# The Three Riders from Rivendell



## 1stvermont (Dec 25, 2019)

It has been some time since I last read LOTR so the answer might be in front of me [when they reach Rivendell?] but the chapter "flight to the ford" it says three riders were sent by Elrond to find Aragorn and the Hobbits. One was sent north, another south and one west. We know of course Glorfindel. But who were the other two? they must have been powerful because they are said to be the few who could ride openly against the nine. 

Thanks.


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## CirdanLinweilin (Dec 25, 2019)

1stvermont said:


> It has been some time since I last read LOTR so the answer might be in front of me [when they reach Rivendell?] but the chapter "flight to the ford" it says three riders were sent by Elrond to find Aragorn and the Hobbits. One was sent north, another south and one west. We know of course Glorfindel. But who were the other two? they must have been powerful because they are said to be the few who could ride openly against the nine.
> 
> Thanks.


Elladan and Elrohir?


CL


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Dec 25, 2019)

That's a possibility; Aragorn says that they "have returned out of the Wild unlooked-for", which seems strange, if they were sent with the specific mission of finding Frodo. It's ambiguous.

What Glorfindel actually tells Aragorn is "There are few even in Rivendell that can ride openly against the Nine; but _such as there were, _Elrond sent out north, west, and south" (my emphasis).

Since Glorfindel was alone, we might infer the others were also, but it's not specified in the text; the others, whoever they were, could have been Elves of lesser power, and have gone in groups.


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## 1stvermont (Dec 26, 2019)

Thanks.


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## Olorgando (Dec 26, 2019)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> That's a possibility; Aragorn says that they "have returned out of the Wild unlooked-for", which seems strange, if they were sent with the specific mission of finding Frodo. It's ambiguous.
> What Glorfindel actually tells Aragorn is "There are few even in Rivendell that can ride openly against the Nine; but _such as there were, _Elrond sent out north, west, and south" (my emphasis).
> Since Glorfindel was alone, we might infer the others were also, but it's not specified in the text; the others, whoever they were, could have been Elves of lesser power, and have gone in groups.


I wouldn't want to place too much emphasis on "unlooked-for". With that big detour Aragorn took (unforeseeable by all including himself), no return, even Glorfindel's, could have been "looked for". Don't forget, besides beings sons of Elrond (as was Arwen the daughter), Elladan and Elrohir were also the grandsons of Galadriel (!) through her daughter Celebrían. *They* were the ones who rescued their mother after she had been captured by Orcs (no mention of "supporting troops" as so often in actual history - Napoleon invaded Russia; um, yes, with half a million troops or the like). But especially after rescuing their mother, they seem to have taken on a severely "not amused" reaction to Orcs, slaughtering them where they could find them. If their weapons were anything close to Orcrist and Glamdring as found by Thorin's company in TH, they would probably have reduced the three trolls encountered by the latter to salami slices in no time. They were also among those sent out to scout between October 1418 SR (arrival of "Strider" and the four Hobbits at Rivendell) and December 1418 SR, when the Fellowship finally got underway.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Dec 26, 2019)

Yes, they could well have been sent on the search; I meant only that it's not so stated in the text. They could as easily been on another mission altogether, and been absent when the news came from the Elves in the Shire. The rest of Aragorn's statement is "-- and they had tidings that I wished to hear at once". What were these "tidings"? We never learn; if they went in search of Frodo, absent any other encounters, the report would have been "nope -- we didn't find him".

I'd still call it ambiguous. I suspect the author wasn't overly concerned with the sequence; after all, an early draft explains Aragorn's absence from the feast by saying that he was in such demand as a chef that he spent the whole time in the kitchens!


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## Olorgando (Dec 26, 2019)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Yes, they could well have been sent on the search; I meant only that it's not so stated in the text. They could as easily been on another mission altogether, and been absent when the news came from the Elves in the Shire. The rest of Aragorn's statement is "-- and they had tidings that I wished to hear at once". What were these "tidings"? We never learn; if they went in search of Frodo, absent any other encounters, the report would have been "nope -- we didn't find him".
> 
> I'd still call it ambiguous. I suspect the author wasn't overly concerned with the sequence; after all, an early draft explains Aragorn's absence from the feast by saying that he was in such demand as a chef that he spent the whole time in the kitchens!


