Who is your favourite Celeborn?

[Elmo]

I've wanted to do a poll on this for ages but I don't think that will ever happen. Which Celeborn do you think best fits the one in Lord of the Rings? The Nandorin one who lived east of the Blue Mountains all his life, The Sindarin one grandson of my namesake or the Telerin one Teleporno?

I think my least favourite one is Teleporno despite the name, as doesn't Galadriel state that Celeborn is the wisest Elf of Middle Eath? Which totally contradicts him being of Telerin origins.

My favourite is the Sindarin one as this is the one we get the most detail on from more sources so it makes Celeborn more fleshed out unlike the Nandorin one. Also the sack of Doriath by the dwarves adds an extra spice to his encounter with Gimli don't you think?

[Galin]

In The Lord of the Rings Celeborn remains in Middle-earth when Galadriel departs, and I see no good reason for Celeborn, as a Telerin Elf from Aman, to do this. Also, in the Telerin conception, Galadriel and Celeborn are first cousins. Best to avoid this in general, in my opinion.

With respect to this separation of Galadriel and Celeborn, there is a 'new' letter for consideration, and I find Tolkien's response notable here -- when JRRT was considering this matter (as I am not sure he always did), the implication in this letter is not only that Celeborn had never been to Aman, but had 'refused' the call of the Valar. Celeborn the Avar?

'(...) These comments imply that Celeborn could have left Middle-earth with Galadriel if he had wished, and Tolkien's replies to queries from readers seem to confirm this. In his unpublished letter to Eileen Elgar, begun 22 September 1963 he comments that Celeborn and Galadriel were of different kin: Celeborn was of that branch of the Elves that, in the First Age, was so in love with Middle-earth that they had refused the call of the Valar to go to Valinor; he had never seen the Blessed Realm. Now he remained until he had seen the coming of the Dominion of Men. But to an immortal Elf, for whom time was not as it is to mortals, the period in which he was parted from Galadriel would seem brief.'

Hammond And Scull, The Lord of the Rings, A Reader's Companion

Basically on the right track in my opinion, as far as the story of The Lord of the Rings is concerned, but I don't think Celeborn need have been Avarin. In general I think the Nandorin origin is a nice enough idea, giving Celeborn a more ancient start in his realm perhaps; and this notion is not wholly discordant with what is published in The Lord of the Rings, as CJRT notes.

But all things considered, I think Celeborn the Sindarin Elf is best. And this is the conception that not only agrees with explicit statements in both The Lord of the Rings and The Road Goes Ever On (both published by JRRT himself), but in my opinion can be well enough fitted to JRRT's later 'unpublished' ideas concerning the movements of Galadriel and Celeborn in the Second and early Third Ages.

I note that the Telerin idea also involves a notable contradiction with respect to the already published history of Galadriel as well. And according to the Telerin version Celeborn's history was not only altered, but in Beleriand the counsel of Galadriel and Celeborn: 'was to withdraw from Beleriand and to build up a power eastward (...) befriending and teaching the Dark Elves and Men of those regions', and they both: 'departed over Ered Lindon before the end of the First Age'. (Unfinished Tales).

Again I like Sindarin best; and this represents what I, personally, consider the 'official' version as well, being published by the author himself and which was taken up by CJRT in the constructed Silmarillion. Second place for me, probably Nandorin.