Celebrimbor

Celebrimbor, as seen in the Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Celebrimbor
Biographical information
Other names	Telperinquar
Titles	Prince of the Ñoldor, Lord of Eregion, Head of Gwaith-i-Mírdain
Birth	YT?
Death	SA 1697, War of the Elves and Sauron
Realms	Eregion
Spouse	Unknown, possibly none
Physical description
Race	Elves
Gender	Male
Hair	Dark
Culture	Ñoldor (House of Fëanor), Elves of Eregion (Gwaith-i-Mírdain)
Media portrayal
Voice	Alastair Duncan (Shadow of Mordor)

Celebrimbor was a Ñoldorin prince, last of the House of Fëanor, lived in Middle-earth, and ruler of the Second Age realm of Eregion, and the forger of the Rings of Power.

Biography

First Age

Celebrimbor as a child with his parents in Valinor, by Filat

Celebrimbor was the son of Curufin, fifth son of Fëanor (son of Finwë and his first wife Miriel) and Nerdanel. During the First Age, he lived with his father in Nargothrond, but he took no part in the deeds of Curufin and Celegorm regarding Lúthien, Beren, and Finrod. He repudiated his father Curufin's deeds and did not follow his father and uncle when they were expelled from Nargothrond.

After the Sack of Nargothrond, Celebrimbor came to Gondolin, where he became a jewel smith under King Turgon.

Second Age

Celebrimbor, Lord of Eregion, by Filat.

Celebrimbor settled in Eregion in the Second Age and started dealing with the dwarves of the realm of Khazad-dûm. In SA 1500 Sauron, calling himself Annatar ("Lord of Gifts"), befriended the Ñoldor of Eregion. He claimed to be an emissary of the Valar, especially Aule, and instructed them in the art of ring-making. Celebrimbor distrusted him, but the smiths of Eregion were deceived. Under the guidance and instruction of Sauron, the smiths openly made rings to learn the craft, but unknown to them the craft taught by Sauron incorporated a binding magic into the rings.

In secret, Sauron forged the One Ring, a master ring that would rule all the lesser rings, to enable him to rule Middle Earth via its influence over those who used those other rings. When Sauron placed the One Ring on his finger, claiming dominance over all the Rings of Power and their bearers, the Elves knew his true identity and intentions. Celebrimbor and the Elves of Eregion defied Sauron by withholding the other rings from him. The greatest of the rings (aside from the One Ring) were created by Celebrimbor himself, and these were never touched by Sauron and thus were uncorrupted by him, although they were still subject to the One Ring. These were the three Rings of the Elves, the fairest of the Rings of Power. Celebrimbor named them Vilya, Narya, and Nenya after the principal Middle-earth elements of air, fire and water, respectively. He sent the three rings away for safekeeping: Vilya and Narya to Gil-galad in Lindon.

The death of Celebrimbor, by abepapakhian

Sauron retaliated by attacking Eregion, laying waste to the realm. Celebrimbor was captured in the sack and was forced under torture to disclose where the lesser rings were, but he would not reveal the whereabouts of the three greatest of them that he had sent away for safekeeping. Celebrimbor died from his torment; his body was shot with arrows and hung upon a pole, and was later paraded as a banner as Sauron attacked the Elves. He was the last direct descendant of the line of Fëanor—save perhaps for his father's brother Maglor, whose fate is unknown and is said by some legends to still wander the shores of the Sea.

Etymology

His father-name is Telperinquar, which means "Silver-fist" or "Hand of silver" in Quenya. It comes from the words telpë ("silver") and quár ("fist"). His mother-name remains unknown. The name Celebrimbor is the Sindarin translation of his father-name, which comes from celeb ("silver") and baur ("fist").

Character

Celebrimbor was described to have an "almost Dwarvish obsession with crafts", that he became a famous artificer and smith in both Gondolin and Eregion. His love for crafts took him to Eregion, where he found a precious metal and called it Mithril. He developed friendship with the Dwarves of Moria, with whom he shared his skills and secrets. Upon realizing the trap which Sauron devised for him, Celebrimbor was filled with anxiety, and was later described as the heroic defender of Eregion.

Important Works

The Doors of Durin, a renowned work of Celebrimbor

• Rings of Power
  • The Nine Rings of Men (with Annatar)
  • The Seven Rings of the Dwarves (with Annatar)
  • The Three Rings of the Elves
• Doors of Durin (with Narvi)
• Elessar of Eärendil or Elfstone (made for Galadriel, whom he loved)

House of Fëanor

Finwë

Míriel

Mahtan

Fëanor

Nerdanel

Maedhros

Maglor

Celegorm

Caranthir

Curufin

Amrod

Amras

Celebrimbor

Other versions of the legendarium

In some accounts, Celebrimbor was a Sindarin elf, an ancestor of Daeron, who used Feanorian scripts. Later, Celebrimbor was changed and became of Ñoldorin origin, and a survivor of the Fall of Gondolin. In the Unfinished Tales, a statement claims Celebrimbor to be one of the Teleri who accompanied Celeborn to exile.

Portrayal in adaptions

Video games

Celebrimbor, as seen in The Shadow of Mordor video game

Celebrimbor appears in the video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, as the wraith assisting the Ranger Talion in destroying the forces of Sauron. Developers have revealed that he assists Talion due to the guilt he feels for creating the rings of power, and thus he feels ultimately responsible for the trouble Middle-earth is in. However, the Celebrimbor that appears in the game differs from the Tolkien Celebrimbor in that he not only makes the three elf rings, but he crafts all of the rings of power, and when captured helps Sauron reforge the one ring (via scribing the lettering of the ring upon it) he also gave the ring a will of its own. However, once Saurons intentions were revealed to him he stole the one ring and used it to command an army of Orcs and Uruks to defeat Sauron and claim Mordor. Celebrimbor uses the ring's power of invisibility to defeat Sauron, however the ring wanted to return to the dark lord and so slipped off of Celebrimbor's finger and onto Sauron's, breaking Celebrimbor's control of the Orcs. He was then tortured as punishment, had his family tortured and killed in front of him, before finally being beaten to death with his own Mithril hammer by Sauron.

Celebrimbor's weapon in the game

When the game takes place and the protagonist, Talion, is slain in a blood-ritual, he is bound to the Ranger, which allows Talion to return from the dead (in addition to many other abilities). However, he deceives Talion by pretending that the Black Hand of Sauron placed a curse on them, binding them together, where in reality Cerebrimbor chose Talion as his "host" and could have released him at any time. However, they defeat the Black Hand and decide to stay bound together in order to take down the Dark Lord with Talion suggesting they forge a new Ring as his eyes glimmer with the Wraith's power.

Celebrimbor is voiced by Alastair Duncan.

Lord of Eregion
Preceded by None	Celebrimbor	Succeeded by None, Eregion laid waste
SA 1350-SA 1697

External link

• Celebrimbor at Tolkien Gateway