Elrond at the War of Wrath

[Galin]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

I don't immediately remember the cave story, does it come from the HoME-books? In any case the situation could be drastically different indeed if Elrond and Elros ended up with their own people instead of the Fëanoreans.

As already noted, that tale appears in a letter dated 1958. The idea in the letter is quite connected to Elrond meaning *Elf of the Cave however, and not long after, Elrond is said to mean 'Star-dome' (1959-60, Quendi and Eldar). In The Shibboleth of Feanor (1968 or later) it was said that the names Elros and Elrond: 'were formed to recall the name of their mother Elwing' with Elros meaning 'Starlit foam'; and in The Problem of ROS (1968 or later): 'Now Elrond was a word for the firmament, the starry dome as it appeared like a roof to Arda; and it was given by Elwing in memory of the great Hall of the throne of Elwe in the midst of his stronghold Menegroth that was called the Menelrond,...' And in letter 345 (1972) Elrond meant 'The vault of stars'.

If a meaning 'Elf of the Cave' is out, as it appears, my guess would be that so too is the story that goes with it. Four web sources that I checked appear to retain the meaning from the letter as a possible alternate, with one saying that the meaning of Elrond is somewhat uncertain due to variant examples -- one suggests that Tolkien possibly forgot the letter later on, but in my opinion they do not really provide enough information concerning the texts and the dating involved (currently for example, The Encyclopedia of Arda lists 'Elf of the Cave' as the meaning, and only footnotes the letter of 1972).

Christopher Tolkien was not against incorporating at least one detail from a letter into the constructed Silmarillion, but surely he would have noted the connection with 'Elf of the Cave' to the story in letter 211, and that this meaning was arguably revised in subsequent texts.

[Elf of cave]

Originally Posted by Galin

If a meaning 'Elf of the Cave' is out, as it appears, my guess would be that so too is the story that goes with it. Four web sources that I checked appear to retain the meaning from the letter as a possible alternate, with one saying that the meaning of Elrond is somewhat uncertain due to variant examples -- one suggests that Tolkien possibly forgot the letter later on, but in my opinion they do not really provide enough information concerning the texts and the dating involved (currently for example, The Encyclopedia of Arda lists 'Elf of the Cave' as the meaning, and only footnotes the letter of 1972).

I mostly agree with you, but since we know nothing about Elros and Elrond from the Sack of Sirion until the beginning of the Second Age, the story about the twins being abandoned and found by their own people (though they did not recieve their names at the occassion) seems as likely a development as any.

So in the end it is a matter of personal opinion/preference.

[Galin]

Fair enough... 'Elf of Cave'

As I say it's a guess; I am arguably over-influenced here by Tolkien's liking to develop stories from names, but of course it's certainly possible that he kept this version in any case.