List of Middle-earth Elves - G

G

• Galadhon

Galadhon appears only in Unfinished Tales. He is called the son of Elmo, who was named as the younger brother of Thingol and the father of Celeborn. He was created to explain how Celeborn was related to Thingol; this lineage makes Thingol Celeborn's great-uncle (though Tolkien's later notes provide an alternative origin for Celeborn). Galadhon was supposed to have another son, Galathil, who was the father of Nimloth; Nimloth would go on to marry her second-cousin, Dior. Galadhon's name seems to be related to galadh, the Sindarin word for "tree".

• Galadriel

Galadriel was a royal Elf of both the Noldor and the Teleri, being a grandchild of both King Finwë and King Olwë, and was also close kin of King Ingwë of the Vanyar through her grandmother Indis. Towards the end of her stay in Middle-earth she was co-ruler of Lothlórien along with her husband, Lord Celeborn.

• Galathil

Galathil is a descendant of Thingol's brother Elmo, and the brother of Celeborn the Lord of Lórien. He is son of Galadhon and grandson of Elmo. His daughter Nimloth wedded Dior, Thingol's Heir, and so Galathil was a distant ancestor of Elrond, Aragorn and Arwen. In this way he was grandfather to Elwing and uncle to Celebrían.

• Galdor of the Havens

Galdor of the Havens is an Elf of Mithlond who served as Círdan's messenger to the Council of Elrond.

In Peter Jackson's movie The Fellowship of the Ring, Galdor was played by Nathan Clark.

• Galdor of Gondolin

Galdor is a Noldorin Elf, who lived in Gondolin during the First Age, and was the leader of the Folk of the Tree. He was said to be the bravest Elf of Gondolin, save king Turgon himself. After the Fall of Gondolin he fled southwards to the Mouths of Sirion. It is said he later returned to the Undying Lands, and dwelt on Tol Eressëa.

In late writings (see: The History of Middle-earth), Tolkien speculated that he and Galdor of the Havens may have been the same, but he ultimately rejected the notion: if Galdor had remained behind, he would either have completely rejected the call of the Valar, and thus have Fallen, or he would have had to leave and then return like Glorfindel did, which would make him a far more powerful person than his appearance in The Lord of the Rings suggests. For this reason Tolkien speculated that "Galdor" was simply a common Sindarin name. See The Peoples of Middle-earth

• Galion

Galion is the butler of the Elven King's halls in The Hobbit, whose fondness for drink allows for Bilbo and the dwarves' escape attempt

• Gildor Inglorion

Gildor Inglorion was a Noldorin Elf of the House of Finrod. In The Lord of the Rings he met Frodo Baggins and his friends on the road out of the Shire. He warned him about the Black Riders, gave Frodo's company food and lodging for the night and greatly impressed Sam. At the end, he is seen at the Grey Havens accompanying Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel to Valinor.

The question has arisen of the identity of this character. Gildor calls himself "Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod." He also says: "We are Exiles, and most of our kindred have long departed and we too are only tarrying here a while, ere we return over the Great Sea.". At the time when The Lord of the Rings was written, Finrod still meant the character later known as Finarfin. Since "House of Finrod" is the same as "House of Finarfin", we can place him among the Noldor who joined the host of Finarfin during the Exile, and came to Beleriand under Finrod Felagund.

Some argue that the name Inglorion, which means "son of Inglor", suggests that he was in fact the son of Finrod Felagund himself, who was at that time still called Inglor. There is, however, strong evidence against it. In The Silmarillion it is stated that Finrod had no wife, since he loved Amarië of the Vanyar, who refused to go with him to the exile. This means that he could only have a son after he died in Middle-earth and went to the Halls of Mandos. He might have been resurrected by Mandos, and then married Amarië. It is very unlikely (probably impossible), however, that he would be allowed to return to Middle-earth. The only such instance would be Glorfindel, and it is doubtful that if that was the case, there would be no mention of it in Tolkien's writings. Furthermore, Gildor would not describe himself as one of the Exiles. Furthermore, if he were Finrod's son, he would have right to claim High Kingship of the Noldor instead of Gil-galad after Turgon's death. It is also said that there were only three children — Celebrimbor, Idril and Orodreth — "in the third generation from Finwë to go with the exiles".

