Elven Cities

[Galin]

Legolas wrote: 'Those elves were on their way to the Grey Havens.'

Maerbenn responded: 'From The Road Goes Ever On No doubt Gildor and his companions (Vol. I., Chap. 3), since they appear to have been going eastward, were Elves living in or near Rivendell returning from the palantír of the Tower Hills. On such visits they were sometimes rewarded by a vision, clear but remote, of Elbereth, as a majestic figure, shining white, standing upon the mountain Oiolosse (S. Uilos).'

Ultimately I don't disagree that RGEO arguably provides the most direct answer here, and I think I would end up giving it the most weight. That said, I did some digging, as to my mind the chapter in which we meet Gildor and Company seems to suggest that these High Elves were wanderers from Lindon.

From the drafts for The Lord of the Rings:

Phase I

Bingo says of Elves: 'They don't really live here, though; but they often come across the river in spring and autumn.'

The Elves say [in part]: 'But we have no need of other company, and Hobbits are so dull,' they laughed. 'Come along now, tell us about it! We see you are simply swelling with secrets we should like to hear. Though some we know, of course, and some we guess. Many Happy Returns of yesterday -- we have heard all about that, of course, from the Rivendell people.' (note 17)

Gildor says: 'We are Wise-elves, and the elves of Rivendell are our kinsfolk* (note 18). But I note Christopher Tolkien's, commentary:

'The striking out of Gildor's words 'for the matter is outside the concern of such Elves as we' (note 27) is interesting. At first, I think, my father thought of these Elves as 'Dark Elves'; but he now decided that they (and also the Elves of Rivendell) were indeed 'High Elves of the West', and he added in Gildor's words to Bingo...'

So I would guess, at this point, not Elves from Rivendell, if still from 'across the river'.

Phase II

the Elves arrive: 'out of their own lands far beyond the river'

Phase III

same as phase II

Phase IV

I could find no mention of any pertinent revision to this chapter, but with respect to another chapter, Christopher Tolkien comments:

'Here the text breaks off. That Glorfindel should have set out after Gandalf reached Rivendell is at variance with the time-schemes (p. 14) and this brief draft must have preceded them. Abandoned in mid-sentence, it was replaced by another very close to what Glorfindel says in FR: he had left Rivendell nine days before; Gandalf had not then come; and Elrond had sent out from Rivendell not on account of Gandalf but because he had had news from Gildor's people -- 'some of our kindred journeying beyond the Branduin (which you turned into Brandywine)'.

This too was revised a bit for the published account it seems, as Glorfindel says: 'Elrond received news that troubled him. Some of my kindred, journeying in your land beyond the Baranduin, learned that things were amiss, and sent messages as swiftly as they could.'


But here I think that neither phrasing necessarily need mean that Glorfindel's kin had journeyed beyond the Brandywine from Rivendell [or near it], as they could simply mean that Elrond received news from other High Elves who happened to be journeying beyond the Brandywine.



In any case, looking at the four phases I can't tell exactly when 'far beyond the river' was revised to...

'... out of their own lands away beyond the Tower Hills'

... as in the final, published version.

I suppose the 'river' could mean a river other than the Brandywine, but I gave up searching for clues about that, as to my mind the implication of this last revision is that these Elves, while High Elves and kin to those of Rivendell, were not actually from, or living near, Rivendell. Okay, 'implication' at least.

So what about The Road Goes Ever On?

Perhaps Tolkien...

A) ... forgot what he had arguably implied in this early chapter in the published text, and so, in a sense he re-characterized Gildor and Company to be on a journey from [or near] Rivendell. RGEO was written much later than The Fellowship of the Ring, but who knows.

B) ... did not forget what he had published, but felt that Frodo could still be correct even if the Elves he was now meeting turned out to be High Elves from Rivendell. How could Frodo really know for certain, after all, at the point when he makes this comment.

C) ... wrote 'no doubt' meaning that he thinks so as translator, but not as author.


Gildor, if from near or in Rivendell, doesn't seem to have seen Bilbo much in any event: Bilbo said farewell to Gildor on the spot where Frodo and Gildor later converse, for instance, and: 'But I saw him once again, far from here.' But also, Gildor arrives with Elrond and Galadriel, on the way West, in the chapter The Grey Havens too.

Hmm. I suppose Gildor, if from Lindon, could have simply been in Rivendell at the start of this journey, or even planned it that way. On the other hand I suppose Gildor, if from Rivendell, could be talking of his own company when he says: '(...) But some of our kinsfolk dwell still in peace in Rivendell.'



Heheh, unless I'm missing something obvious here [in which case never mind] another question that seems to have more than one answer. As I say, despite Frodo's comment [he being a character in the book of course] about the Tower Hills, perhaps the most definitive for me so far would be the description from The Road Goes Ever On, as at least it looks at the question rather directly, and 'no doubt' is strong enough phrasing in another sense, despite C) above.


But then again, if JRRT simply forgot Frodo's arguable suggestion in the chapter where the reader actually meets these Elves, he might more easily say 'no doubt' in RGEO!

Or something