Haldir

A warden of the borders

Haldir was one of the Silvan Elves of Lothlórien, the Galadhrim, and served Galadriel and Celeborn as a warden of the northern marches, where the stream Nimrodel runs down from the mountains to the Silverlode. His brothers Rúmil and Orophin kept the same watch. Unlike most of the border-guards he spoke the Common Tongue, having travelled outside the wood in his younger days, and he was therefore the one who dealt with strangers. He was proud of his land and clear-eyed about its peril: he told the Fellowship that Lórien was an island in a rising tide, that its people rarely went abroad any more, and that the world outside was growing dark.

The Fellowship at the Nimrodel

On the night of the fifteenth of January, T.A. 3019, Haldir's watch heard the Company of the Ring, fleeing from Moria, crossing the Nimrodel, and called down to them from the talan in the mallorn above. They knew already of the Company's coming, for messengers of Elrond had passed that way, and they had heard Legolas speaking in his own tongue. Haldir admitted the Elf and the Hobbits to the platform for the night, but the Galadhrim had not allowed a Dwarf into the wood since the Dark Years, and Gimli was a difficulty that Haldir resolved as best he could. During the night Orcs from Moria passed beneath the tree in pursuit, and Haldir's brothers led them off; a strange creature that climbed the trunk was Gollum, though the Elves did not know it.

The next morning Haldir led the Company over the Celebrant on a rope bridge and told them the law: a Dwarf must go blindfolded. Gimli refused, and drew his axe, and only Aragorn's ruling that the whole Company would go blind together resolved the quarrel. Haldir, walking beside the blindfolded Gimli, spoke to him courteously and apologised for the suspicion of a divided world. It was Haldir who, when a message from the Lord and Lady overtook them, removed the blindfolds on Cerin Amroth and showed Frodo the heart of Elvendom.

Farewell

Haldir brought the Company to Caras Galadhon and left them there. On the day of their departure in February he returned to guide them to the boats on the Silverlode, and was their escort to the hythe where the Lady's swan-boat came to them. There he took his leave. He is not mentioned again in the published text, and his part in the defence of Helm's Deep is an invention of the films.

Legacy

Haldir is the reader's introduction to Lothlórien: its courtesy and its suspicion, its beauty and its sense of siege. Through his conversations with Frodo and with Gimli, Tolkien shows the mistrust between Elves and Dwarves at its most reasonable, and its slow breaking.

Remained a warden of Lothlórien; nothing further is told of him.