Gildor Inglorion
Encyclopedia
Gildor Inglorion is a fictional character
from J. R. R. Tolkien
's Middle-earth
legendarium
. He was a Noldor
in Elf
of the House of Finrod. In The Lord of the Rings
he met Frodo Baggins
and his friends in the Shire
. The appearance of his band (along with the chants to Elbereth) warded off the Black Rider searching for the Hobbits.
and were returning home after a pilgrimage to the Emyn Beraid when they met Frodo. The elves provided shelter to the hobbits. Gildor warned Frodo to avoid the Black Riders, gave the hobbits food and lodging for the night — and greatly impressed Sam
. The next morning when the hobbits woke up, the elves had gone, but they left food for the hobbits.
Gildor sent ahead news of Frodo's flight. Tom Bombadil
learned of Frodo's plight through Gildor. Aragorn
understood from him also that Gandalf
was missing, that Frodo had left the Shire without Gandalf, that Black Riders were trailing Frodo, and that Frodo had not been seen leaving Buckland.
At the end of The Lord of the Rings Gildor is seen accompanying Bilbo
, Elrond
, and Galadriel
to the Grey Havens.
, and this Finrod had a son Inglor Felagund. Since Inglorion means "son of Inglor", the straight-forward reading is that "Gildor Inglorion" was the son of Inglor, son of Finrod, son of Finwë, which would make him an elf of very high lineage.
But this is not borne out in any of the later genealogies that Tolkien left behind. Finrod son of Finwë was renamed Finarfin
, and the name Finrod was transferred to his son Inglor, who became Finrod Felagund
. Most of the published references to Finrod were corrected to Finarfin, but this one was not. Moreover, Gildor appears in none of the genealogies. We are left with Gildor as the son of an otherwise unknown Inglor, with no obvious genealogical connection to Finwë, Finarfin, or Finrod. Although Gildor had some standing among the Exiles, as his leadership of his party indicates, the phrase "of the House of Finrod" now has no clear meaning. Hammond and Scull point out that this might mean merely that Gildor belonged to the household of Finrod. We simply don't know whether Tolkien intended a blood connection.
's movie trilogy, but the extended edition briefly shows the exile Elves walking through the woods. They are identified by Frodo Baggins
as Elves "going into the West
".
In the musical version of The Lord of the Rings
, the character of Gildor is female and given the name Elránien (one of two Elven-lords to be made female for the production, Glorfindel
being the other). She was played in Toronto by Monigue Lund and in London by Alexandra Bonnet.
The character features in the musical number The Road Goes On, along with other exile Elves.
The change of name is due to the fact that the name Gildor has the suffix 'dor', which in Tolkien's Elven languages is a masculine suffix used only in the names of male Elves. The name Glorfindel, the other Elf to receive a gender change in the musical, has a neutral suffix that could appear in male or female names. Therefore there was no need to change the latter's name.
The name Elránien translates roughly as "Wandering Elf", in reference to the nature of the character's life as an exile Elf.
moths, Elachista gildorella, has been named after Gildor Inglorion by Finnish entymologist Lauri Kaila along with a number of other species that were given names inspired by Tolkien's characters.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
legendarium
Legendarium
Legendary may refer to:*A hagiography, or study of the lives of saints and other religious figures**The South English Legendary, a Middle English legendary*A legend-Entertainment:*Legendary, an album by Kaysha*Legendary...
. He was a Noldor
Noldor
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor are Elves of the Second Clan who migrated to Valinor and lived in Eldamar. The Noldor are called Golodhrim or Gódhellim in Sindarin, and Goldoi by Teleri of Tol Eressëa. The singular form of the Quenya noun is Noldo and the adjective is Noldorin...
in Elf
Elf (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...
of the House of Finrod. In The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
he met Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
and his friends in the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
. The appearance of his band (along with the chants to Elbereth) warded off the Black Rider searching for the Hobbits.
Appearances
Gildor's company of elves came from RivendellRivendell
Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth...
and were returning home after a pilgrimage to the Emyn Beraid when they met Frodo. The elves provided shelter to the hobbits. Gildor warned Frodo to avoid the Black Riders, gave the hobbits food and lodging for the night — and greatly impressed Sam
Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardner and commonly as Sam, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. Samwise is one of the chief characters in Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, in which he fills an archetypical role as the sidekick of the protagonist, Frodo...
. The next morning when the hobbits woke up, the elves had gone, but they left food for the hobbits.
