Gildor's Halls

Investigating a Middle-earth Mystery

Copyright Matt "Gildor" Light, 2000
Edited by Lowell R. Matthews for The Guild Companion

Editor's note: The key points of this essay were originally posted to the Tolkien List,
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Silad!
One day in the Shire, Elanor asked Gildor, "Where are your halls?"
Good question. Though the evidence is not conclusive and some sources seem
contradictory, I think those halls were either at Lindon or, most likely, in the Tower
Hills where the seventh palantir, the Stone of the Emyn Beraid, looked straight to
Eressa. I picture those halls as a remnant of an ancient Elvish settlement, more rustic
than Lothlrien, but like it. I also think that the Elves whom Frodo encountered at
Woody End included both Gildor's own folk and some from Rivendell who had come
west on pilgrimage.
Here are some sources for my view. First, the following quote from the Prologue says
that when the Shire was settled, Elves lived all the way to the Mountains of Lune:
"In the westlands of Eriador, between the Misty Mountains and the Mountains of
Lune, the Hobbits found both Men and Elves."
This would include everyone from Elrond's folk at Rivendell to Crdan's at the Havens.
Gildor's "halls" could be at either place or someplace else between them. More
specifically in this passage, in which Frodo and Gildor have not yet introduced
themselves, Frodo tells Sam:
"They [Elves] don't live in the Shire, but they wander into it in Spring and
Autumn, out of their own lands away beyond the Tower Hills."
Therefore, the Tower Hills are generally regarded as the edge of the Elvish lands.
Though these lands would include the Grey Havens, it is interesting that neither quote
mentions the Havens; instead, they mention the Mountains of Lune and the Tower Hills.

(Note also that they are not exclusively Elvish lands for, much as at Lrien and Eregion,
the Elvish settlements are adjacent to Dwarvish halls in the Ered Luin, the Third Age
remnants of Gabilgathol and Tumunzahar.)
From the non-canonical The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle, Tolkien's notes on "A
Elbereth Gilthniel" include the following suggesting that Gildor's band, in addition to
staying at Rivendell, is often at the Tower Hills:
"The Elves in Rivendell could only be said to 'gaze afar' in yearning. But actually
the form used in the hymn is palandriel (past part.), 'having gazed afar.' This is a
reference to the palantir upon the Tower Hills (the 'Stone of Elendil'); see note 2
in Appendix A, Vol. III, p. 322. This alone of the palantri was so made as to
look out only west over the Sea. After the fall of Elendil the High-Elves took
back this stone into their own care [boldface added], and it was not destroyed,
nor again used by Men."
The High-Elves (such as did not dwell in or near the Havens) journeyed to the Tower
Hills at intervals to look afar at Eressa, the Elvish isle, and the shores of Valinor, close
to which it lay. The hymn in Vol. I, p. 250, is one appropriate to Elves who have just
returned from such a pilgrimage.
"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
palantir 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 Oioloss (S. Uilos). It was then that she was also addressed by
the title Fanilos ["Snow-white]."
In Tolkien's idiom here, the phrase "No doubt" is an indicator that this is supposition,
not certain fact, and it seems to me likely that some members of the group Frodo meets
are from Rivendell, but to me the quote does not suggest Rivendell:
"we are lodging in the greenwood far from our halls. If ever you are our guests
at home, we will treat you better."
Since Rivendell is well known, I would think Gildor would specify it if Rivendell were
his band's halls (i.e., "If ever you are our guests at Rivendell"), especially were he
going there. Frodo even tells Gildor his destination"My plan was to leave the Shire
secretly, and make my way to Rivendell"and even then Gildor does not identify
Rivendell with his halls. His advice simply is, "I think you should still follow that plan";
again later, "I think you should go now at once." If Rivendell were Gildor's halls and his
destination, he would likely have invited Frodo to accompany him. Most important,
though, Gildor says he has only seen Bilbo once at Rivendell, when Frodo asks:
"'Tell me, Gildor, have you ever seen Bilbo since he left us?' Gildor smiled. 'Yes,'
he answered. 'Twice. He said farewell to us on this very spot. But I saw him once
again, far from here.'"
Presumably he saw him that once again at Rivendell; therefore, Gildor did not live at
Rivendell. Also, since Bilbo was going to Rivendell, he certainly would not say
"Farewell" to Gildor at Woody End if he were going to Gildor's home! Saying

