#celedriel

[velvet4510]

I don’t think any of us should ever overlook Celeborn’s love for Galadriel, because it’s really something.

Usually in Tolkien’s texts, it’s the girl following the guy. Lúthien followed Beren to Tol-in-Gaurhoth and Angband and later into death itself, Níniel followed Turambar to Cabed-en-Aras, Elwing followed Eärendil to Valinor, Éowyn followed Faramir to Ithilien, Arwen followed Aragorn to Gondor and later into death itself, etc. Not that this is a bad thing, not at all. (It should never be deemed disempowering for a woman to follow a man she loves and who loves her and treats her right, if that is her choice.) But overall, considering the wide variety of couples in Middle-earth, it does get repetitive sometimes.

Yet with these two, it’s the opposite. Celeborn always followed Galadriel.

When Galadriel departed Doriath, Celeborn went with her. He left all his kin behind to be with her. We don’t know for sure how his kin reacted to his relationship with a Noldo, but it could very well be that they eloped. She was just that important to him.

Then for the next 2 ages, they endured all sorts of trials and tribulations together across Middle-earth and eventually settled down in Lothlórien. There, Celeborn never tried to make Galadriel subservient to him. She had as much say in how things were run as he himself did. They were true co-rulers, equals in every way.

Then finally, Celeborn temporarily let Galadriel go. He was alright with her leaving on the White Ship to see their daughter and her parents and brothers again, while he stayed behind to finish what needed to be finished. He didn’t force her to stay with him when he himself could not (yet) leave. He didn’t hold her back from reuniting with people she loved and had lost so long ago.

And ultimately, Celeborn followed Galadriel once again. Though he was a Sinda born and bred, and never before had any desire to cross the Sea, he left his own homeland behind forever to reunite with her in her homeland. She still was just that important to him.

This guy was down bad for this girl. He lived his whole life drunk on wifeguy juice. Respect Celeborn.

[marybeatriceofmodena]

"Celeborn will be a calming influence on Galadriel" You fools. YOU ABSOLUTE FOOLS. YOU HAVE MISREAD THE WIFEGUY MANUAL. HE WILL BE 10/10 DOWN FOR THE UNHINGINESS. HE WILL BE GIL-GALAD'S SECOND HEADACHE. PREPARE FOR THE LESLIE KNOPE AND BEN WYATT OF MIDDLE-EARTH.

[cheesy-cryptid]

“The war seemed so very far away then”

[balrogballs]

celeborn appreciation post for absolutely no reason except that he exists

look at him in his cute little outfit. apologising to gimli for being mean the minute he’s called out for it. staying behind in middle earth for a bit longer because boy does he love his silly little trees. my guy really had a treehouse as an elfling and used that as an architectural model for one of the last elven strongholds of middle earth. looks adorable in literally everything he wears.

immense golden retriever energy. i know full well elladan and elrohir ran circles around him in the fourth age but he tries his best to keep them in line. man has a resting scared-face. he’s too quiet? good because literally every other elf doesn’t shut the fuck up.

i hc him as being completely obsessed with galadriel yes but also galadriel being equally obsessed with him. she gives him silly woodlandy nicknames. she calls him her squirrel. when they argue she calls him a damned monkey. he teaches himself to draw and spends the fourth age running around arwen and her kids trying to draw little portraits of them to take back to valinor when he sails so elrond and celebrían can see.

tldr: in a world of elrond “recites you the entirety of the noldolante as exposition when you ask him what he did last weekend” peredhel and thranduil “remember when we were three years old and you stole my rubber duck” the elvenking and legolas “probably leads orcs to the fellowship every morning by belting out aa elbereth gilthoniel while taking a shit in the woods” greenleaf, be a celeborn.

[celedrielarchive]

pity those who only watched the trilogy and based their impression of Galadriel and Celeborn solely on it. In the wider legendarium they have several versions of their meeting and story and all of them are extremely romantic and beautiful.

I love them falling in love in Doriath, and Galadriel leaving everything and everyone behind and staying there and even in Middle-earth first and foremost to be with him, and him later leaving everyone and everything he knows behind to travel with her.

I adore the version where they met in Valinor too, i think this one would make for an amazing on-screen adaptation. Elvendom in Valinor is in a crisis and falling apart, Galadriel of the Noldor is ready to push back against Feanorians, and suddenly she comes across a Telerin prince Celeborn who shares her convictions wholeheartedly. They fall in love and become a team, fighting together, then deciding to leave for Middle-earth together. Celeborn builds her a boat and they both sail to Middle-earth not caring for anything they left behind, or if the Valar would disapprove of their departure. And again, since then they are a team, a united front, and a constant for each other amidst the ever-changing world around them, “fighting the long defeat” together.

