Elrond - broke or a stingy old dude

[Alfirin]

Well, in his defense, Elrond probably has much higher expenses than Gladriel/Celborn. Lothlorien is extremely well hidden and isolated, I'm not sure if even that many ELVES know how to get there. So I would imagine visitors are quite rare, and for the most part, Galadriel only has to worry about meeting the needs of her own people.
In Contrast, Rivindell gets a fair amount of visitng traffic (it's nearly all elf, but that's still a fair amont) It's the "last Homely House" before the Misty Mountains (which means, I suppose it's actually the "First Homely House" if you are coming from the Misty Mountains or beyond them. A lot of elves probably stop there on the way to the Grey Havens, as well as a few men of some note (Aragorn was raised there, and I would imagine that one or two other dunedain are on good enough terms with elves that they at least pop in from time to time (especially while young Aragorn lived there, to check on thier leader) Elrond has also just hosted a MASSIVE (read expensive) summit that has lasted a LONG time; his stores have likely been depleted. And what exactly could he give them? Boats would be useless at that point in the trip, he KNOWS the fellowship is going overland (actually they'd be a hinderance, as they'd be one more thing to carry, and a heavy one) He probably actually did give them some food and clothing, just after the summit he probably did not have a lot to spare of either (and Tolkein probably did not think to mention it). They have a Ranger, a Captain of the Watch of Ithillien and a skilled elven archer in the party, foraging will probably be pretty good until they can get to Lothlorien (an excess food is more weight) Cloaks like those may be a Lothlorien secret.
I would also point out that Elrond being stingy is not borne out by the fact that he gives a LOT of stuff at other times. A footnote by Tolkien to one of the illustrations in the Annotated Hobbit says that, while in Rivendell, Bilbo (and the dwarves) was actually fitted with new boots, though Bilbo left them in Rivendell on his way back (probably because he did not need them anymore) And then there is the matter of Bilbo's retirement. No only does he permit a hobbit to reside rent free for the rest of his life in his Kingdom, he (or rather his elves) gives bilbo a lot of little gifts like the silver bound pearl mouthpieced pipes he later gives to Merry and Pippen and probably the gold he gives Sam. And presumably, given where he writes it, the actual Red Book of Westmarch is written on Rivendell Parchment (and bear in mind that, unlike modern paper, parchment is hard to make and EXPENSIVE ), with Rivendell Ink and bound in Rivendell Leather.

[Mithalwen]

This just isn't true. Elrond provides generous hospitality for over a month to the fellowship as well as to Bilbo for life. When the fellowship leaves "All were well furnished by Elrond with thick warm clothes, and they had jackets and cloaks lined with fur. Spare food and clothes and blankets and other needs were laden on a pony." The pony is told by Sam that he should have stayed in Rivendell and eaten the best hay till Spring.

Lembas is in part a linguistic joke related to the origin of the word lady as meaning giver of bread. In The peoples of Middle earth Tolkien explains the origin of lembas and why it was the gift ofhigh ranking elven women only.

Tolkien bothered about the details -that is partly the reason that he published two books set in Middle Earth in his lifetime and fifteen substantial volumes of drafts essays and unfinished work have been published since.

On a side note the books forum is intended for relatively formal text based discussion. Speculation and a more relaxed style are better suited to novices and newcomers. Also should be remembered that there is a wide range of ages and cultural background here and slang should be used with caution.

[elbenprincess]

It´s just the the gifts Galadriel gave them were in the end more important than Elronds gifts, so one can easily overlook Elronds gifts.

And Lembas only Galadriel could give, at least im ME I would think. I have no idea if Galadriel teached Arwen to do it, but I would guess she did, cause Arwen would be Queen soon, and Lembas is a queenly gift.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by elbenprincess

It´s just the the gifts Galadriel gave them were in the end more important than Elronds gifts, so one can easily overlook Elronds gifts.

And Lembas only Galadriel could give, at least im ME I would think. I have no idea if Galadriel teached Arwen to do it, but I would guess she did, cause Arwen would be Queen soon, and Lembas is a queenly gift.

However it is the gift of elvish queens and in becoming a queen Arwen became mortal which may have caused her to lose the privilege. Or it may be that even in absentia Celebrian was regarded as first lady of imladris and arwen was not entitled. However I suspect the skill may have left middle earth with Galadriel.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Lembas is in part a linguistic joke related to the origin of the word lady as meaning giver of bread. In The peoples of Middle earth Tolkien explains the origen of lembas and why it was the gift ofhigh ranking elven women only.

As I have yet to get through all of HoMe, I didn't know this. Thanks for pointing it out.

On a side note the books forum is intended for relatively formal text based discussion. Speculation and a more relaxed style are better suited to novices and newcomers. Also should be remembered that there is a wide range of ages and cultural background here and slang should be used with caution.

Indeed. It would be wise of the newly dead to read the forum guidelines for posting in Newcomers and Novices. And if that isn't sufficient, then to spend some time reading threads in the forums to see the kind of style used here. We try, out of respect for The Professor, to use his language with care and respect, and to write in a usage that is understandable to the many speakers of English around the world, both native and ESL. We also don't use ellipsis for expletives, because we don't use expletives here.

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