always, Zimraphel writes excellent Glorfindel introspection, a witty friendship with Erestor, and a wonderful Elrond

Not For Pride Alone  by Zimraphel At Fornost, Glorfindel and prince Earnur of Gondor face the armies of the Witch King of Angmar. Winner of the 2004 Mithril Award for Best CharacterizationEnsemble. 12k

Good look at Glorfindel vs Witchking of Angmar and elf/human relations and hobbits!!! Lindir shows up towards the end.  Part of Zimraphel’s excellent verse of stories.  (all of them are so good)

Lindir is Glorfindel’s adopted son in nearly all of Zimraphel’s works about imladris but others have different main characters and are not on this list.  But I do recommend all of them.  

And Flame Was in the Darkness Lit by Levade Lindir knew this elf had driven the darkness out before him and that was all he ever needed to know of Glorfindel. Not slash. 1.3k 

A nice short story about Lindir being reassured by the presence of Glorfindel in his life 

The Elfling’s Song by Aglarien Lindir comes to Imladris. A little something I wrote a couple years ago as an insert in one of Chaotic Binky’s stories. 1k 

A more angsty/sad telling of an origin story for orphan Lindir being found and adopted by Glor/Erestor

Golden Vanity by LadyJanelly For vanity’s sake, Glorfindel falls to the Balrog. What happens when an elf, reborn, finds himself less than he was. Glorfindel Erestor Slash. AU. 24k 

Only the last chapter of this fic is applicable to this trope, but It’s on here bc it was the first fic to introduce me to the concept

It’s an excellent work, with a unique interpretation of Glorfindel, making him pretty much a heroic cryptid and has well written Elrond and Erestor and plenty of interesting subplots.  It is not complete but finished.  The author did not write all of the ending chapters planned But did write a concluding chapter.  warning for attempted non-con

Glorfindel is as mysterious as he is powerful. But his uses far exceeded that of a replaced member of the fellowship, or even of an escort to Rivendell:

Glorfindel’s vague, yet obvious, awesomeness helps to impress upon the reader the importance of secrecy in Frodo’s quest, rather than brute strength. As Gandalf says himself, “Even if you chose for us an elf-lord, such as Glorfindel, he could not storm the Dark Tower, nor open the road to the Fire by the power that is in him.”

Glorfindel, more than any other character we meet, is a strong weapon against the nazgul. It was because of his presence that the nazgul were scattered and distracted in the days after Weathertop. Glorfindel told Aragorn and the hobbits that “three of the servants of Sauron were upon the Bridge, but they withdrew and I pursued them westward. I6 came also upon two others, but they turned away southward.” Had these five been able to focus solely on finding Frodo, instead of also avoiding Glorfindel, it’s likely that Frodo wouldn’t have survived long enough to reach the Bruinen.

Glorfindel made one of the most important prophecies of the Third Age. Of the Witch King he said “not by the hand of man will he fall”, which was later proven true by Merry and Eowyn.

Glorfindel played a large part in the destruction of Angmar: “Then the Witch-king, with all that he could gather from the wreck, fled northwards, seeking his own land of Angmar. Before he could gain the shelter of Carn Dum the cavalry of Gondor overtook him with Earnur riding at their head. At the same time a force under Glorfindel the Elf-lord came up out of Rivendell. Then so utterly was Angmar defeated that not a man nor an orc of that realm remained west of the Mountains.”

It’s also quite likely that Glorfindel played an important (though apparently unreported) part in the wars of the later Second Age. Glorfindel most likely returned to Middle Earth around the year 1600 of the Second Age, and Tolkien says “his return must have been for the purpose of strengthening Gil-galad and Elrond, when the growing evil of the intentions of Sauron were at last perceived by them.” Furthermore, Tolkien mentions that his arrival was most likely the result of “urgent messages and prayers asking for help.” Tolkien didn’t write about the War Between the Elves and Sauron in too much detail, but it’s my assumption that Glorfindel was instrumental in Gil-galad’s efforts to defeat Sauron. And while he’s not mentioned, it’s also fairly likely that Glorfindel was present at the War of the Last Alliance.

Legolas couldn’t have done all that, now, could he?

Glorfindel, Defender of Gondolin, 

During the first age, The armies of Morgoth destroyed all in its path. Gondolin was the last city of elves to fall. Hundreds of thousands of elves and millions of orcs, trolls, Goblins, dragons, Balrogs, deamon’s and other servants of Morgoth all fell here. The last few thousand elves escaped out of hidden passages of the mountains near Gondolin. However one of the surviving Balrogs lead a force of orcs to hunt them down.

Glorfindel stared down the flaming monster. fire and death all around him he looked at it, calmly. Then yelling a war-cry so loud as that all of the mountainside could hear him, he drew forth his sword and charged at the creature. pushing through orcs, ignoring fire, the two fought, and both eventually fell.

