[radagastly]

I think that Elrond was looking at the bigger picture. Rivendell was "The Last Homely House," the last refuge of all the elves of Middle-Earth on their way into the West. Such a place must be well defended, at the very least. Certainly his own presence, with his Ring, was needed right where it was. That doesn't mean he would have been discovered, if he had gone with the Fellowship. Certainly, Gandalf was able to conceal his Ring throughout the story, and there is no reason to believe that Elrond and Galadriel could not do the same. In fact, Galadriel said as much:

'I know what it was that you last saw,' she said; 'for that is also in my mind. Do not be afraid! But do not think that only by singing amid the trees, nor even by the slender arrows of elven-bows, is the land of Lothlorien maintained and defended against its Enemy. I say to you, Frodo, that even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought. But still the door is closed!'

She lifted up her white arms, and spread out her hands towards the East in a gesture of rejection and denial. Earendil, the Evening Star, most beloved of the Elves, shone clear above. So bright was it that the figure of the Elven-lady cast a dim shadow on the ground. Its rays glanced upon a ring about her finger; it glittered like polished gold overlaid with silver light, and a white stone in it twinkled as if the Even-star had come down to rest upon her hand. Frodo gazed at the ring with awe; for suddenly it seemed to him that he understood.

'Yes,' she said, divininng his thought, 'it is not permitted to speak of it, and Elrond could not do so. But it cannot be hidden from the Ring-bearer, and one who has seen the Eye. Verily it is in the land of Lorien upon the finger of Galadriel that one of the Three remains. This is Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper.

'He suspects, but he does not know--not yet. Do you not see now wherefore your coming is to us as the footstep of Doom? For if you fail, then we are laid bare to the Enemy. Yet if you secceed, then our power is diminished, and Lothlorien will fade, and the tides of Time will sweep it away. We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten.'

That should be enough to know that Sauron was looking for any sign or presence of any of the Three. For Elrond to venture forth with the Fellowship would have brought the Enemy down on them immediately:

'He suspects, but he does not know--not yet.

Obviously, Sauron was not stupid. He had figured out where the Three were most likely to be hiding. He simply could not 'detect' them the way he (or the Nazgul) could 'detect' the One. He simply wasn't sure. "Doubt ever gnaws him." as Gandalf put it.

In addition, while Lothlorien seemed to live in the Old Days (whatever that may mean,) Rivendell seemed to recall the best parts of them without imposing them on the visitors. (I forget where it is described as such, I think it's Sam talking, but if anyone can find it, I'd be grateful.) And, of course, the Ring of Fire, at the Havens, would rekindle their hearts for the voyage ahead. There were very few that knew that Cirdan had given his Ring to Gandalf. Possibly even Elrond and Galadriel did not know for sure.

To sum up, Lothlorien was the world of Eternity that the Elves lived their daily lives in, Rivendell was the transition towards the inevitable, mundane world of Men, and the Ring of Fire, (which should have been at the Havens with Cirdan) gave the Elves the final strength of will to venture across the Sea, to the Undying Lands. Most of them who were left had never been there. Not even Elrond himself. If Elrond had taken his Ring away from Rivendell, it might well have destroyed any chance his people had of escaping the evils of Middle-Earth and finding Peace in Valinor. Don't think for a second that he didn't know that. To take his Ring from Rivendell would have stopped the migration in its tracks.

As for possibly sending Glorfindel, I believe Elrond had strategic reasons for keeping him. If Sauron even suspected that one of the Three resided in Rivendell, he would have assailed it with all the forces he could muster and spare. Until the One was destroyed (or lost), keeping the Three a secret would have to be utmost in Elrond's mind. Therefore, at the very least, he would have to 'hold out' until all was lost, and probably fight an epic battle in his own house to do so. Having Glorfindel, the only character in the book besides Gandalf who ever killed a Balrog, would be a great benefit in such a fight.

Originally Posted by Mansun
This is a good response which shows deep understanding and organisation. However, the lore and power of Elrond was sorely needed in Minas Tirith at the uttermost end of need prior to the siege of Gondor. His coming would have renewed hope to Gondor. We may have even seen an army of elves or high elves follow him to Gondor at the eleventh hour, as in the Two Towers film in Helm's Deep.

Unfortunately, by this time, Elrond was a virtual stranger in Gondor:

from The Council of Elrond:
Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our father, Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond and Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters.

This seems to be the only reference to Elrond from Gondor in the entire book. (If anyone can find any other, please let me know.) It is probably all that Denethor knew of him; his name. Add this to the fact that Minas Tirith was not their intended destination (except for Boromir and Aragorn) and it would have done little good for him to go, and a great deal of harm for him to leave. As for Elrond 'summoning' the Council:

from The Council of Elrond:
'That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called, I say, though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are here met, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world.'

Denethor's knowledge of Elrond seems to be an invention of the Extended edition of the movies, understandable shorthand, but without basis in the source story. He was, at best, an obscure legend, perhaps even a myth, but nothing more. Just enough for Boromir to go north to seek him, though he left Gondor months before Frodo left Hobbiton. Even if Elrond had come to Minas Tirith, the Battle of the Pellannor Fields would have been lost before Denethor would have admitted him to his hall. He would have been a nobody.