Elfstone

Elessar by John Howe

The Elessar, translated as Elfstone in Westron, also known as Stone of Eärendilm was one, or possibly two, fabulous green gem(s) whose legends of creation are conflicting and complex.

History

The Elessar, or at least the first of them, was made in Gondolin during the First Age. Some name Enerdhil the jewelsmith as its maker, but Celebrimbor son of Curufin as its creator. The Elessar was green as the leaves but had the light of the Sun trapped within it; it was marveled by the Noldor, 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.

A legend says that Celebrimbor, who was in love with Galadriel, remade another version of the lost jewel with less power than the original jewel. It was made as her behest in the Second Age, pained at the state of Middle-earth.

However another legend says that when the Wizards were sent from Valinor to Middle-earth, Olorin brought back Earendil's jewel as a token from Yavanna that the Valar had not forsaken them; as Gandalf, he gave it to Galadriel, and remarked prophetically to Galadriel that she would only hold it for a little while, before she passed it to another, who will also be called Elessar.

The Elessar of the Third Age

Whatever the origins of the Elfstone were, it was given by Galadriel to her daughter Celebrían, who in turn gave it to Arwen.

However by the time the Fellowship of the Ring visited the wood of Lothlórien it was again under Galadriel's possession. When the Fellowship parted and offered them her gifts, she also offered it to Aragorn. This giving held the function of a wedding gift from the family of the bride to the groom, foretelling his marriage to Arwen.

Another point of note, is that Aragorn urged Bilbo Baggins to include a green jewel in his poem about Eärendil, possibly anticipating the symbolic importance that the gem would have in his life. Bilbo Baggins, obeying Aragorn but seemingly unaware of the Elfstone's story, included an inaccurate reference to an emerald.

The Elfstone was worn by Aragorn ever after, and this causes him to also be given the name of King Elessar by the people of Minas Tirith.