Can’t wait for Rings of Power to bring this beautiful dynamic to life on screen once Celeborn makes his debut at last!

[peachy-tokki]

I can't believe 2 years have gone by, and we still don't have a new actor to replace Marton Csokas for Celeborn memes. I need to complete this!

[valar-did-me-wrong]

My pinterest is on fire these days I can't help it xDxD

Part: 94/?

[jhelenivarsimae]

Celedriel Week IS Happening!!!

Here's the link to the official tumblr blog (currently under construction.) https://www.tumblr.com/celedrielweek?source=share

Artists who want to volunteer their art/make art for the banners and the backgrounds, please reach out to me! Proper credit will be given. I will be making a masterpost thanking and linking to all artists who have given permission to use their art for this event.

Thank you to everyone who voted on the poll! Please follow the official blog for updates.

[hailturinturambar]

“My husband.. Celeborn was his name. We met in a glade of flowers. I was dancing he saw me there. The war seemed so very far away then. When he went to it I chided him. His armor didn't fit properly. I called him a silver clam. I never saw him again after that.”

Galadriel talking about Celeborn in The Rings of Power S1.E7: The Eye.

[flying-mochis]

I just finished the Silmarillion so now it's time for me to loose my mind trying to discern the timeline changes in Rings of Power

mostly I was trying to figure out which "war" it was that Celeborn went missing in

but first I wanted to ground myself by figuring out when Finrod died- except that also isn't clear...

This is a very long, unedited stream of consciousness post, so I'll put it under Keep Reading. I also didn't really fact check any of this just going off my recent memory of just reading the Silmarillion so- If I got stuff wrong...woops

TLDR: Though Finrod originally dies in the Silmarillian during the Beren and Luthien, I think the RoP writers have changed his death to be sometime after the defeat of Morgoth as he's hunting Sauron. I think Celeborn went missing sometime before Finrod died, either in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (before the Fall of Doriath) or in the War of Wrath (the final defeat of Morgoth). Ultimately who knows but I'm excited to see what they do :)

In the Silmarillian, Finrod dies around late year 400 in the 1st Age protecting Beren in Of Beren and Luthien. He is killed by Sauron, as Sauron throws them in like a pit of death thingy.

but in Rings of Power, when Galadriel is giving exposition in the beginning, she basically says 'Then Morgoth was drafted, but Sauron continued to cause problems, and my brother vowed to hunt him down, then he died.' So it sounds like RoP Finrod survived the War of Wrath against Morgoth, but then died hunting Sauron afterwards.

This change would call into question how the events of Beren and Luthien played out in the RoP timeline- I guess it's not necessary for Finrod to die into order for that story to still have worked? Like maybe Luthien saved both of them or maybe Finrod never went with them. But...Part of the fall of Doriath in Hurin getting Finrods fancy necklace from Mim the dwarf after he's taken over Finrod's Kingdome in his absence- so if Finrod survived up to the fall of Doriath and past that- how would that work? I'm sure it could, there are ways to work around it so the story can still play out with those changes- or maybe they changed more major parts of the story like the fall of Doriath! That would be bold but not out of the question.

Maybe it's also possible that Finrod did still die during the Beren and Luthien story but that just happened after the defeat of Morgoth? IDK if that makes sense, because then how would Thingol have gotten the silmarill that leads to the fall of Doriath and all that stuff with Earendil and Elwing-? that has a lot more continuity changes so less likely.

Ok, moving on from Finrod. His death is at least canon from the Silmarillion, but Celeborn going missing is not. Or at least, it isn't mentioned. But one thing about Galadriel and Celeborn is that they were retconned into the story after most of the Silmarillion was written, so their presence it is extremely spotty and sometime inconsistent. It's basically mentioned that they fall in love when Galadriel and her brothers go to Doriath and she stays with him in Doriath while Finrod finds his kingdom, Nargothrond. Then she's mentioned talking to Melian like once after that right before the Dagor Bragollach (one time Morgoth surprise attacks a bunch of elf cities) and then...They basically disappear for the rest of the book until it starts talking about the rings of power in the 2nd Age-

So...There's already a lot of missing spots in there story. That's one of the reasons I think it's cool they made Galadriel a protagonist in RoP, because what she's doing in those times is very vague, though more so in the 1st Age than the 2nd- but her character could still shed some light on what she was doing then- Especially when Celeborn is introduced, cuz that's gonna require some background explanations.