Gildor sent ahead news of Frodo's flight. Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil is a supporting character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in Tolkien's high fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, published in 1954 and 1955. In the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins and company meet Bombadil in the Old Forest...
learned of Frodo's plight through Gildor. Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
understood from him also that Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
was missing, that Frodo had left the Shire without Gandalf, that Black Riders were trailing Frodo, and that Frodo had not been seen leaving Buckland.
At the end of The Lord of the Rings Gildor is seen accompanying Bilbo
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...
, Elrond
Elrond
Elrond Half-elven is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Hobbit, and plays a supporting role in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.-Character overview:...
, and Galadriel
Galadriel
Galadriel is a character created by J.R.R. Tolkien, appearing in his Middle-earth legendarium. She appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales....
to the Grey Havens.
Ancestry
Gildor's ancestry appears to be a loose thread that Tolkien never properly tied up. Gildor calls himself "Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod". At the time Tolkien was writing this, the name Finrod referred to the third son of FinwëFinwë
Finwë, sometimes surnamed Noldóran, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was the first High King of the Elven Noldor to lead his people on the journey from Middle-earth to Valinor in the blessed realm of Aman. He was a great friend of Elu Thingol, the King of Doriath...
, and this Finrod had a son Inglor Felagund. Since Inglorion means "son of Inglor", the straight-forward reading is that "Gildor Inglorion" was the son of Inglor, son of Finrod, son of Finwë, which would make him an elf of very high lineage.
But this is not borne out in any of the later genealogies that Tolkien left behind. Finrod son of Finwë was renamed Finarfin
Finarfin
Finarfin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, featured in The Silmarillion.-Personality:Unlike the warlike Fëanor and Fingolfin, Finarfin was something of a pacifist...
, and the name Finrod was transferred to his son Inglor, who became Finrod Felagund
Finrod Felagund
Finrod Felagund is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. He appears in The Silmarillion, the epic poem The Lay of Leithian and the Grey Annals, as well as other material....
. Most of the published references to Finrod were corrected to Finarfin, but this one was not. Moreover, Gildor appears in none of the genealogies. We are left with Gildor as the son of an otherwise unknown Inglor, with no obvious genealogical connection to Finwë, Finarfin, or Finrod. Although Gildor had some standing among the Exiles, as his leadership of his party indicates, the phrase "of the House of Finrod" now has no clear meaning. Hammond and Scull point out that this might mean merely that Gildor belonged to the household of Finrod. We simply don't know whether Tolkien intended a blood connection.
Adaptations
Gildor does not appear in the theatrical release of Peter JacksonPeter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
's movie trilogy, but the extended edition briefly shows the exile Elves walking through the woods. They are identified by Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
as Elves "going into the West
Aman
-External links:*...
".
In the musical version of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings (theatre)
The Lord of the Rings is the most prominent of several theatre adaptations of British author J. R. R. Tolkien's epic high fantasy novel of the same name, set in his world of Middle-earth. The show includes music by A. R. Rahman, Christopher Nightingale, and the band Värttinä, with book and lyrics...
, the character of Gildor is female and given the name Elránien (one of two Elven-lords to be made female for the production, Glorfindel
Glorfindel
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Glorfindel is a name used twice for an Elf appearing in the tales of Middle-earth. He is introduced in various material relating to the First Age of Middle-earth, including The Silmarillion. The second instance is for a character of The Lord of the Rings, which...
being the other). She was played in Toronto by Monigue Lund and in London by Alexandra Bonnet.
The character features in the musical number The Road Goes On, along with other exile Elves.
The change of name is due to the fact that the name Gildor has the suffix 'dor', which in Tolkien's Elven languages is a masculine suffix used only in the names of male Elves. The name Glorfindel, the other Elf to receive a gender change in the musical, has a neutral suffix that could appear in male or female names. Therefore there was no need to change the latter's name.
The name Elránien translates roughly as "Wandering Elf", in reference to the nature of the character's life as an exile Elf.
In popular culture
A species of ElachistaElachista
Elachista is a genus of gelechioid moths. It is the type genus of the grass-miner moth family . This family is sometimes circumscribed very loosely, including for example the Agonoxenidae and Ethmiidae which seem to be quite distinct among the Gelechioidea, as well as other lineages which are...
moths, Elachista gildorella, has been named after Gildor Inglorion by Finnish entymologist Lauri Kaila along with a number of other species that were given names inspired by Tolkien's characters.