Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Characters: Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor is best known in The Lord of the Rings as the creator of the “three rings for the elven-kings under the sky” while he lived in Hollin, also known as Eregion. In Tolkien’s posthumous work, the character was greatly expanded. Readers learn that he was a powerful and talented Elf who loved crafts and his family, befriended Dwarves and a dangerous stranger, and sometimes let his pride get the best of him. Celebrimbor began life as the only grandchild of Fëanor, the greatest of the elven smiths, and spent his immortality attempting to become even more skilled than his famous ancestor.
Disguised as a pretty elf named Annatar, the Dark Lord Sauron convinced Celebrimbor that his only chance to prove he was the best elven-smith ever was to create a special fire and forge many magic rings. Alternatively, as hypothesized by Michael D.C. Drout in The Tower and the Ruin, the rings could be viewed as advanced technology with an understandable process that could be taught to others (239). No matter the method of production, during the obsessive ring-making process, Celebrimbor alienated his family and friends. He even allowed his closest friend Galadriel (his first cousin once removed) to lose her political power and become separated from her husband, Celeborn, as she fled the city with their daughter, Celebrían. Eventually, Celebrimbor gifted a magic ring to the greatest rulers of Middle-earth — including Galadriel, seemingly as an apology — but this turned out to be a terrible idea. Sauron used his “One Ring to rule them all” to take control of the rings gifted to Men and Dwarves, then led an attack on Eregion to find the whereabouts of the three rings for Elves. Celebrimbor died under torture while protecting his friends.
Back to “Chapter 2 The Shadow of the Past”, Celebrimbor is never referenced directly, as Gandalf describes the event as happening “In Eregion long ago”, and the creators as “elven-smiths”. However, I thought this was an opportune time to visually introduce the character, who will not be mentioned again until Book II in “Chapter 2 The Council of Elrond”, and then reappear briefly as the co-creator of the entrance to Moria in “Chapter 4 A Journey in the Dark”. By visualizing the character as early as possible, I hope to bring more cohesion to the story. In this essay, I will share folkloric motifs about smiths, review the costumes worn by Elves, and compare my portrayal to those created by other artists.
Smith Motifs
Because smithing was such a crucial part in ancient and medieval life, smith motifs are found in folklore from around the world. Sauron’s disguise as a smith (K1816.12) is one common motif. The concept of an evil supernatural being coming to help a smith appears across Indo-European culture, and could date back to six thousand years ago when smiths worked with bronze instead of gold or iron. The Brothers Grimm included one version in their original collection of Germanic fairy tales.
In Basque Country, now a part of Spain, ethnographer and priest José Miguel de Barandiarán y Ayerbe allegedly collected the story “Patxi Errementaria” in 1903 when he was fourteen years old, the same year he was ordained to become a priest. In this tale, Patxi is a clever, demonic entity who takes the form of a blacksmith to outwit more powerful demons. The story was turned into the Basque-language movie Errementari: El Herrero y el Diablo [Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil] in 2017. The tale has similarities to the story of Saint Dunstan, a 10th century Anglo-Saxon monk who allegedly met a devil while a hermit in Glastonbury, England. Dunstan used hot tongs to grab the devil by the nose, and for this act of bravery was declared the patron saint of smiths.
Smiths are also noted for being helpful (N855). In French Folk-Lore of Missouri, which categorizes its stories with a version of Thompson’s Motif Index, an old goldsmith helps John the Bear make beautiful golden balls to win over a young princess, while a blacksmith who could cut a chain with his word [un forgeron qui peut couper la chaîne à la parole] helped a prince free the maiden Belle Lonore so they could be married.
Some smiths were also noble lords of great hospitality. This had some overlap with smith deities, from the Greco-Roman gods Prometheus and Hephaestus/Vulcan to the Vala Aulë Mahal. The Irish figure Goibniu, one of the magical Tuatha Dé Danann or Celtic fairies, was known both for iron-working and for hospitality, while his friends included Credne the bronze smith and Luchta the woodworker. His Christianized counterpart, Gobán Saor or Gobán the Builder, helped saints built their monasteries.