However death would not stop one of them. One would be punished in the afterlife for their sins. One would be reborn to fight the armies of evil once again in a later age. One that even the 9 Ringwraiths feared…

Finally finished the bugger. as the scanner decided to not work I took a crappy photo, however I cleaned it up a bit in photoshop. Added some blue to help as well.

Glorfindel is my all time favorite character in Middle Earth! So sorry for the extra-thorough answer, lol.

Glorfindel was born in Valinor. It’s possible that he was one of Finwe’s daughter’s children, which would explain his blonde hair (most Noldorin elves had dark hair, and the Vanyar had blonde hair. Finwe’s second wife was of the Vanyar, which also explains Galadriel’s hair.)

It’s said Glorfindel was reluctant to leave Valinor, and only did so out of loyalty to Turgon, one of the Noldorin princes and later king of Gondolin. Glorfindel also had no part in the kin slaying at Alqualonde.

In Gondolin Glorfindel was one if the twelve lords of the city and led the House of the Golden Flower (gold is kind of a recurring theme with Glorfindel. His full name, Glorfindel Losgloriol, even means “golden head of hair” and “golden flower”, respectively.) 

Glorfindel saw the arrival of Tuor to Gondolin, and played a large part in defending the city during the Fall of Gondolin. He lost many of his house defending the Market Square, and later the King’s Square. After Ecthelion and Turgon were killed, Glorfindel held the rear of the people’s retreat out of the city. While they were high in the mountain pass they were attacked by a balrog. Glorfindel fought and killed a balrog (allowing Tuor, Idril, and the young Earendil to escape), but died in the process when the balrog grabbed his hair and dragged him down as it fell. Thorondor, lord of the great eagles, buried Glorfindel after the battle, and it’s said that his grave still rests above the water that now covers Beleriand.

This was the first life of Glorfindel. 

Glorfindel appears again the Third Age as one of the elves of Rivendell. He leads the elvish armies against Angmar in the Battle of Fornost. When the army is defeated and he sees Glorfindel the Witch King flees into the night (just to show you how badass Glorfindel is.) And it’s then Glorfindel that prophesizes that the Witch King will be killed in the future, but “not by the hand of men.” (I imagine that somewhere he was having a major sneezing fit while Eowyn and Merry took down the Witch King during LOTR.)

Later, during the events of the Fellowship of the Ring, it is Glorfindel (NOT Arwen) who finds Aragorn and the hobbits after Frodo’s been stabbed. He explains that he’d been out looking for the group, and had already scared off a group of the Nazgul earlier. He puts Frodo on his horse Asfaloth, and the horse carries Frodo to the Bruinen.

Glorfindel is later present at the Council of Elrond, and is described by Gandalf as “one of the mighty of the First-born”, and “an Elf lord of a house of princes.” He is known throughout the Elven kingdoms in poems and songs as “The Balrog Slayer.”

In fact, in the earliest drafts of the Council of Elrond, Glorfidel is made a member of the fellowship. It’s believed that Tolkien later took him out, as it would have made it unrealistic for Aragorn to take leadership of the company after Gandalf fell in Moria.

Now, here we have to make an awkward confession on behalf of Tolkien. It seems he was very fond of the name Glorfindel. In fact this was one of the first names, and first characters, he created when he first started thinking of Middle Earth. And it wasn’t until after LOTR was written that he realized he had used the name twice. Once for Glorfindel of Gondolin, and again for Glorfindel of Rivendell.  Since elves do not re-use names, especially the names of famous elves, he was in a bit of a tight spot. And though he’d already established that elves could be reincarnated, or re-embodied, none of these elves ever came back to Middle Earth.

It was later decided that Glorfindel was sent back to Middle Earth at some point during the Second Age by the Valar (this was most likely around the year 1600, when Sauron already has the One Ring and Numenor is still friendly with the elves.) Christopher Tolkien sates that Glorfindel was sent as a sort of predecessor of the Istari, though why exactly they sent him is unknown.

So, Glorfindel’s pretty frickin awesome, right? Then why don’t we all know about him? Because Glorfindel has horrible luck when it comes to adaptations of LOTR. In the Bakshi 1978 animated LOTR Glorfindel’s part is taken by Legolas. In the Peter Jackson movies his part is taken by Arwen. And in the 2008 stage version of LOTR he is (inexplicably) played by a woman. Poor Glorfindel. (Although apparently he is one of the playable heroes in the Battle for Middle Earth II game, so there’s that.)

  SOURCES: The Silmarillion, LOTR, LOTR Appendix A, The Return of the Shadow (by Christopher Tolkien)

“He was tall and straight; his hair was of shining gold, his face fair and young and fearless and full of joy; his eyes were bright and clean, and his voice like music; on his brow set wisdom, and in his hand was strength.”