Vague memories that they "visited" grandma Galadriel in Lothlórien, though whether that was before Aragorn and the four Hobbits managed to reach Rivendell or after, before the Fellowship of nine left it - memory fails.

Aragorn competing with Sam?!? Oh *HELP!!!* 🤪


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## 1stvermont (Dec 26, 2019)

Just read in many meetings [fotr] "elladan and Ellohr were away on errantry" during the dinner but it seems with the rangers of the north attacking orcs as they often did because of their mother. However enough time was passed that they might have gone after frodo and returned, only to leave once more. But I think it might support what was said by * Squint-eyed Southerner*


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## Alcuin (Dec 26, 2019)

Olorgando said:


> Vague memories that they "visited" grandma Galadriel in Lothlórien, though whether that was before Aragorn and the four Hobbits managed to reach Rivendell or after, before the Fellowship of nine left it - memory fails.


Elladan and Elrohir did visit Lórien on behalf of their father: from “The Ring Goes South” in _The Fellowship of the Ring_,
they … made a great journey, passing down the Silverlode into a strange country, but of their errand they would not speak to any save to Elrond.​Now the same passage indicates that other scouts also passed over the Dimrill Stair, but it does not describe their activities other than searching for servants of Sauron, the Ringwraiths in particular. The “strange country” is clearly Lórien, I believe.

In “Lothlórien”, Haldir tells Legolas and Frodo when he first meets them that
“[T]he messengers of Elrond passed by Lórien on their way home up the Dimrill Stair.​Haldir is clearly not informed about the Ring or any other of the concerns of the Wise, but his statement would seem to indicate that he thinks Elladan and Elrohir, “the messengers of Elrond”, traveled beyond Lórien: I suspect that instead they stayed many days with Celeborn and Galadriel, relating what they knew of Frodo’s flight and pursuit, what had transpired between Saruman and Gandalf, all the other debates and information exchanged at the Council of Elrond, and everything else they had learned in Rivendell; and Celeborn and Galadriel then told them what they knew, and they received the counsel of the their grandparents to give to their father. Since Elladan and Elrohir “would not speak [of their errand] to any save to Elrond,” it is not surprising that Haldir knows nothing of this, and may have mistaken the long delay between their coming to Lórien and leaving as an indication that they visited some other destination. 

I, too, have wondered who might have been sent out by Elrond to confront the Nazgûl south and north of Rivendell. In the essay “Glorfindel” in _Peoples of Middle-earth_, Tolkien writes,
[Glorfindel] was one (the most powerful, it would seem) of those sent out from Rivendell when the disquieting news reached Elrond that Gandalf had never reappeared to guide or protect the Ring-bearer.​But as far as I know, he never describes whom else was sent out from Rivendell, whether alone or in small groups. 



1stvermont said:


> Just read in many meetings [fotr] "elladan and Ellohr were away on errantry" during the dinner but it seems with the rangers of the north attacking orcs as they often did because of their mother. However enough time was passed that they might have gone after frodo and returned, only to leave once more. But I think it might support what was said by  Squint-eyed Southerner


I think so, too. Elladan and Elrohir were clearly entrusted by Elrond with his innermost thoughts and concerns in their visit to Celeborn and Galadriel, and were deep in his councils. They had returned out of the wild the evening Frodo awoke: Aragorn tells us that when Bilbo asks him why he was not at the feast. It stands to reason that besides Glorfindel and Erestor, Elrond’s chief counsellor, Elladan and Elrohir also attended the Council of Elrond. 

It’s off topic, but I strongly suspect that although Tolkien disclaims knowing what became of them, Elladan and Elrohir, like their sister Arwen, elected to remain in Middle-earth after Elrond left.


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## Elthir (Dec 27, 2019)

If memory serves, it was Glorfindel, Endorfin, and Griffindor.

If memory serves.


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## Olorgando (Dec 27, 2019)

Galin said:


> If memory serves, it was Glorfindel, Endorfin, and Griffindor.
> If memory serves.


Those latter two have certainly escaped the notice of my "wood-pulp-memories" Foster, Tyler and Schneidewind …


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