Description of Elrond
Appearance
"The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young, though in it was written the memory of many things both glad and sorrowful. His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars. Venerable he seemed as a king crowned with many winters, and yet hale as a tried warrior in the fullness of his strength. He was Lord of Rivendell and mighty among both Elves and Men." (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 1)
"Elrond was in his chair and the fire was on his face like summer-light upon the trees." (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 1)
"Elrond wore a mantle of grey and had a star upon his forehead, and a silver harp was in his hand, and upon his finger was a ring of gold with a great blue stone, Vilya, mightiest of the Three." (The Return of the King, Book VI, Chapter 9)
Reputation of power and wisdom
"The might of Elrond is in wisdom not in weapons, it is said." (Boromir - The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 2)
"We spoke to our father Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the elves of a far norther dale, where Elrond the Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters." (Boromir - The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 2)
"Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power." (Aragorn in the Houses of Healing - The Return of the King, Book V, Chapter 8)
Elrond's Words and Deeds
Elrond commands the flood and heals Frodo:
"Elrond has cured you: he has tended you for days, ever since you were brought in... Elrond is a master of healing, but the weapons of our enemy are deadly. To tell you the truth, I had very little hope; for I suspected that there was some fragment of the blade still closed in the wound. But it could not be found until last night. The Elrond removed a splinter." (Gandalf - The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 1)
"Elrond commanded [the flood] ... The river of this valley is under his power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford." (Gandalf - The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 1)
Elrond describes the challenge facing the members of the Council of Elrond:
(from Book II, Chapter 2: 'The Council of Elrond' and Chapter 3: 'The Ring Goes South')
"There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but part of the trouble of all the western world."
"The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring, the least of rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom that we must deem. That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called I say, though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are here met, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find council for the peril of the world."
Remembering the days of the Last Alliance:
(from Book II, Chapter 2: 'The Council of Elrond' and Chapter 3: 'The Ring Goes South')
"I remember well the splendour of their banners. It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so."
"I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories. I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his father's sword, and took it for his own."
"Isildur took it, as should not have been. It should have been cast then into Orodruin's fire nigh at hand where it was made."
"Fruitless did I call the victory of the Last Alliance? Not wholly so, yet it did not achieve its end. Sauron was diminished, but not destroyed. His Ring was lost but not unmade. The Dark Tower was broken, but its foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring, and while it remains they will endure."
"Never again shall there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multiply and the Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. And ever since that day the race of Numenor has decayed, and the span of their years has lessened."
