Abstract
Elrond Half-elven acts as an important bridge between the First, Second, and Third Ages of Middle-earth, as well as between multiple species (Maia, Elf, and Human). He thus presents writers and directors of film and television adaptations with both challenges and opportunities to investigate intersections between the medieval and the modern, myth and magic, fidelity to the original and creative exploration. Adaptations often condense and simplify plot points and scenes for the sake of time or story/telling. In the case of Elrond, this means that we should expect changes in his main scenes in The Hobbit (Elvish sword identification and moon runes reading) and The Lord of the Rings (The Council of Elrond). This paper explores depictions of Elrond in such varied adaptations as Rankin and Bass’s animated television specials The Hobbit (1977) and The Return of the King (1980), Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated film The Lord of the Rings, and Peter Jackson’s sextuplet of live action films (2001-2003, 2012-2014), with limited comments on the first two seasons of Amazon’s The Rings of Power (2022, 2024).
Recommended Citation
Larsen, Kristine
(2026)
"Medieval, Magical, or Melodramatic? Depictions of Elrond Half-elven in Film and Television Adaptations,"
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 24:
Iss.
2, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol24/iss2/8
Comments
Expanded from a roundtable presentation at the July 2026 International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK