Galadriel and Elrond’s lineage makes one powerful family tree!
The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 has already revealed that tensions are high amongst the elves after the forging of the three elven rings of power. And it’s causing friction between two friends—Galadriel and Elrond. But did you know that Galadriel and Elrond are more than that?
Galadriel’s family tree
Galadriel is an elf maiden of the Noldor. She was born in Valinor to Finarfin (son of Finwë) and Eärwen (daughter of Olwë). After Galadriel came to Middle-earth, she was staying with the brother of her maternal grandfather, King Elu Thingol, and his wife, Melian the Maia, in Doriath. There she met Celeborn. Interestingly, Celeborn, was the grandson of King Thingol and Olwë’s younger brother Elmo, and by that relation, a distant cousin of Galadriel through her maternal grandfather.
Galadriel and Celeborn fell in love, married, and had a daughter named Celebrían.
Elrond’s family tree
Elrond, as you might have heard, is often called Elrond Halfelven or Elrond Peredhel. This refers to the fact that Elrond is of mixed lineage—half man, half elf. And so is his twin brother Elros. In fact, their family has a history of those rare man and elf unions! Both brothers were given the chance to choose which life they wanted to live. Elrond chose to live an elven life while Elros chose a mortal life and became the first King of Númenor, whose line eventually gave us Aragorn, Elrond’s son-in-law! .
Elrond, like Galadriel, is a Noldorian elf with powerful lineage. His father, Eärendil the Mariner, was also half-elven—his father was a great hero of Men, Tuor, and his mother was Idril, a Noldorian elf of Gondolin and daughter of Turgon, the King of Gondolin and the one-time the High King of the Noldor.
Eärendil married Elwing, who was also half-elven. She was the daughter of Dior—the son of Beren and Lúthien and grandson of King Thingol—and Nimloth, the great-granddaughter of Elmo, brother of King Thingol and Galadriel’s grandfather, Olwë!
Small world, no?
Wait, so how are Galadriel and Elrond related again?
Apart from the complicated Noldorian lineage that they share, a more direct connection would be that Elrond’s maternal grandmother Nimloth is the niece of Galadriel’s husband Celeborn. However, in an earlier version of Tolkien’s writing, Nimloth was Celeborn’s sister, instead of the daughter of his brother (Galathil).
Luckily for us, Elrond kind of simplified even this direct relation for us by falling in love with Galadriel and Celeborn’s daughter Celebrian and marrying her!
Think about it! Galadriel is so much older than Elrond, and they started off as distant relations, then became friends, then ring bearers as Galadriel bore Nenya and Elrond bore Narya. And finally she became his mother-in-law too! So much can happen if you live long lives like the elves!
The Rings of Power has not yet given us a hint about where Celeborn is, and clearly Elrond’s future wife Celebrian hasn’t been born yet. So, go on and learn that complex family tree properly before season 2 arrives and you have to learn about all the new characters that are showing up this season, like Círdan!
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