'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power': Is Gil-galad more powerful than Elrond?
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ will raise its curtains for global viewers by September 1, 2022, on Amazon Prime Video. The series is based on late author JRR Tolkien’s iconic book ‘The Lord of the Rings and its appendices'. The much-talked-about historical drama series has been created and conceptualized for screens by showrunners JD Payne and Patrick Mckay for the global streamer. The series is set in the second age of middle-earth, thousands of years before Tolkien's ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
Some of the most important characters in the series are Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo). According to LOTR Fandom.com, "After the death of Turgon during the ‘Fall of Gondolin’, Gil-Galad received the Kingship of the Noldor. After the ‘War of Wrath’ when Maglor disappeared without any trace, he left Elrond and Elros abandoned. At that point, Galad welcomed Elrond into his ranks officially as a herald post the latter decided to be one of an elf kind. Interestingly, during the first year of the second age of middle-earth, Gil-Galad, who was also popularly known as the ‘The High King of Noldor’, established a geographically powerful kingdom called Lindon to fight against enemies. At some point in the second age, Gil-galad and Elrond were approached by a stranger called ‘Annatar’ who was actually the menacing evil ‘Sauron’ in disguise. Galad got a hunch of Annatar not being what he is trying to portray and he refused any sort of dealings with him. This word did spread like wildfire among the elves that they should not trust this stranger in any way.
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The lore of Tolkien’s middle-earth universe also revealed that it was Sauron who actually taught the elves to create the rings of power. Gil-Galad’s mistrust was apt since these rings were a part of Sauron’s wicked plan to rule ruthlessly in middle-earth. Later, Gil-Galad was entrusted with the responsibility by Celebrimbor who specially handed over the elven rings ‘Vilya’ (Ring of Air) and ‘Narya’ (Ring of Fire), two of the three rings to Galad which he passed on to his descendant Elrond and his lieutenant Cirdan before his demise in the ‘War of the Last Alliance’.
Is Gil-Galad more powerful than Elrond?
In the series which is primarily set in the second age of middle earth, we will witness the amazing dynamic between Gil-Galad and Elrond. Gil-Galad has a really strong working relationship with Elrond which would be a fascinating aspect of the show. Galad knows how the half-elf needs to prove himself. Even though Elrond is thousands of years old, he has some adolescent qualities. Elrond is trying really hard to find his place and identity in Middle-earth and Galad really helps him by being a mentor.
Opening up on this intriguing arc of teacher and student which could be the highlight of the series, Walker in a June 2022 interview with Nerdist said, “Gil-galad is going to encourage him to take the first steps and the journey towards his ultimate destiny. But he does it in the way a loving parent would, which is to allow them to make their own mistakes or to encourage them to do things and convince them that it was their idea in the first place.”
In the second age, according to LOTR Fandom.com, Elrond made a choice to be counted amongst elves and remained in Lindon as captain and herald of Gil-galad. During the end of the second age in middle-earth, Elrond went with Gil-galad in the ‘Last Alliance of Elves and Men’, which commenced from Rivendell to Mordor in SA 3431.
Very few people know that Elrond had been Gil-galad's herald during the war against Sauron. The Alliance, also including Elves from Lothlórien, Men from Arnor and Gondor, and Dwarves likely led by Durin IV, had finally defeated Sauron's army at the ‘Battle of Dagorlad’ and laid siege to Barad-dûr constantly for seven years. Eventually, Sauron had been defeated by Elendil and Gil-galad, allowing Isildur to cut that remaining ring from Sauron's finger and claim it for himself.
According to Tolkien’s observations, it is true that Gil-Galad prior to his demise had passed his Ring of Power to Elrond, which made him something of a successor. But by the ‘Lord of the Rings’ third age, Elrond's military might and political influence reduced in comparison. This also meant that the "High King of the Noldor" title withered away with Gil-Galad. Gil-Galad was probably a stronger fighter than his successor Elrond.
In the case of power dynamics, it is definitely true that Gil-Galad was the original and superior fierce warrior when compared with Elrond.
