Lord of the Rings: 9 Secrets of Celeborn

In The Lord of the Rings, Celeborn is best known for being the husband of the powerful elf Galadriel. Tolkien imagined this character as a great elven leader. From his place in Tolkien’s writings to his role in Peter Jackson’s films and the expanded universe, here are 8 facts you (maybe) didn’t know about Celeborn.

#9 Celeborn is just a rough draft of Galadriel

The creation of the character of Celeborn is inevitably linked to that of his wife, the famous and powerful elf Galadriel. Indeed, it was while he was developing the character of Galadriel that Tolkien thought about creating a companion for her. In the first drafts of The Fellowship of the Ringthe name of Galadriel already appears, but at this point her husband is Elrond. Surely aware of the challenge of creating multiple stages for the community, Celeborn is already mentioned. Galadriel and Elrond being both very important, Tolkien divides them and Galadriel thus joins Celeborn. In this version, the Mirror of Galadriel belongs to Celeborn (and it is Sam who looks into it) and it is also he who distributes some of the elven gifts. But after revising his text, Tolkien transfers these elements to Galadriel.

#8 Celeborn is an enigmatic character

If Celeborn is presented as the Lord of Lórien, His origins, his family and his previous life are only mentioned in an allusive manner. In Unfinished Tales and LegendsChristopher Tolkien explains that the story that unites Galadriel and Celeborn is one of the most complex in Middle-earth. Indeed, Tolkien wrote and rewrote the story of this couple and Celeborn’s origins half a dozen times. According to the texts, Celeborn comes from completely different elven populations, lives in completely different places, does not always travel to the same places or fight in the same way. Even after having laid out an a priori definitive history of Celeborn and his couple in the appendices of the Return of the King, The author would further retouch his story in later texts which even modified the identity of his children.

#7 Celeborn is a member of the largest gathering of heroes in Lore.

After the creation of the Rings of Power and the first terrible war of the Elves against Sauron, it seemed obvious to the most powerful beings of Middle-earth that it was imperative to come together to plan and synchronize their actions in order to fight against Sauron. Following the War of the Elves against Sauron, the new White Council appeared for the first time. Although we do not know the precise list of all those who may have taken part, we do know that he successively allowed representatives of all the free peoples of Middle-earth to join. Thus, Dwarves, Men, Elves and magicians met there.At the first White Council, the various members present wished to consult together after having discovered the return of Sauron to Dol Guldur. They were supposed to define the means to fight effectively against this return. Consisting of Elrond, Círdan, Radagast the Brown, Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White but also Galadriel and Celeborn, This first council saw Saruman designated as leader of the gathering, against the wishes of Galadriel and Celeborn who would have preferred that the White Council be led by Gandalf the Grey. However, Saruman eventually betrayed the council’s cause a few centuries later. If Galadriel and Celeborn’s advice had been heeded, many tragedies could have been avoided.

#6 Celeborn is not the king of the kingdom he rules

Lothlórien, or simply Lórien, is a forest populated by Elves.led by Galadriel and Celeborn. Yet, as surprising as it may seem, Galadriel and Celeborn are not the rightful rulers of this place.The first inhabitants of the wooded region later known as Lórien were a group of Elves of the Nandor population. By the Second Age, Sindar Elves had enriched its population, and the forest was ruled by a Sindarin king, Amdír. It was probably around this time that Celeborn and Galadriel settled in Lórien. Amdír perished in the War of the Last Alliance. His son, and the last Sindarin king of Lórien, was Amroth.Amroth, having fallen in love with a mysterious Elf named Nimrodel, lived a tortured love story. Nimrodel eventually fled Lórien. Amroth went to Gondor in search of Nimrodel. After many adventures and an encounter with a Balrog, Amroth and his strange love found themselves on a ship and wished to leave Middle-earth. Finally, at sea, Amroth found himself separated from his beloved again; in despair, he threw himself into the water and drowned. The Elves of Lórien are unaware of what has happened to their king. Since the Elves are near-immortal, they cannot rule out that he will return one day and cannot choose a “real” new king.. However, The couple Celeborn and Galadriel form are particularly respected, and they are referred to as Lord and Lady of Lothlórien.

