Half-elves

There were three (possibly four) alliances of elves and people who created heirs. The three most famous alliances were concluded between representatives of the most important dynasties of elves and people: high elves and edain : Lúthien and Beren , Idril and Tuor , Arwen and Aragorn . The first two couples married at the end of the First Age of Middle-earth , and the third at the end of the Third Age (about 6500 years later). The third pair came not only from the first two, but also from the twin half-elves, Elrond and Elros , who, respectively, chose the fate of the elf and man, sharing their fate and the fate of their descendants. In Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings , Tolkien writes that with the marriage of Aragorn to Arwen

... the long-divided branches of the half-elves were united, and their line restored.

The second marriage was the only one of the three in which the elf (Idril) did not become mortal, instead Tuor was counted among the elves.

The fourth union, between the Numenorean Imrazor and the elf, Nandor Mitrellas of the Nimrodeli retinue, from whom Galador, the first prince of Dol Amroth and the ancestor of Imrahil , was born , is described only in “ Unfinished Tales ”.

Like many other ideas in Tolkien's mythology, the concept of half-elves was borrowed from Old Norse mythology , where elves and humans sometimes had children together.

First Age

Two important marriages were entered into the First Age of Middle-earth , which resulted in a mixture of elven and mortal blood.

The first of these was between the mortal Beren of the House of Beor and Lúthien , daughter of the elf Thingol , king of the Sindar , and Melian , one of Mayar . Beren died during the campaign for the Silmaril and, desperate, the spirit of Lúthien left her body and reached the Halls of Mandos . Mandos heeded the prayers of Lúthien and resurrected both her and Beren in Middle-earth as mortals. There they lived until their second deaths.

Their son, Dior , heir to the kingdom, Sindar Doriath and Silmarill, respectively, was one quarter elf by blood, one quarter Maya (half immortal, respectively) and half human (half mortal). However, since he was born after the resurrection of his parents, the nature of his mortality is unclear. In any case, he was killed while still young, when the sons of Theanor sacked Doriath.

Dior's wife was Nimloth , an Elven Sindar, and three children were born in this marriage: daughter Elving , as well as sons Elured and Elurin . Elured and Elurin were killed along with Dior (it is also possible that they managed to survive, but no one ever heard of them anyway), and Elving managed to escape to the mouth of Sirion .

A second marriage between humans and elves in the First Age was concluded between Tuor from the House of Hador , another branch of the Edain , and Idril Celebrindal , an elf who was half-Noldian by birth. Their son was Earendil . After the fall of Gondolin, Earendil also fled to the mouth of Sirion and took Elving as his wife. This couple had twins, Elrond and Elros . Both twins were at 2/32 Mayar, at 18/32 elves (from this share - at 5/32 vaniard, at 3/32 - Noldor and at 10/32 - Sindar) and 12/32 people (from this share - on 8/32 from the House of Beor, on 2/32 - from the House of Chalet and on 2/32 - from the house of Hador).

After the War of Wrath

After the end of the War of Anger, Manwe decided that each half-elf surviving in it should determine their fate: whether to be an elf (free to live in the Immortal Lands , while Arda exists) or a person (doomed to the Gift of People, death, but capable of penetrating the liberated spirit after it unknown outside Arda). This choice could be delayed, although not ad infinitum.

Earendil would like to choose the destiny of man, but Elving preferred the fate of the elves. Moreover, since Earendil reached the Immortal Lands thanks to the strength of the Silmaril , he was forbidden to return to the mortal lands. As a result, his ship Wingilot was raised to the celestial spheres to travel forever in them with the Silmarill Beren and Lúthien on the bow. In Middle-earth, he was observed as an evening star , and the light of the Silmarill was collected in the Galadriel violet . Elving built a tower on the shores of the Shadow Sea and often met there with Earendil when he returned from daily sailing.

Elros chose the destiny of man and became Tar-Minyatur , the first king of Numenor . He died voluntarily (for the kings of Numenor had the freedom and mercy to do this of their own free will) at the age of five hundred years. The descendants of Elros had no such choice, but their life was several times longer than the lives of ordinary people. In later times, the kings of Numenor , descendants of Elros, began to regret the choice of their ancestor, which ultimately led to the fall of Numenor .

Elrond chose the fate of the elf and entered the retinue of King Gil-Galad , where he stayed until the end of the Second Age . In the Third, he founded Rivendell - the refuge of the elves. Elrond married Celebrian , the daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel , and sailed west after the War of the Ring .

Elrond's daughter, Arwen , married Aragorn , king of Elessar of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor , which connected her fate with people and became mortal. After the death of Aragorn, she died alone on the mound Kerin Amroth in Lorien , having lived 2901, in sadness for the brevity of her mortal happiness. Their son Eldarion and, possibly, their daughters were no longer considered half-elves; rather, they were fully restored to the Dunedain.

Tolkien’s books do not say what fate Elladan and Elrohir , brothers of Arwen, chose. But their decision was to be manifested in the form of consent or refusal to accompany Elrond overseas. However, Tolkien wrote that they remained in Rivendell; accordingly, there is an opinion that they chose life and death in Middle-earth as edain . On the other hand, they could leave Middle-earth with Celeborn, who, after leaving Lorien with his people, lived for a long time in Rivendell.

• Tolkien J.R. R. (edited by K. Tolkien). The Silmarillion (any edition).
• Tolkien J.R. R. Lord of the Rings (any edition).
• Tolkien J.R. R. (edited by K. Tolkien). Unfinished tales .