Elmo

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Elmo
Sinda
Irsanna - Elmo.jpg
"Elmo" by Irsanna
Biographical Information
LocationDoriath
LanguageCommon Telerin
Sindarin
BirthBetween Y.T. 1105 and 1150
Family
ParentageUnknown (descendant of Enel & Enelyë)[1]
SiblingsThingol
Olwë
ChildrenGaladhon
Physical Description
GenderMale
GalleryImages of Elmo

Elmo was an Elf of the royal house of the Teleri. He was the younger brother of the two Kings of the Teleri, Elwë and Olwë.

History[edit | edit source]

Elmo and his elder brothers were directly descended through eldest son to eldest son from Enel, the first of the Nelyar to awaken. Unlike his older brothers who had been born by the time the Elves were found by the Valar, Elmo was born during the Great Journey.[2]

He remained behind in Beleriand after Elwë was lost in Nan Elmoth and Olwë departed for Valinor. After Elwë returned as Elu Thingol, Elmo became one of the Sindar in Doriath.[3]

Given that Elmo’s grandson Celeborn was reckoned a prince of Doriath,[4] it is likely that Elmo was likewise a prince. It is unknown if he survived the sack of Doriath or what his fate was otherwise. No specific deeds are ascribed to Elmo,[3] and he is largely notable for his descendants: Celeborn, who was one of the noble Sindar, and Nimloth, who was briefly Queen of Doriath, when she married Dior, Thingol's successor.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The name Elmo is in Quenya. Its meaning is unclear, but it could be a combination of él (being a poetic word for star) and the suffix -mo ("person").[5]

Elmō was also a Primitive Elvish name for the planet Venus.[6]

Genealogy[edit | edit source]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Enel
awoke in Y.T. 1050
 
Enelyë
awoke in Y.T. 1050
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Melian
 
Thingol
d. F.A. 503
 
Olwë
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ELMO
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Beren
F.A. 432 - 503
 
Lúthien
Y.T. 1200 - F.A. 503
 
unnamed sons
 
Eärwen
b. Y.T.
 
Finarfin
b. Y.T. 1230
 
Galadhon
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Galadriel
b. Y.T. 1362
 
Celeborn
b. Y.T.
 
Galathil
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dior
F.A. 470 - 506
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nimloth
d. F.A. 506
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Other versions of the legendarium[edit | edit source]

Elmo was developed to explain the reference in The Silmarillion that Celeborn was a "kinsman of Thingol". One of the solutions was to establish Celeborn as the son of an unimportant brother of Thingol. Depending on the texts, Elmo is considered as a younger brother of Elwë (Thingol), the grandfather of Celeborn[7] or his father[8].

In a draft genealogy of Elwë and Elmo's descendants dated to December 1959 that Christopher Tolkien rejected from Unfinished Tales, Nimloth is the granddaughter of Elmo rather than great-granddaughter (sister rather than daughter of Galathil).[9]

In other, later writings, Celeborn is a Teler of Aman rather than a Sinda of Doriath, and a grandson of Olwë rather than of Elmo.[3] Without further revision to Galadriel's own genealogy, this origin for Celeborn would cause the couple to become first cousins. Tolkien did not develop this idea further.

Nelwë[edit | edit source]

In The Nature of Middle-earth there appears a character called Nelwë. There, he is presented as an ancestor of Celeborn (who was an elf of Aman in this version of his history), and a younger brother of Elwë, Olwë, and Eärwen[note 1].[10]

The entire text in which he appears, however, was struck through and rejected.[10] While it is not explicitly mentioned anywhere by Tolkien that the character of Nelwë is equivalent to that of Elmo, or otherwise the latter's literary successor, he nonetheless fulfills the same role as an ancestor of Celeborn, in which the kinship of Celeborn and Thingol is elaborated on in a more exact manner.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The name Nelwë is in Quenya, but its meaning is not entirely clear. The second element of the name -wë is a suffix used mainly in masculine names of the First Age, being an old word for "person".[11] According to Paul Strack, the first element of the name might be a derivation from the root NEL ("three").[12]

Genealogy[edit | edit source]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elwë
 
Olwë
 
NELWË
 
Eärwen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Celeborn
 
Galadriel
 

Notes

  1. Eärwen is never mentioned in the above text by name - and her being a sister of Thingol and Olwë is an idea that doesn't seem to appear anywhere else in the legendarium. In all other texts, she is depicted as the daughter of Olwë instead.

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: XVII. Generational Schemes", p. 127
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: XVII. Generational Schemes", p. 142
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", last paragraph before the section "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn", p. 233
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Doriath"
  5. Paul Strack, "Q. Elmo m.", Eldamo - An Elvish Lexicon (accessed 23 March 2022)
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part Three. The World, its Lands, and its Inhabitants: I. Dark and Light", Text 1B, p. 281
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"
  8. J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: XVIII. Elvish Ages & Númenórean", p. 148
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Three. The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion: V. The Tale of Years", p. 350
  10. 10.0 10.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part Three. The World, its Lands, and its Inhabitants: XVI. Galadriel and Celeborn", p. 349
  11. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", p. 340
  12. Paul Strack, "Q. Nelwë m.", Eldamo - An Elvish Lexicon (accessed 25 March 2022)