Culture news This mistake by Tolkien could have spoiled The Lord of the Rings: he ultimately decided not to have him join the Fellowship of the Ring
When we talk about a novel, we often talk about the errors in its adaptation to the cinema. However, novelists are not perfect either. They too can make mistakes and that includes a writer named JJR Tolkien, who had some difficulty with a certain character named Glorfindel.
A powerful elf
The golden-haired elf lord, named Glorfindel, had a much more important role than in Peter Jackson’s adaptation. If you’ve seen the films, you probably remember that when the Nazgul pursue Frodo, it’s Arwen who saves the Ring Bearer. The two characters try to escape the demonic entities in a horse chase, which ends in favor of the two protagonists. However, if you’ve read the books, you know this passage is different. Indeed, the novel sees Glorfindel pushing the Nine back into the waters of the Bruinen using torches. He then takes Frodo to Rivendell and will be in favor of destroying the ring.
In reality, this elf already exists in the past. Over 5,000 years ago, he was lord of the House of the Golden Flower of Gondolin. It is in the “Silmarillion”, a posthumously published work by JJR Tolkien, that we learn more about his former life. He would have fought a Balrog alone in order to allow his people to survive the fall of the city of Gondolin, dragging this bloodthirsty beast with him into the other world!
The Fellowship of the Ring Elf
If this character was born from the good ideas of the British writer and led to endless pages of texts on reincarnation among the elven people, the chapter which followed the rescue of Frodo had to be rewritten because of a bad idea . Indeed, in the final version, it is Legolas who joins the hobbit in his quest. A powerful archer, he is very popular with the public for his philosophical side and his relationship with Gimli, the dwarf. However, we could have had a completely different story, because in the first version, it is Glorfindel who is part of the community of the Ring!
If such a heroic character had been part of the rest of the adventure, his power would have been rather difficult for the British poet and novelist to control. With such a strong and brave companion, the quest would probably have ended sooner than expected and the difficulties encountered by the group would have been resolved more easily.