It should also be noted that Tolkien initially used names from his (unpublished) The Silmarillion writings rather at random in The Hobbit and the first drafts of the sequel which would become The Lord of the Rings: other examples are the mention of Gondolin and the appearance of Elrond in The Hobbit, which were only later brought into alignment with The Lord of the Rings and the unpublished mythology by a third edition of the book.

This all suggests that, while Gildor might have been initially intended to be Felagund's son, in the final version he probably became a member of the House of Finrod as one of its servants, not one of its sons — perhaps one of the knights of Nargothrond, and a son of Inglor — a character unconnected to Finrod Felagund.

• Gil-galad (Ereinion)

Ereinion Gil-galad, whose father-name was Artanáro, was the last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth. After the War of Wrath, the remaining Elves of Beleriand followed him to the remains of Ossiriand, called Lindon, where he created the Kingdom of Lindon, which lasted longer than any Elf-kingdom ever and was the strongest of the Elven realms during the Second Age. He was a friend of the kings of Numenor and called upon their aid when Sauron moved against his kingdom during the War of the Elves and Sauron when he believed that the High King had the three rings of power made for the elves, but he only held two, Vilya and Narya. Many years later, when the faithful of Numenor returned to Middle-earth under Elendil and his sons, Gil-galad befriended them and helped them in the creation of the realm of Arnor. Later on, when Sauron amassed his strength and attacked the other Numenorean realm, Gondor, Elendil and Gil-galad formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and marched from meeting point at Amon Sul to Rivendell, where all beings that opposed Sauron, including birds and beasts, joined the alliance. During the Battle of Dagorlad, all races were divided, some fought for Sauron while others fought for the free peoples, all but the Elves, who fought solely under the command of Gil-galad. When Sauron finally came out of Baradur after seven years of the siege of Baradur, he wrestled Elendil and Gil-galad, and although they defeated Sauron, they both died, ending the War of the Last Alliance against Sauron.

• Gimli

Gimli is an aged Elf, a fellow prisoner of Beren in the kitchens of Tevildo, Prince of Cats. He appears in The Tale of Tinúviel, the earliest version of the story of Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel, found in the second volume of The Book of Lost Tales. The name "Gimli" was later used for a Dwarf in The Lord of the Rings.

• Glorfindel

Glorfindel appears twice as a name of an Elf who appears in the tales of Middle-earth. The first appears in various materials relating to the First Age of Middle-earth, including The Silmarillion. The second appears in The Lord of the Rings, which takes place in Middle-earth's Third Age. In later writings, Tolkien states they were one and the same, though this is not evident from The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings.

The character and his name (meaning "golden-haired") were among the first created, when Tolkien first conceived of what would become his Middle-earth legendarium in 1916-17.

• Gwindor

Gwindor son of Guilin was a prince of Nargothrond, brother of Gelmir. He was betrothed to the princess Finduilas, daughter of king Orodreth. As he was counted the most valiant of his people, he and a small company were given leave to go to the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, but only under the command of Fingon, (the deeds of Celegorm and Curufin were the cause of the absence of the main host of Nargothrond).

He actually began the Battle of Unnumbered Tears when, at the sight of his brother Gelmir's mangled corpse, he charged the hosts of Morgoth on the plains of Anfauglith. It is said that Morgoth trembled before his ire as he approached. However he charged too fast and went too far, and was trapped behind the gates of Angband where he was to remain for the next 14 years as a slave.

After 14 years he managed to escape from the pits, only to become lost in Dorthonion. There he was found by Beleg and helped to rescue Túrin Turambar, and led him by way of Eithel Ivrin to Nargothrond. When he returned, his captivity had so greatly affected him that few of his kin recognized him. He also was reunited with Finduilas, only to eventually learn that she now loved Túrin Turambar; in anger at this he revealed Túrin's true name to the people of Nargothrond for which he was rebuked by Turin.

He later counselled against Túrin's policy of open warfare upon Morgoth's forces, but was mostly ignored. He met his end, along with King Orodreth at the Battle of Tumhalad. Before his death Túrin Turambar found him and they spoke one last time, then Gwindor revealed to him that only Finduilas lay between him and his doom, shortly before passing over to Mandos.