Half-elven

The unions

Only three times in the Elder Days did an Elf and a mortal marry, and from two of those unions the Half-elven descend. Beren of the House of Bëor won Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and the Maia Melian, and their son Dior was the first of the Peredhil, with the blood of Men, Elves and Maiar in him. Tuor of the House of Hador married Idril, daughter of Turgon of Gondolin, and their son was Eärendil. Dior's daughter Elwing married Eärendil at the Mouths of Sirion, and in their twin sons Elrond and Elros the two lines were joined. The third union, Aragorn and Arwen at the end of the Third Age, was itself a marriage within the Half-elven kindred, since Aragorn descended from Elros.

The Choice of the Peredhil

The Children of Ilúvatar have different fates: Elves are bound to the world, Men leave it. A child of both kindreds could not have both, and the Valar could not decide for them. When Eärendil and Elwing came to Valinor, Manwë gave judgement: Eärendil and Elwing, and their sons, should each choose to which kindred they would belong and whose fate they would share. Elwing chose the Elves, and Eärendil, who would have preferred the fate of Men, chose as she did for her sake. Elros chose to be a mortal Man and became the first King of Númenor, with a lifespan of five hundred years; his line kept a longer life than other Men but could not escape death. Elrond chose the Elves and became immortal, and the choice was extended to his children: while Elrond remained in Middle-earth his children were Elves, but when he departed they must choose whether to go with him or stay and become mortal.

This is the Choice of the Peredhil. It is the only case in which the Valar allowed the Children to decide their own kindred, and it explains why Elrond, Elros and Arwen could differ so completely in fate while being of one blood. The choice, once made, was final and passed no further: the descendants of Elros were simply Men, though long-lived, and Elrond's grandchildren through Arwen were mortal.

Dior and Elwing

Dior Eluchíl ruled Doriath after Thingol's death and was slain by the sons of Fëanor in the Second Kinslaying; his young sons Eluréd and Elurín were abandoned in the forest and never found. Elwing escaped with the Silmaril to the Havens of Sirion and married Eärendil. When the sons of Fëanor came again, she cast herself into the Sea with the jewel, and Ulmo bore her up in the form of a bird to Eärendil's ship. Together they reached Aman, and Eärendil pleaded for the pardon of Elves and Men. He was set in the sky with the Silmaril as the Evening Star, and Elwing lived in a tower on the coast of Aman and learned the tongues of birds.

Elros and Elrond

The twins, captured as children in the Third Kinslaying, were raised by Maglor. Elros led the surviving Edain to Númenor and founded the line of kings from which Elendil, Isildur and the Dúnedain of Arnor and Gondor descended. Elrond served Gil-galad, founded Rivendell, bore the Ring Vilya, and was the greatest loremaster of the Third Age, sheltering the heirs of Isildur for a thousand years. He married Celebrían, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn, and their children were Elladan and Elrohir and Arwen.

Arwen and the end of the line

Arwen chose as Lúthien had chosen. She married Aragorn, Elros's heir, and became mortal; Elrond sailed West without her, and she died in Lórien a year after Aragorn. Elladan and Elrohir stayed in Middle-earth for a time after their father's departure, and the texts do not say which fate they chose. With Arwen the Half-elven kindred ended as a distinct people, and its inheritance passed into the line of the Kings of the Reunited Kingdom through Eldarion.

Lesser traditions

The Appendices mention one other mingling of blood: the tradition of Dol Amroth that its princes descend from Imrazôr the Númenórean and the Elf Mithrellas of Lórien, which is why Legolas saw Elvish blood in Imrahil. This line, if real, was mortal and had no choice.

Fate

Eärendil sails the sky, Elwing waits on the shores of Aman, Elrond is in the West, Elros and Arwen are dead and gone beyond the world. The Half-elven were the bridge between the two kindreds, and every king of Gondor and Arnor after them carried the blood of Lúthien.

The Half-elven bore the beauty and stature of the Eldar, and the light of the Elves was in their faces; Arwen was called the likeness of Lúthien. Those who chose mortality aged very slowly, and Elros lived five hundred years. Dark hair and grey eyes ran in both lines, from Lúthien and from Elwing.

The Half-elven belonged to the courts they were raised in: Dior to Doriath, Eärendil to Gondolin and Sirion, Elrond and Elros to the household of Maglor and then to Gil-galad's Lindon. Elrond's Rivendell preserved the lore and languages of the Elder Days for the whole Third Age, and Elros's Númenor became the greatest realm of Men. The Half-elven spoke Sindarin, Quenya and the tongues of Men.

The Half-elven began with the marriage of Beren and Lúthien, the first union of Elf and mortal, and with the marriage of Tuor and Idril. Their grandchildren married one another at the Mouths of Sirion, and from Eärendil and Elwing the kindred descends.

The Peredhil were granted a choice of fate. Elros and Arwen chose mortality; Eärendil, Elwing and Elrond chose the Elves. The kindred ended with Arwen, and its blood passed into the kings of Men.