So that's all just to provide the context that there is barely any context for what those two were doing before RoP takes place.

Another note about possible timelines for Celeborn going missing is its relation to Finrod's death. This is not confirmed, but I've always worked with the assumption that Celeborn went missing before Finrod died. This is based on some factors- such as Galadriel's seemingly more cheery nature when she calls him a "silver clam" before he goes off to battle---This doesn't sound like the traumatized, hardened Galadriel we know from her response to Finrod's death. Also, as other's have pointed out, if Finrod had died before Celeborn went to war and Galadriel had already become a warrior, why wouldn't she have gone to war with Celeborn? It's possible they were just going to different locations, but I don't think she would chide him to not join the fight is she was also doing so.

Running with that assumption- If Finrod did die saving Beren as he did in the Silmarillion, that means Celeborn would've gone missing in some battle before then, maybe the Dagor Bagollach. This would mean he would have missed out all everything with Beren and Luthien, everything with Turin, and everything else with the fall of Doriath at the hands of dwarfs and elves. Which I think would be a shame. There is still conflict in having missed out on a significant tragedy, but I think having him witness all those tragedies would be more interesting- and his bitterness towards dwarfs would be more understandable if he was physically there to witness their betrayal and slaughter of his people.

As I've said, its possible and probably likely that they'll change it so Finrod died much later, and this is another one for my reasons for thinking that. Aside from the other plot holes that creates, Finrod dying after the defeat of Morgoth opens up to possibilities for which battle Celeborn went missing in, so I'll continue with that assumption.

So, let's start with what Rings of Power canon we know. Not a lot, but in Celeborn's one mention in season 1, Galadriel says "When he went to [the War], I chided him." So he didn't go missing on some personal quest or whatever, he specifically went off to fight in "the war". One issue this raises is that Celeborn is from Doriath, and Doriath doesn't give a fuck. Doriath does not send any of its people off to any battles in the Silmarillion until it starts falling apart. The closest we get to Doriath elves fighting is when they hunt down the dwarves that killed Thingol and then defend themselves from the dwarves and the sons of Feanor.

One way to get around this could be making it so Celeborn and Galadriel left Doriath at some point to operate on their own. Maybe they went to live with Finrod in Nargothrond (I think it is mentioned that Galadriel stayed with Finrod there for a while, but Celeborn isn't mentioned? And I don't remember if that's in the Silmarillion or one of the unfinished tales- which are more subject to flexible canon). In which case, Celeborn could've gone off with Finrod to one of the battles- This is an interesting idea as it could show Galadriel and Celeborn being more independent and maybe dissenting from Thingol after his sus decisions with Beren and Luthien. The next battle after that story would be the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the unsuccessful battle with Morgoth right before the Fall of Doriath. The problem with him going missing in that battle, again, would be him missing out on all the drama of the Fall of Doriath.

The second explanation for Celeborn going to war would be that he goes to fight after the Fall of Doriath. It makes sense that he would be more willing to fight after seeing the destruction of his people, even if that wasn't directly at the hands of Morgoth. Galadriel's joking disposition may not make as much sense in a setting after her husband home was destroyed and his family was slaughtered- but maybe everything still felt lighter back then as long as they were together. The most likely battle he went missing in after that would then be the War of Wrath itself, the final defeat of Morgoth.

Another possibility is he went missing during the Fall of Doriath, but that wasn't much of war as it was a siege, and I feel like Galadriel would have at least tried to help out in some way in those circumstances.

Overall, the two most likely battles I see him going missing in are the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (the 2nd to last attack on Morgoth) or the War of Wrath (the final defeat of Morgoth). The Nirnaeth Arnoediad, or some earlier battle, may make more sense for Galadriel to not go Celeborn as they hadn't experienced the tragic loss of Doriath yet, but I guess the same could be said for her not going with Finrod later.

I think I prefer him at least surviving up to the War of Wrath, as that means he was around to see the Fall of Doriath, and experience all the ~fun~ trauma of that, which is one of the things that could make him more unique as a character.

There is also the question of if Celebrian is even born yet and if so, where she is. As Galadriel and Celeborn's lives are so vague in the first two ages, so is Celebrian, their daughter. I don't think we know for sure when she was born, but I believe it is mentioned in Unfinished Tales that Celebrian was alive and with them by the time they first went to Eregion. Obviously much has changed as neither Celeborn nor Celebrian were present for the fall of Eregion in Rings of Power.

