Elessar of Eärendil

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(For other meanings, see Eärendil (disambiguation))

Elessar by John Howe

The Elessar of Eärendil was a fabulous green gem made in Gondolin during the First Age. Stories of its creation differ in detail: some name Enerdhil as its maker, but Celebrimbor son of Curufin was more likely to have been the jewelsmith who created it. The Elessar had the light of the Sun trapped within it, and those who looked through it were said to see the withered or aged as whole and young again. It was even claimed to have some power of healing.

This Elessar was saved from the Fall of Gondolin by Idril, who gave it to her son Eärendil, and with Eärendil it was carried across the Sea to the Blessed Realm. In the Third Age, another Elessar was seen—the Elfstone given by Galadriel to Aragorn—and some said that this was Eärendil's jewel, brought back to Middle-earth by Gandalf. In truth, Aragorn's Elessar seems to have been a new stone, also made by Celebrimbor, with less power than the original jewel.