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Glorfindel () is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is a member of the Noldor, one of the three groups of High Elves. The character and his name, which means "blond" or "golden-haired", were among the first created for what would become part of his Middle-earth legendarium in 1916–17, beginning with the initial draft of The Fall of Gondolin. His name indicates his hair as a mark of his distinction, as the Noldor were generally dark-haired. A character of the same name appears in the first book of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, which takes place in Middle-earth's Third Age. Within the story, he is depicted as a powerful Elf-lord who could withstand the Nazgûl, wraith-like servants of Sauron, and holds his own against some of them single-handedly. Glorfindel and a version of the story of the Fall of Gondolin appear in The Silmarillion, posthumously published in 1977.

In later writings, Tolkien explored Glorfindel's backstory in various material relating to the First Age of Middle-earth. He worked out how both characters named Glorfindel could be one and the same, something not evident from the published version of The Lord of the Rings; the question has been debated by scholars. The incremental changes made to Glorfindel's character, most notably the introduction of the theme of reincarnation, as part of the ongoing development of Tolkien's legendarium have been analysed by scholars.

In Peter Jackson's 2001 live-action film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Glorfindel's role of rescuing Frodo from the pursuing Nazgûl by lending his horse is given to the elf Arwen. He has also featured in various video games.

Development

Conception and creation

upright|thumb|Coat of arms of Bar-en-Lothglor (House of the Golden Flower), borne on the shields of armed forces led by Glorfindel. According to Tolkien's son, [[Christopher Tolkien, "this was from the beginning the meaning of his name". An Elf of the same name appears in The Lord of the Rings, written many years after the original draft of The Fall of Gondolin: in The Fellowship of the Ring, he appears to assist the hobbit Frodo Baggins in his attempt to escape the servants of the Dark Lord Sauron, Morgoth's successor. Early notes for the Council of Elrond state that Glorfindel "tells of his ancestry in Gondolin". In the final published version of The Fellowship of the Ring, Legolas is the representative of the Elven people, though the power that Tolkien attributed to Glorfindel remains as he is depicted as being strong enough to stand against the Nazgûl, and so he is chosen to guide Frodo to safety from them. The issue lay in Tolkien's original conception of the spirits of dead Elves as being re-embodied in their old bodies after a Purgatory-like period in the Halls of Mandos in Valinor, the home of Tolkien's "gods", the Valar and Maiar, where Elves previously lived before (re)migrating to Middle-earth. After being re-embodied, previously dead Elves stay in Valinor permanently.

Tolkien eventually decided that each Elf's name should be unique, and therefore the two Glorfindels should be one and the same. He is nearly captured, but manages to drive the Nazgûl into the nearby river with the aid of Strider and Frodo's hobbit companions, where they were swept away by a wave of water resembling charging horses, an enchantment created by Elrond and Gandalf. While enjoying the hospitality of the Elves in Rivendell, Frodo was enchanted by the beauty and stature of Glorfindel and his kinfolk.

When Elrond seeks to fill the last two spots in the Fellowship to destroy the One Ring with folk of his own house, Gandalf mentioned Glorfindel. He justified the inclusion of Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took by saying:

One of the Appendices usually published with the third volume, The Return of the King, relates that earlier in the Third Age, Glorfindel led the Elvish forces of Rivendell, the Grey Havens, and Lothlórien against Angmar in the Battle of Fornost. There he fought alongside Eärnur, the future king of Gondor, along with the remnants of Gondor's sister kingdom Arnor. When the Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgûl and chief servant of Sauron, rode out to defend his ruling seat at the captured Fornost, his presence frightened Eärnur's horse and sent the prince flying backwards, and the Witch-king mocked him. Glorfindel confronted the Witch-king, who fled into the night. Eärnur wished to pursue him, but Glorfindel bade him not to and prophesied the Witch-king would fall in the far future, but not by "the hand of man". Many years later, during the War of the Ring, Éowyn (a woman) slays the Witch-king during the Battle of Pelennor Fields, assisted by Meriadoc Brandybuck (a hobbit). Before Éowyn's slaying of the Witch-king, the reference to "man" in the prophecy had been interpreted to mean that no human at all would slay him, rather than that no male human would do so.

Analysis

Alexander Lewis and Elizabeth Currie wrote that Glorfindel was a "chance reuse of no significance", and argued that Tolkien "tied himself, as well as readers and critics, in knots over the question of whether there were one or two characters of the name". Don Anger speculated that Glorfindel's unequivocal death in The Fall of Gondolin may have prevented Tolkien from making an explicit connection between this Silmarillion character and the Elf with the same name in the published version of The Lord of the Rings. Verlyn Flieger noted that the concept of Elven incarnation had been considered by the time of the publication of The Lord of the Rings. She suggested that being a devout Catholic, Tolkien initially found the idea to be theologically problematic and biologically difficult; he eventually reached the conclusion that "it is a biological dictum" in his imaginary world, and its purpose "largely literary".

The Tolkien scholar Elizabeth Whittingham cited correspondence from readers, particularly Catholics like Father Murray and Peter Hastings. This raised questions that ultimately prompted changes to the mythology of Middle-earth, as acknowledged by Tolkien and his son Christopher. Whittingham noted that Tolkien sought to make his "secondary world" compatible with his "primary world", reconsidering his focus on metaphysical and philosophical explorations from the 1950s onwards. His revisions gradually moved the texts of his legendarium into closer alignment with Christianity. She observed that Glorfindel is a notable exception to Tolkien's later stance on abandoning one of his oldest concepts, reincarnation through rebirth, and that he is Tolkien's first attempt of contemplating the portrayal of a reincarnated elf.

In Tor.com<nowiki>'</nowiki>s bi-weekly series on "Exploring the People of Middle-earth", Megan Fontenot described Glorfindel's role in The Fellowship of the Ring as a shaman-like figure, a medium who has direct access to both the spiritual (Valinor) and physical (Middle-earth) worlds, and that his purpose is to protect those who are threatened by the powers of the Shadow. She noted that his previous battle with the Balrog in the First Age essentially serves as an "initiation" to a shamanic trial and journey.

In other media

Film and stage

In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version, his role and lines from the narrative are given to Legolas. In Peter Jackson's 2001 live-action film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, his role is given to Arwen, who takes Frodo to the Ford and summons the floodwaters to disperse the Nazgûl through an incantation.

In the British musical stage adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, which ran from June 2007 to July 2008 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London's West End, the character was reimagined as a dark-haired elf-woman, played by Alma Ferović.

In the 2015 film The Martian, NASA Director Teddy Sanders asks to be called Glorfindel during the discussion of Project Elrond, a secret meeting about plans to rescue stranded astronaut Mark Watney. The film's writer Drew Goddard claimed that the reference was his proudest moment in the film.

In the Lord of the Rings Online, Glorfindel appeared as a non-player character.

The Games Workshop tabletop strategy battle game adaptation of The Lord of the Rings features two versions of Glorfindel: In one form, he is fully clad in armour, while the other has Glorfindel clad in robes and riding Asfaloth.

A version of Glorfindel appears in the Lego Lord of the Rings video game, where he is available as downloadable content.

References

Primary

Secondary

Sources

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