#5 Celeborn is fed up with humans

The film trilogy adapted from the Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson is about 9 hours of film, That’s true, but it’s also over an hour of deleted and/or unshot scenes. One notable addition from the films is the presence of a troop of elves who arrive as reinforcements. to help the men of Rohan during the Battle of Helm’s Deep. This scene, which is quite surprising and does not exist in the books, was originally supposed to be introduced and justified by a long scene where Elrond and Arwen came to meet Celeborn to ask him to send a troop to help the men.It was then that Celeborn, who, like most elves, is preparing to leave Middle-earth, explains that he is tired of observing the weakness of men, to which Elrond replied: “To believe in the weakness of men is to believe in the strength of Sauron.” These beautiful words eventually convinced Celeborn, and that is why an elven detachment is visible in The Two Towers.

#4 Celeborn is a great warlord

During the War of the Ring, the fortress of Dol Guldur is one of Sauron’s main strongholds. Led by the Nazgûl Khamûl (which we discuss in more detail here), She unleashes her legions of orcs upon the forest elven kingdoms. The kingdom of Lothlórien, ruled by Celeborn and Galadriel, must therefore face the orcs and the Nazgûl. While Galadriel wishes to use her warrior skills on the battlefield, Celeborn, himself, establishes battle strategies that will lead his people to victory.. In the end, Lothlórien suffers three consecutive attacks; Lothlórien suffers serious damage, but all three attacks are successfully repelled, and Celeborn seems more proud than ever of his people.

#3 The Rings of Power series left Celeborn for dead

Series The Rings of Power has on many occasions had fun modifying the story imagined by Tolkien. Among the many strangely different elements, the first season shows a Galadriel consumed by the certainty that Sauron is alive but indifferent to the fate of her husband. Indeed, while she stops for a moment to talk with the character named Theo, she takes the time to talk about her family life. She mentions that her husband, Celeborn, went to fight Morgoth during the Elven War against this evil being, but he never returnedGiven this information, she is normally unsure whether Celeborn is alive or not, but she clearly seems to be more worried about her enemy’s fate than that of her loved ones at this point in the plot.

#2 Celeborn and Galadriel divorced

After the disappearance of Sauron and his master Ring, Middle-earth is finally about to live without having to fear the threat of a dark lord. Celeborn then leaves for the forest of Mirkwood to meet Thranduil, elven king of the Forest Kingdom and father of Legolas (who is discussed in more detail here). Together, They renamed the forest Green Leaf Forest. Thranduil retains authority over the northern part of the forest, while the central part has been given to the Beornings and the Woodmen. Celeborn, meanwhile, claims the southern part of the forest as part of Lothlórien. This region was named East Lórien.After that, Celeborn and Galadriel accompany their granddaughter Arwen to Minas Tirith, where she marries Aragorn. The elven couple then go to King Théoden’s funeral. But something seems different between the two thousand-year-old elves. Finally, a few years later, Galadriel makes the decision to leave Middle-earth, while Celeborn prefers to stay and rule Lothlórien. The couple is therefore separated. A form of nostalgic sadness seems to affect Celeborn, and he moves away from his kingdom to live with his grandsons Elladan and Elrohir. Eventually, Celeborn finds no more joy on the continent and leaves Middle-earth himself. without it being known whether he will be able to find his wife again.

#1 Celeborn was killed by the Mouth of Sauron

In the expanded universe, the three attacks on Lothlórien are staged very differently. in the game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II. In this reinterpretation of Tolkien’s writings, the troops of the fortress of Dol Guldur are composed of orcs, trolls and two Nazgûl, who are no longer led by Khamûl but by the Mouth of Sauron (Which we talk about in more detail right here). Despite strong resistance, the Elves are crushed. Galadriel manages to escape and takes refuge in Rivendell; but Celeborn, himself, was killed during this terrible conflict.And if you liked this article, don’t hesitate to discover 9 facts you didn’t know about The Goblin King part 1 and 2, Azog, Bolg, Sauron, Elrond, The Balrog, Gollum, the oliphants, Shelob, Éowyn, Éomer, Boromir, Denethor, Faramir, Gandalf the Grey, Elendil, Gimli, Bombur, Thorin, Théoden, Bilbo, Arwen, Merry, Gollum, The Uruk-hai, the Elves, Smaug, Radagast, Treebeard, The Mouth of Sauron, The Orientals, Grima Serpenttongue, Bard, Beorn, Dunharrow’s Army of the Dead and The Witch-King of Angmar.