Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Characters: Gil-galad

Gil-galad was the mysterious last King of the Ñoldor, part of a royal family that included Celebrimbor and Galadriel. The exact relationship is part of his mystery, as three different elves have been listed as his father in the legendarium. This enigma is discussed at length by Tolkien scholar Renee Vink, so I will give only a brief summary here.

In The War of the Jewels, Gil-galad was the son of Finrod Felegund and Meril, making him the nephew of Galadriel and second half-cousin of Celebrimbor. In The Peoples of Middle-earth, Finrod was initially the father of Gil-galad again, along with the father of Galadriel, but several versions later, he was wifeless and childless. Galadriel became the younger sister of Finrod, while Gil-galad and his new sister Finduilas became the son of Orodoth and unnamed Sindarin lady. Here, Gil-galad was also called Artanáro or Rodnor. This is the version of Gil-galad that I tend to ascribe to.

The other version of Gil-galad appeared in The Silmarillion, where he was the son of Fingon. This would make him the first cousin of Galadriel and first half-cousin once removed of Celebrimbor. In The Peoples of of Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien explains that Gil-galad was also called Ereinion in this version, while a scratched out line denoted him as “Finellach Gil‑galad of the House of Finarfin”; both cases he believed to be incorrect. However, other scholars disagree. In The Tower and the Ruin, Michael Drout supports the hypothesis that Gil‑galad is the son of Fingon (340).

For the animated musical, I will treat Gil-galad as the son of Orodoth for the purposes of timeline and aesthetic. His birth year is generally accept as not long before First Age 455, which makes him less than a hundred years older than his herald, Elrond, who was born in First Age 532. For immortals, they are essentially the same age, especially with Elrond reaching maturity in about twenty years as a half-elven, as opposed to the several decades taken by elves. Gil-galad is typically depicted as an elf with golden hair like the Vanyar or black hair like the Ñoldor, which are fair choices given his ancestry. However, if he was half Sindarin, then shadowy silver hair was an option, just like the hair of Celeborn.

Extending upon this hypothesis, the names of elves often reflect the color of their hair. Celeborn means “silver tree”, reflecting his long silver hair. Galadriel means “glittering crowned maiden” for the gold and silver braid around her head. Gil-galad means “starlight”, which I perceive as a white-silver color rather than a golden glow or midnight black. However, I have never seen another silver-haired Gil-galad. My other support for this hair color comes from a description of his weapon. Gil-galad carried a spear called Aeglos or Aiglos, meaning “point of snow” or icicle. With such a named weapon, it is logical to assume that Gil-galad may have possessed powers related to ice and snow, although I have not seen this referenced elsewhere.

With the long introduction out of the way, I am going to present more details supporting my unique portrayal of Gil-galad, including other snow and ice people in folklore, armor and weapons that he may have worn, and depictions of him by other artists.

Snow & Ice People

Thompson’s Motif-Index is packed with snow and ice characters. Some were made directly from snow by supernatural means. In Medieval Jewish folklore, some angels were believed to be to be created from snow (A52.3), while in Iceland, a spirit might personify snow (F433.1). In Italian folklore, an unfortunate sailor’s wife had a baby son made of snow who later melted in the sun (J1532.1). Another folklore research, D.L. Ashliman, recorded a similar story involving a snow girl named Snygurka who lived in Russia.

The snow and ice itself might contain magical properties (D903, D904) or be considered extraordinary in some way (F962.11). These stories seemed especially common in snowy places like the Bering Strait in Alaska. A magical person controlled the snow (D2143.6) or ice (D2144.5) or the magic frost (D2143.5), including old women (D2143.5.1), a Scottish witch (D2143.1.9, G283.3), or an Irish saint whose breath makes icicles that burn (D1566.1.4.2). Alternatively, someone might have the power to supernaturally melt ice (D2144.5.2) especially with extraordinary body heat (F593.1).

Modern culture continues to be fascinated by ice magic, drawing from older stories to create fantasy films. The character of Jack Frost may have first appeared in the 1732 book Round about Our Coal-Fire: or, Christmas Entertainments but is better remembered by younger readers as a character in the 2012 movie Rise of the Guardians. The 1844 fairy tale “The Snow Queen” written by Danish children’s book author Hans Christian Anderson inspired not only fellow children’s book author C.S. Lewis to create a White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe published in 1950 but also the Disney princess movie Frozen (2013) staring Queen Elsa. I would be remiss not to mention how many tweens and young teens in the 2010s wished Jack Frost and Elsa were in the same franchise so they could go on dates.

Armor & Weapons

Since Gil-galad’s spear is a focal point in my depiction, I had to decide what his spear would look like. I settled on a Viking Age leaf blade spear design from the 11^th century. These types of spears have been excavated in England, proof of the many Viking attacks endured by the Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Normans on the island. Other aspects of the costume resemble a Norman knight, which historians know a lot about thanks to the Bayeux Tapestry; this is the same place where I took the design for dwarf and hobbit cloaks.

Also on the tapestry, the knights wear haubergeon, an extra long hauberk or mail coat that covered the arms and body down to the knees. Chain mail was widely worn throughout Eurasia from the late Roman Empire to the 14^th in Europe and the 16^th century in Turkey. Accordingly, nearly all my warrior characters must wear it for proper personal protective equipment.

For extra protection, warriors might wear a gorget or neck mail, a late 15^th century word from Old French meaning “throat”. By the late 18^th century, Gorgets have evolved into decoration worn by military leaders. A well-known 1772 portrait of George Washington painted by American artist Charles Willson Peale depicted the future American Revolutionary War general wearing his British military uniform complete with a gorget.

Gil-galad also wears a turban helmet with a nasal or nose guard, which were popular in the Ottoman Empire during the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Not to be forgotten is his blue shield, emblazoned with shining white stars; this was another source of his name, although whether his mother named him first and he made the shield in her honor is not entirely clear. Finally, Gil-galad wears a new version of medieval shoes, slightly different than the other elven shoes that I have designed. These include a wooden sole strapped onto the slipper-like fabric shoe.

Depictions of Gil-galad

The attitude of the mysterious elf varies greatly in his portraits, and this may be due to the perceived binary of elven personalities. According to the great anthropologist Sam Gamgee, “Some [are] like kings, terrible and splendid; and some as merry as children.” (Book II, “Chapter 1 Many Meetings”) Artists seem unsure whether Gil-galad would be a terrible elf as his occupation would imply, or a merry elf like his name might imply.

Watercolor artist Daniel Govar prefers a terrible Gil-galad who glares up at the viewer with a thin face and slanting eyebrows. Artist Karolina Węgrzyn “Sirielle” prefers a splendid Gil-galad, depicting him on a the cover of Aiglos, a Polish Tolkien Almanac. In this portrayal, the elf holds his famous shining shield and is seen with his father, Fingon. A playing card style illustration drawn by Per “Perkan” Sjögren shows a terrible Gil-galad with an angry expression, intricate shining crown, and detailed spear matching his armor. On the merry side, Kimberly80 of DeviantArt depicts Gil-galad with a youthful face and wide eyes as fire glows around him, foreshadowing his death being heated to death by Sauron.

In my own depiction, Gil-galad trends toward a merry type with wide, light blue eyes, a rounded face, and star-like freckles. His gray hair reaches past his waist and fades to light blue. His entire outfit is shades of white, gray, and blue: a palette also used for modern snow-type characters. While I originally designed Gil-galad with a happy face, I decide to instead create a frightened version while wearing his armor, as he is preparing to face Sauron during the Last Alliance.