Personally, I don't believe Celebrian is even born yet in RoP. As other have pointed out, Galadriel starts the series as one who has lost everything, one who has no ties and nothing left to lose. This is fundamental to her hunt of Sauron and her eventual fall to the manipulation of Sauron. It doesn't track that she would be doing all this while she has a living and present daughter to worry about or keep her grounded. It's possible both Celeborn and Celebrian are missing. I feel like should would have mentioned that to Theo when she told him about Celeborn, but she's also managed to only mention her supposedly dead husband once in 16 episodes, so clearly she's a master at putting those particular traumas in boxes to never be spoken of. I feel like having both of them be missing to show up later would be a bit too cluttered and it'd be smoother to just say she isn't born yet, but anything's possible.

I'm pretty sure the "canon" about Celebrian being born before the fall of Eregion is from Unfinished Tales anyway? Which I think of as more like a draft of Tolkien's ideas for the family, not canon in the sense of the SIlmarillion or the published stories.

Lots of "canon" falls apart around Galadriel and her family as they were added in so late and Tolkien seemed to die before writing his "final" story for them. And this is an adaptation, they aren't meant to follow "canon" like the gospel anyway, as we've seen. As I've said, the very lack of solid story around Galadriel and her families experiences through the first two ages is more exciting than anything, as it leaves so much room for the writers to get creative them and write a thrilling story that we haven't seen before. This is a chance to shine light on characters that fall under the status of "unfinished" in Tolkien ever-changing world, such as Celeborn. The only "canon" (Silmarillion) information we have on Celeborn for the 1st and 2nd Age is that he lived in Doriath during the 1st Age, he was somehow related to Thingol and later Nimloth, and he and Galadriel were in love. There's other supplementary, unpublished notes that either expand on these traits or straight up contradict them.

Based on letters nearing his death, Tolkien was clearly still thinking of how Galadriel's families story could go, but as he never "finished" with them, if such a thing is even possible, we'll never get that "canon" story from him. So it's up to us- or, in this case, it's up to the writers of the Rings of Power. So we'll see!

Wow, that was a long-winded way to say "I dunno"

[demonscantgothere]

I propose a new shipping name for Celedriel. We know them by their second names, Celeborn and Galadriel. Combined together, it makes Celedriel. Now, consider their original names: Artanis and Teleporno. Drumroll, wait for it . . .

. . . Artporno is their new shipping name.

[velvet4510]

Yeah, Frodo & Sam are a couple, and that’s all there is to it.

[mai-komagata]

so i dont care about whether Celeborn ends up in RoP one way or the other -- i trust the writers to do what is best.

But! Hearing Miv talk about Celeborn and Galadriel's love for him wished that in addition to the scene where she talks about Theo about him she had talked to Halbrand about it.

I wonder if he would have acted sympathetic. I wonder if he would have shared his own experience of loss and losing someone. I wonder if it would make him angry to know she is getting Celeborn back and he isn't getting Melkor back. I wonder if they would have reflected on the unfairness/differences between the theology/afterlife/end of the world as concerns the Ainur/Elves/Men.

I wonder if he would have lied and used this story against her, too. Or if she would use what he learned against him.

I really want to write a fic of this, but I'm having trouble with it having a story through line. I just think having these two people share their experience of loss, while also being secretly the two people who hate each other the most by the end of the season holds an interesting dynamic.

I mean I understand why they gave the scene to Theo. much less complicated, and he also needed to process the grief. (also i don't know how much they can even talk about complicated world building concepts from the Silmarillion). But still.

[partfae]

dreaming about a scene in the finale of season of s5 where galadriel, alone in lórien, sees a vision of herself sailing to valinor at last. a tendril of dark smoke follows her out over the water, and she looks at it once more, an unexplainable expression on her face. she turns her back on it, and elrond smiles softly at her.

when they land, elrond leaps from the boat and splashes through the water to greet celebrían, weeping, and galadriel follows him into the shores of morning.

when the shot pulls back to her in the present, she is standing at her mirror. she touches the water and exhales. when celeborn comes to join her, there are tears in her eyes—but she smiles, and it’s real.

[hailearendel]

"He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat." (FoTR, book I)

[celedrielarchive]

Morfydd talks about Celeborn, the impact of his absence on Galadriel and what his future comeback will mean for her:

“I’d love him to pop up cause I think it will be nice for her to have an ally. There’s this part of her we don’t know yet because we haven’t seen her with her beloved…”