Costume for Elves of Eregion
Elves of Eregion dress much like how I portray other Elves and ancient Fallohide halflings. Traditional Sámi gákti worn by indigenous people from Scandinavia and western Russia served as my inspiration. I recently learned that the plural of gákti in North Sámi is gávttit, although using gákti as the plural is acceptable in North American English. Over 30,000 Americans have Sámi ancestry, and they tend to live in cold states like Minnesota and Alaska. The styles of the traditional costume have changed to reflect modern fashion. While sváltjá or reindeer skin gákti is still popular in Sweden, American costumes might include traditional designs and colors on cotton or denim dresses with modern accessories, including leather belts, metal chains, and mittens knitted with the Sámi flag.
The modernization of costume not only allows Sámi to wear their preferred clothing style but also proves that their culture is relevant to modern life. Historically, the Norwegian government has treated Sámi culture as antiquated, advertising their lifestyle to tourists as people who heard reindeer and live in goahti or turf huts, a housing practice not so different from the small smials of Bag Shot Row. Despite this prejudice, Sámi artists and curators preserve their culture at sites like Várdobáiki, which combines a museum preserving Sámi objects with a school for language learning and a space to merge traditional healthcare practices with modern medicine.
My other inspiration for Celebrimbor’s clothing came from the painting Goldsmith in His Shop by Netherlandish artist Petrus Christus, completed in 1449 during the Northern Renaissance. The titular goldsmith wears a bright red tunic and sits at a workbench as his clients gesture at his work. Historians believe the goldsmith could be Willem van Vleuten from Bruges, while his clients might be James II of Scotland and his new wife Mary of Guelders. However, James II was known for a bright red birthmark on the left side of his face, and the male client clearly has none. In my final aside about this painting, an expensive convex mirror appears on the bottom right of the painting. Combined with the goldsmith’s colorful tunic, this proves he is a wealthy man.
As for what Celebrimbor wore in the original text, he likely had a tall helmet with a red plume on top, as his grandfather Fëanor made these for his children during “Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor” in The Silmarillion. Modern fans often portray those within the House of Fëanor as wearing red, contrasting their cousins who wear blue and silver.
Portrayals of Celebrimbor
Like all characters within Tolkien’s writing, fans have portrayed Celebrimbor with varying levels of accuracy relative to his description in the text. The casting of Celebrimbor in the Amazon series The Rings of Power was baffling, as he appears to be a middle-aged man with a 1980s businessman haircut and a love of velour. This makes nearly every other portrayal look decent in comparison. In his book Characters of Middle-earth, Angus McBride depicts Celebrimbor at his forge holding up a new Ring of Power (62). Celebrimbor is appropriately muscular, wears tasteful jewelry, and has long black hair, but he is confusingly shirtless, which is not a safe way to work at one’s forge. Additionally, a pair of dwarves appear to be observing his muscular gluteus maximus. I am not the intended audience of this portrayal.
DeviantArt contributor Kimberly80 shared a double portrait, Celebrimbor facing off against Sauron, an encounter that will go poorly for the elf. Kimberly80 chose to put Celebrimbor in blue rather than the traditional red, a valid artistic license. Both figures have extremely long hair blowing gracefully in the wind, along with muscular bodies clad in realistic armor and androgynous faces. While I might have pushed for a more uncanny appearance, rather than pretty, this aligns to the text. The only confusing bit is the artist referring to her favorite author as “John Tolkien”. It is possible that this name is used on Russian translations, as the artist lists Russia as her country of origin.
An excellent version of Celebrimbor appears in the game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor released by Warner Bros. Games in 2014, although the story line is baffling. In his corporal form, Celebrimbor is portrayed wearing mostly realistic armor with a blue glow, similar to the portrayal by Kimberly80. He has long black hair and a slightly masculine, beardless face with supernaturally pale skin and glowing gray eyes. This is probably because in the game, Celebrimbor is a wraith who bonds with the body of a Gondorian man named Talion to avenge the deaths of their loved ones in melee combat. It feels like someone had a creative original idea and was told to add franchise material to boost game sales.
With my own version of Celebrimbor, his long black hair is tied back with a red scrunchy in a high ponytail, and his body is fully clothed in a classic Fëanorian red outfit inspired by a gákti. This is the safest way to work near a forge, which I know from many visits to historic forges plus a blacksmithing class. Celebrimbor has the same light gray eyes as the Warner Bros. Game version, but his eyes are much larger and uncanny, as elves can easily see a distance of fifteen leagues away. He has just finished creating his three rings for his elven friends and is running quality assurance tests, another highly recommended phase of product creation. While the text never confirms whether the rings of air, water, and fire grant additional powers over these elements to the users, I thought this creative stretch was a way to quickly demonstrate the theme behind each ring.