Rivendell

Aragorn II, son of Arathorn, was the last Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and the first King of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Fostered in Rivendell as Estel, he spent sixty years as a Ranger and a captain in foreign lands before the War of the Ring, in which he guided the Fellowship, walked the Paths of the Dead, won the Pelennor Fields and the Black Gate, and took the crown as King Elessar. He reigned for a hundred and twenty years with Arwen as his queen.

Bilbo Baggins of Bag End was the respectable Hobbit whom Gandalf sent as burglar with Thorin Oakenshield's company to the Lonely Mountain, and who came home with a golden ring from beneath the Misty Mountains. His finding of the One Ring, his mercy to Gollum and his book set the whole War of the Ring in motion.

Celeborn, a Sindarin prince of Doriath and the husband of Galadriel, outlasted three Ages of Middle-earth as lord of the Galadhrim. He shared the rule of Lothlórien with his wife, led the host that stormed Dol Guldur at the end of the War of the Ring, held East Lórien for a season of the Fourth Age, and at last, when the Golden Wood had emptied, went to Rivendell and thence over the Sea.

Glorfindel was lord of the House of the Golden Flower in Gondolin, golden-haired and reckoned among the mightiest of the Noldor of the Hidden City. He died killing a Balrog above the pass of Cirith Thoronath so that the refugees of Gondolin could escape, and by long tradition he is the same Glorfindel who returned to Middle-earth, routed the Witch-king at Fornost, carried Frodo to the Ford of Bruinen, and sat at the Council of Elrond.

Celebrían, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn, married Elrond of Rivendell and bore him Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen. In T.A. 2509 she was captured and tormented by Orcs in the Redhorn Pass; though rescued by her sons and healed in body by Elrond, she could find no joy in Middle-earth and sailed into the West the following year.

Elladan and Elrohir, the twin sons of Elrond and Celebrían, rescued their mother from the Orcs and afterwards spent the Third Age hunting Orcs with the Rangers of the North. Companions of Aragorn, they brought him Elrond's counsel to take the Paths of the Dead and rode with him from Dunharrow to the Black Gate.

Gilraen the Fair, a woman of the Dúnedain of the North, was the wife of Arathorn II and the mother of Aragorn. Widowed after four years of marriage, she carried her son to Rivendell to be hidden and raised, and lived to see him a grown man but not a king.

The white Elf-horse of Glorfindel of Rivendell, hung with silver bells, which carried the wounded Frodo Baggins across the Ford of Bruinen ahead of the Nine Riders in October of T.A. 3018.

Gildor Inglorion, a Noldo of the House of Finrod, led the company of wandering Elves who met Frodo, Sam and Pippin in the Woody End on the first night of their journey, drove off a Black Rider by their coming, and sent word of the Ring-bearer's peril across Eriador. He passed West with the last riding of the Elves in T.A. 3021.

Arwen Undómiel, daughter of Elrond and Celebrían, was called the Evenstar of her people because in her the beauty of Lúthien was said to have returned to the world. She loved Aragorn, chose a mortal life to share his, and became Queen of the Reunited Kingdom; after his death she went alone to Lórien and died on Cerin Amroth, where their troth had been plighted.

Elladan and Elrohir, the twin sons of Elrond and Celebrían, rescued their mother from the Orcs and afterwards spent the Third Age hunting Orcs with the Rangers of the North. Companions of Aragorn, they brought him Elrond's counsel to take the Paths of the Dead and rode with him from Dunharrow to the Black Gate.

Valandil, youngest son of Isildur, was born in Rivendell on the eve of the Last Alliance and was the only one of Isildur's sons to survive the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. He became the third King of Arnor in T.A. 10 and through him the line of Isildur, and eventually Aragorn, descended.

Boromir, elder son of Denethor II and Captain-General of Gondor, was the man of the Fellowship of the Ring. Proud, valiant and devoted to his city, he tried to take the Ring from Frodo at Amon Hen and then died defending Merry and Pippin against Saruman's Orcs, redeeming his fall with his last breath.

Elendil the Tall, son of Amandil of Andúnië, led the Faithful out of the Downfall of Númenor in nine ships and founded the realms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. With Gil-galad he formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and in S.A. 3441 the two of them overthrew Sauron on the slopes of Mount Doom and died in doing it. His sword Narsil, broken beneath him, became the heirloom of his heirs down to Aragorn.

Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's heir, was the Ring-bearer who carried the One Ring from the Shire to the fire of Mount Doom. Wounded in body and spirit by the journey, he saved the Shire but could not enjoy it, and sailed into the West with the last of the Elves.

Gandalf, called Olórin in Valinor and Mithrandir by the Elves, was the wisest of the Istari, a Maia sent by the Valar to rouse the free peoples against Sauron. Bearer of Narya, the Ring of Fire, he uncovered the Necromancer, set the quest of Erebor in motion, unmasked the One Ring, led the Fellowship, died against the Balrog of Moria and returned as Gandalf the White to guide the West to victory in the War of the Ring, after which he sailed into the West.

Ereinion Gil-galad was the last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth. Sent to the Havens as a child, he took up the kingship after the fall of Gondolin, ruled Lindon through the whole of the Second Age, refused Sauron the gates of his realm, received two of the Three Rings, and led the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Elendil. He died with Elendil on the slopes of Mount Doom overthrowing Sauron.

Gimli son of Glóin was the Dwarf of the Fellowship of the Ring. He walked from Rivendell to the Black Gate through Moria, Lothlórien, Helm's Deep and the Paths of the Dead, became the devoted friend of the Elf Legolas and of the Lady Galadriel, and after the war founded a Dwarf-colony in the Glittering Caves. Tradition says he sailed West with Legolas, the only Dwarf ever to do so.

Isildur, elder son of Elendil, stole a fruit of the White Tree in Númenor, founded Minas Ithil in Gondor, and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand at the end of the Last Alliance. He refused to destroy it, and two years later he was slain by Orcs at the Gladden Fields when the Ring slipped from his finger, so that his name was bound to it as Isildur's Bane.

Legolas, son of Thranduil of the Woodland Realm, was the Elf of the Fellowship of the Ring. A peerless archer and tracker, he walked from Rivendell to the Black Gate beside Aragorn and Gimli, forged the first true friendship between Elf and Dwarf in an age, and after the death of the King Elessar built a ship and sailed into the West with his Dwarven friend.

Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin II and heir of Durin's line, spent most of his life as a king in exile after Smaug took Erebor. In T.A. 2941 he led twelve Dwarves and the hobbit Bilbo Baggins on the quest that ended the dragon and restored the Kingdom under the Mountain, and he died of his wounds in the Battle of Five Armies after reconciling with Bilbo.

Chief of the Mearas, the great horses of Rohan, and the swiftest horse of his day. Taken from Théoden's herds by Gandalf in T.A. 3018 and afterwards given to him outright, he carried the wizard across half of Middle-earth in the War of the Ring, and alone of all beasts stood unmoved before the Witch-king at the broken gate of Minas Tirith.

Arathorn II was the fifteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and the father of Aragorn. He ruled for only three years before an Orc-arrow killed him while he rode against the enemy with the sons of Elrond, leaving a two-year-old heir who was hidden in Rivendell.

A half-starved pony bought from Bill Ferny at Bree, nursed back to strength by Sam Gamgee, and taken as the pack-beast of the Fellowship of the Ring as far as the West-gate of Moria. He found his own way home to Bree and was reunited with Sam a year later.

Glóin, brother of Óin and father of Gimli, was one of Thorin's companions on the quest of Erebor. Nearly eighty years later Dáin sent him to Rivendell, where he told the Council of Elrond of Sauron's messengers to the Mountain and saw his son chosen for the Fellowship.

Elrond Half-elven, son of Eärendil and Elwing, chose the fate of the Elves and lived through three Ages of the world: fostered by Maglor, herald to Gil-galad at the Last Alliance, founder and master of Rivendell, keeper of the Ring Vilya, foster-father of Aragorn and father of Arwen. His house was the great refuge and library of the North, and at its Council the fate of the One Ring was decided.

Elrond Half-elven, son of Eärendil and Elwing, chose the fate of the Elves and lived through three Ages of the world: fostered by Maglor, herald to Gil-galad at the Last Alliance, founder and master of Rivendell, keeper of the Ring Vilya, foster-father of Aragorn and father of Arwen. His house was the great refuge and library of the North, and at its Council the fate of the One Ring was decided.