The Elessar is the stone from which Aragorn
took
his name. This great gift came to him from the hand of Galadriel,
shortly after the loss of Gandalf the Grey. Set in a silver brooch
shaped as an eagle
with outstretched wings, the large stone was of the clear green of
sunlight
coming through spring leaves. Galadriel said that it was left in
her
care
to give to Aragorn, as had been foretold. Galadriel said that she
had
given the stone to her daughter, Celebrian, and she to her
daughter
Arwen,
and that now it was to go to Aragorn as a token of hope.
Hope was all
that
the opponents of Sauron had, so this was a more significant symbol
than
was
apparent. Also, it held a special hope which Gandalf told to
Galadriel.
Other
hopes of a more personal nature also hung to the stone, such as
the
hope
that he would become the High King and that would give him
Elrond's
permission
to marry Arwen. Aragorn's name among the Elves was Estel, meaning "hope". At
that
time
of gifting, Aragorn took on the name of Elessar, the elfstone of
the
house
of Elendil.
Tolkien gives several versions of the origin of
the
Elessar
stone, and of its properties, as he worked with the idea. The
final
statement
is that from the "Farewell to Lorien" in the Lord of the Rings,
above,
yet it leaves out much that was not required by the story, such as
its
origin
and properties. "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn" in Unfinished
Tales has some of these early versions, parts of which were
retained.
Who made the Elessar?
In the earliest version, the Elessar was made
by the
greatest
jewel-smith of the Noldorian elves, Enerdhil. Later, Tolkien
dropped
Enerdhil
and used Celebrimbor in this role, he who also made the three
elven-rings.
Enerdhil of Gondolin wished to show his greatest joy: the beauty
of
sunlight
coming through green leaves, and finally captured his vision in
the
making
of this stone.
It was said that it also held unusual
properties.
Looking
through it, the viewer could see an injured or aged thing or
person as
in
the original state of beauty and youth. Also, the wearer's hands
could
bring
healing from injury. In a later version, this power extends over
the
land
as well. In yet other versions, this power over the land lies
instead
in
the Silmaril or in the three Elven Rings. This idea of healing may
have
been
involved when it was said that the hands of the king would be the
hands
of
a healer - the power may have been augmented by or derived from
the
Elessar.
Another version has two Elessar stones.
Enerdhil made the first Elessar, but it was lost, passed away into
Valinor. However, Celebrimbor, who lived at the same time as
Enerdhil,
made another, more subtle
and clear than the original. This one was lesser only because by
that
time
Melkor had dimmed the light of the sun.
In yet another version, Enerdhil never existed,
and
Celebrimbor
made both the original and the second, lesser Elessar. The only
greater
work
that Celebrimbor did was in the making of the Three Elven Rings.
In what may be the final version only one
Elessar is
made,
and that by Celebrimbor.
The Elessar stones in all versions were never
around
the
One Ring, since their making was before the rise of Sauron.
How did the Elessar come to Galadriel?
Having made this marvel, Enerdhil gave it to the
beautiful Princess Idril, daughter of his own king and queen,
Turgon
and Elenwe, as
the one best fit to wear it. She was wearing it when Gondolin was
attacked and destroyed, after Turgon chose to ignore Ulmo's
warning.
Before sailing away in the escape, she passed the brooch to her
and
Tuor's son, Earendil, to heal the hurts of Middle-earth. She
escaped
with Tuor to the mouths of
the River Sirion and then sailed on the straight path to Valinor.
As
long
as Earendil lived in Sirion's Haven, the people, many of whom were
fugitives,
healed and prospered. Earendil wore it at sea, including on his
journey
to
ask for aid from the Valar in Valinor, but never returned from
this
final
voyage. Thus was the stone believed lost to Middle-earth.
In early versions, Celebrimbor loved Galadriel,
even
though
she loved and had chosen Celeborn. Since he could not give her
himself,
he
gave her the Elessar. Later, this unrequited love seems to have
been
dropped.
In this one, Galadriel of Lothlorien and
Celebrimbor, the
chief of the elven-smiths, were in conversation, when she
sorrowed that
in Middle-earth, unlike her old home of Valinor, the plants
withered
and
no springtime could redress the hurt. She wished her land to have
them
undying,
and asked what had become of the skill of the Eldar. They knew the
Elessar
could do such things, but had been lost in Valinor, and
Celebrimbor's
friend
Enerdhil had passed on as well. For the love he held for
Galadriel,
Celebrimbor
made a new version of the Elessar, granting her heart's desire.
She
used
it well, until she had the mightier Nenya to use, then she gave
the
Elessar
into her daughter's, Celebrian's, keeping, who in time passed it
to her
daughter,
Arwen, who intended that it be given to her beloved Aragorn.
In another version, Enerdhil is dropped, and Celebrimbor gives her the second Elessar which he makes for her.
In the final version and the one which shows
Tolkien's highest vision, Celebrimbor's feelings for Galadriel are
dropped, as is the
lesser stone. Celebrimbor makes the original Elessar to make
something
beautiful
as in the first Enerdhil story. The stone follows the old path,
going
to
Idril, to Earendil, and then to the Maiar, Olorin, who becomes the
Istari,
Gandalf.
In a midway version, we see how the stone would
have
reached
Galadriel, if we substitute Celebrimbor's name for Enerdhil's:
During Gandalf's travels, he came to Galadriel.
She
was
then probably in the Greenwood (which became Mirkwood), which she
may
have been visiting. She wished to hear news of her kin
still
in Valinor, and remembered the Undying Lands longingly, for the
way the
forest,
grass and flowers never perished. She knew perfectly well that
Gandalf
was
Olorin, a Maiar from Valinor. He asked if she was wishing for the
Elessar,
but she said that it and Enerdhil had passed into Valinor, and all
fair
things
must fade and perish. Gandalf agreed, yet said that such a fate
could
be
amended before the Days of Men, if the Elessar should come.
Galadriel said, "...surely the Valar are
now
removed
and Middle-earth is far from their thought, and all who cling to
it are
under
a shadow."
"It is not so," said Olorin. "Their eyes are
not
dimmed nor their hearts hardened. In token of which look upon
this!"
And he held before her the Elessar, and she
looked on it and wondered.
And Olorin said, "This I bring to you from
Yavanna. Use it as you may, and for a while you shall make the
land of
your dwelling the fairest place in Middle-earth. But it is not
for you
to possess. You shall
hand it on when the time comes. For before you grow weary, and
at last
forsake
Middle-earth one shall come who is to receive it, and his name
shall be
that
of the stone; Elessar he shall be called."