1.05: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Partings

[Teresa Edgerton]

I had a thought today, about the story Celebrimbor told Elrond about Eärendil saying he would go to Valinor and ask for help in the fight against Morgoth because he was "the only one who could." But I think that either Celebrimbor is lying, or the scriptwriters are confused. Or both. Because there was something I had forgotten—or maybe never knew—and just came across a mention of in looking something else up: In Eärendil's generation the half-elven did not have a choice to be either Elves or Men—as was given to Elrond and Elros, and to Elrond's children— and Eärendil (despite being the son of Idril, an Elf) was a mortal man, forbidden to set foot in Valinor on pain of death (although, as it turned out, Manwë chose not to enforce the sentence). So he might well be considered one of the last people who should attempt it.

Such was his courage, and such was the need of Men and Elves at that time, that he chose to sail his ship there anyway. Yet any Elf Mariner on the shores of Middle-Earth might be considered a more likely person to make the voyage successfully, go before the Valar, and make his case.

So was Celebrimbor a liar, or did the scriptwriters make a mistake? It's a flaw in Celebrimbor's story that Elrond should have caught, and therefore not an error that Celebrimbor would be likely to make. Of course, since I don't trust Celebrimbor, I prefer to think that it was a scriptwriter's error and also that Celebrimbor made the story up.

Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

 

[Elckerlyc]

Celebrimbor does mention that Eärendil was a mortal man.
It would all depend on Why he, Eärendil, thought - or indeed was - the only one who could do it, despite being forbidden to go there. Alas, the Why part was neatly omitted. The whole point of this side-tale was to have Elrond do something he considered (morally) impossible; breaking his oath.
So yeah, I think it's most likely the scriptwriters made this up and didn't think it through carefully enough.
And Celebrimbor is almost certainly lying. In a way the story is too neat and appropriate to be true.

 

[farntfar]

As I recall, as he was the first halfelven he considered himself to be uniquely able to plead for the help of the Valar: able to present the need of both Elves and Men. Yes he was a man, but he did have that unique status.

There was certainly a risk that he would invoke the wrath of the Valar, by going to Valinor when it was forbidden, But he considered this too to be a proof of the desperate need that they had.

What always struck me about the story was that the Valar quite clearly knew that it was about time they intervened, but they needed this act of one fairly insignificant man to get them to actually do it.

But this seems to be the case in lots of stories about people and gods. Despite being omniscient, (or at least nicient enough to know when they should intervene) the gods only act when some sort of penitence, or worse sacrifice is performed by one of the hoi-poloi.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Dior was the first ..well, Dior was not precisely half-elven*, being half Man, one quarter Elf, and one quarter Maia. Elwing, Eärendil's wife and Dior's daughter, was ... it's too late at night for me to be doing math. But I get your point, farntfar. Eärendil was unusually (if not quite uniquely) qualified to speak for both Men and Elves. Also your point about sacrifice, which might be even more important, before the Valar would act.

But I'm with Eickerlyc, in that Celebrimbor's rendering of the story is a little too slick to be true.

______

*Neither was Elrond, for that matter. For most of those the name was applied to Half-Elven is a misnomer.