The Hobbit - Chapter 03 - A Short Rest

[Raynor]

In general, there were great migrations from Estolad ("many thousands") to the realms of three houses of the noldor in Middle Earth, as told in Of the coming of Men into the West, Silmarillion - the reason being that the noldor saw hope in their great numbers in the war against Melkor. In particular, we know that Fingolfin, king of all the noldor, sent messages of welcome to them and Caranthir offer a part of his land and protection to the people of Haleth. For a good while, elves and men lived together in these realms - until the Firstborn realised that the Men need their own leaders and domains.

I believe they were most welcome in the land of Finrod Felagund, seeing that: he was the first to discover them; he often visited them before these great moves; he obtained from Thingol the permission for the people of Haleth to dwell in Brethil, (which Greymantle claimed as his own).

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

the name 'Alfred' means 'elf-friend'

Actually Ælfred means 'Elf-counsel' (i.e. counselled by elves). The name you're thinking of is Ælfwine.

I think that it's possible to go too far in trying to tie in the Elves of The Hobbit with those of the Silmarillion and LotR. Had Tolkien realised that he would come to write a more serious and adult sequel, and had he realised that he would use the more Germanic elves of his Silmarillion legends in the later story, he would probably have written more serious-minded Elves for The Hobbit. However, in so doing he would probably have been compelled to write different parts for the Elves of Mirkwood, dropping the drunken gaoler, then possibly the barrel escape and the arrival at Lake-town. Although it can be disappointing to do so, sometimes we have to accept that this is a fictional story which has been cleverly but imperfectly grafted onto an older set of legends of which it was never fully intended to be a part. I am sure that Tolkien did regret later some of the less congruous touches, particularly once he realised the directions in which his sequel was developing. Nevertheless he did write them, and they reflect his early ideas concerning the proper content of children's stories. His total rejection of this thinking once The Hobbit had come out is one of the reasons why we have such a marked division between the nature of elves in his earlier and later published works. One of the reasons, since his interest in the developing legends of Middle-earth had clearly grown to such an extent by the time he sat down to write a sequel that he was unable to maintain a distinction between the Shire stories and the legends of Beleriand, and came to combine the two. This was unfortunate for The Hobbit since it transforms it from a charming and well-conceived children's story into an episode of the Matter of Arda, in which niche it does not sit at all comfortably.

I'm not sure that there's any significance in the difference between the perceptions of Elrond and Galadriel among the mortals of LotR. Elrond has clearly taken more of an interest in human affairs, particularly in his relations with the Northern Dúnedain, who are his main mortal contacts. The attitudes we see in LotR towards Galdriel are expressed by Rohirrim, who are separated from Rivendell by the Misty Mountains. If word had ever come to them of Imaldris, it would have seemed a myth after passing through so many mouths (after all it had become a legend in Gondor, where written records were kept that went back to Isildur's time). Also, being hidden in the wilderness, Elrond's people are less accessible to prying eyes and minds, and less likely to be the stuff of dark local legend; but Lórien is close enough to Rohan to be feared. Perhaps Celeborn and Galdriel were just unlucky to acquire such excitable neighbours.

[Lobelia]

While Squatter probably has it right about why the Elves of The Hobbit are so different from those of LOTR (spoilsport! ) I would like to think that they aren't entirely different, they just don't speak modern English. Remember that scene after supper in Rivendell where Bilbo recites his poem, much to the applause of the Elves? Whatever we think of their seriousness, Bilbo certainly seems to enjoy living there. For him, it's still the place to be if you want to eat, sleep, read or whatever. It's still a wonderful place to be, the very essence of hospitality and comfort, a break from the troubles of the outside world. The Elves of Lothlorien live a lot closer to the troubles and are, in general, a more serious bunch. But even here, there is a similar description of what it's like to be visiting Lorien, and Sam says that, among other things Galadriel is merry.