Ælfwine

From Tolkien Gateway

Ælfwine, called by the Elves Eriol, was the first Man to find the Straight Road and visit Tol Eressëa after many millennia. His story is told in The Book of Lost Tales.

History

Although there is no such framework in the published version of The Silmarillion, some of the later writings of Tolkien indicate that he didn't fully abandon the idea of a framework. However, although Ælfwine is still referred to in some writings he wrote after The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien ultimately changed the intended framework of The Silmarillion from the tale of Ælfwine to one based around Bilbo Baggins' edits of "Elvish lore".

Ælfwine is also given as the author of the various translations in Old English that appear in the History of Middle-earth series. A minor discrepancy is that whereas Ælfwine is described as hailing from the north-west of England, his Old English texts are in the Mercian dialect, which was Tolkien's favourite.

Etymology

The name Ælfwine simply means "Elf-friend", and is the Old English equivalent of Elendil and of course Elfwine. It is possibly intended as a cognate of Alboin and Alwin.