"Farewell" to Gildor also indicates that he knew Gildor and his folk fairly well. And we
know that Bilbo over the years had encountered Elves, perhaps even visiting them in the
Tower Hills or Lindon, a day's ride away (it is much less likely that Bilbo would have
encountered Gildor often if Gildor instead lived 500 miles away in Rivendell). This
canonical source, though contradicted by the later, non-canonical The Road Goes Ever
On passage, proves that Gildor did not live at Rivendell. However, the existence of the
Stone is canonical. The Tower Elendil built (of which Frodo dreams at the end of "A
Conspiracy Unmasked") is where the Tower Hills get their name; furthermore, Gandalf
describes it in "The Palantir":
"Few now know where, for no rhyme says. But in the House of Elrond it is told
that they were at Annminas, and Amon Sl, and on the Tower Hills that look
towards Mithlond in the Gulf of Lune where the grey ships lie."
Also, there is the footnote in Appendix A:
"The only Stone left in the North was the one in the Tower on Emyn Beraid
that looks towards the Gulf of Lune. That was guarded by the Elves, and though
we never knew it, it remained there, until Crdan put it aboard Elrond's ship when
he left."
(Of course, Elrond's ship was also Gandalf's, Frodo's, Gildor's, and Galadriel's ship!) In
fact, if the palantiri were indeed made by Fanor, then Gildor may have been
considered an heir of the Stone. Gildor identifies himself as "of the House of Finrod":
"'I am Gildor,' answered their leader, the Elf who had first hailed him. 'Gildor
Inglorion of the House of Finrod.'"
This phrase resonates for me with a couple of connotations. First, it means there is a
continuity of the House of Finrod in Middle-earth in the Third Age, continuity
through a House and "halls" as well as through relatives residing in the same area. Also,
Gildor is the "leader" of the group that Frodo encounters, suggesting Gildor is Finrod's
heir (others in it were likely of the "house of Finrod," but not leading the group),
whether cousin (perhaps once or twice removed), nephew, grandnephew, etc. Lowell
and I agree that Finrod himself never married (his Vanyarin betrothed did not leave
Aman), and as the good Professor evidently thought illegitimacy something beneath his
noble Elves, that rules out direct descendants. However, we think that we can exploit the
inconsistencies in the reported ancestry of Ereinion Gil-galad, last High-King of the
Noldor, to create a blood relationship between Finrod and Gildor. In the version
published in The Silmarillion, Gil-galad was made the son of Fingon, hence grandson of
Fingolfin. In some History of Middle-earth Series versions, however, Gil-galad was
made the son of Orodreth, who was in turn made Finrod's brother or nephew in varying
versions. I prefer adhering to the canonical Silmarillion, keeping Gil-galad the son of
Fingon, while elaborating on Tolkien's intimations from "HoMe" that Orodreth had an
important son as wellGildor's father Inglor ("Gildor Inglorion" means "Gildor, son of
Inglor"). With Inglor (who presumably died or sailed West prior to the meeting of Frodo
and Gildor) as the son of Orodreth, he would have been Galadriel's nephew, Gil-galad's
second cousin, and Fanor's great-half-nephew. Gildor would in turn be Galadriel's
great-nephew, Gil-galad's second cousin once removed, and Fanor's great-great-halfnephew. That would make Gildor Fanor's closest living relative in Middle-earth at the
time except for Galadriel (Fanor's half-niece) and possibly the wandering, incognito

Maglor (his second son). (Under some interpretations, including Lowell's, it is possible
that Inglor was merely a high-ranking vassal of Finrod, not a blood relative, and thereby
a member of Finrod's "House" in the larger sense of noble household or court, not in the
narrower sense of family.) If, hypothetically, the House of Finrod had worked with
Elendil in the construction of the Tower of Emyn Beraid (which I do not think is so farfetched given the Elves' interest in the palantir and its uses for viewing Eressa), and
had later been involved in guarding it (especially after the death of Gil-galad), then
Gildor could well have been viewed as the heir to the Stone. Finally, Lindon and the
Ered Luin are likely places to find Elves of Beleriand (including Finrod's kingdom of
Nargothrond) as well as those of the Falas (Crdan's former fief) remaining in Middleearth. The Ered Luin range appears in maps of both The Silmarillion and The Lord of
the Rings, and The Silmarillion index notes of Lindon:
"A name of Ossiriand in the First Age. After the tumults at the end of the First
Age the name Lindon was retained for the lands west of the Blue Mountains that
still remained above the Sea."
In The Silmarillion, we find this entry at the beginning of Chapter 10:
"Now as has been told the power of Elw and Melian increased in Middle-earth,
and all the Elves of Beleriand, from the mariners of Crdan to the wandering
hunters of the Blue Mountains [boldface added] owned Elw as their lord."
So, even in the First Age, there were Elves in the Blue Mountains. From p. 298:
"In Eriador Imladris was the chief dwelling of the High Elves; but at the Grey
Havens of Lindon there abode also a remnant of the people of Gil-galad the
Elven-king. At times they would wander into the lands of Eriador, but for the
most part they dwelt near the shores of the sea, building and tending the Elvenships wherein those of the Firstborn who grew weary of the world set sail into the
uttermost West. Crdan the Shipwright was lord of the Havens and mighty among
the Wise."
So we have a few strains here: One group of Elves lives at the Havens, but others
wanderin a place where there have long been wandering Elvish hunters. Another
group lives at the Tower Hills, guarding the Stone. Crdan, an original Telerin Elf, lives
at the Havens, having relocated from the Falas (first to the Havens of Sirion, then to the
Grey Havens). But remnants of the people of the High-King Gil-galad (variously
Finrod's first cousin once removed or nephew) also live in Lindon. In fact, the map
suggests other Elven settlements exist on the Gulf of Lune, since Harlond and Forlond
are noted in the same type of letters that note Rivendell, Hollin, and the Wood-Elves
(though they are smaller than all-caps LORIEN). In Beleriand, Crdan at the Falas and
Finrod at Nargothrond were allies and friends. It makes sense that, as Crdan relocated
to the Havens at the flood and collapse of Beleriand, other groups of Elves would have
relocated to neighbouring areas such as the Ered Luin and the Tower Hills. So I think
that one of these groups, guarding the Stone, was Finrod's. It may have included
elements of the wandering hunters. It would have been part of Gil-galad's kingdom in
Lindon. Its people would have lived as allies of Crdan at the Havens much as Finrod
and Crdan had been allies.
"the realm of Nargothrond extended also west of Narog and Finrod became

the overlord of all the Elves of Beleriand between Sirion and the Sea, save only in
Falas. There dwelt those of the Sindar who still loved ships, and Crdan the
shipbuilder was their lord, but between Crdan and Finrod there was friendship
and alliance."
After Gil-galad, Gildor "of the house of Finrod" might well have been the "leader" of
this "remnant of the people of Gil-galad the Elven-king." Namri, Gildor

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