Rings of Power: Celebrimbor explained. Celebrimbor, the Elf-lord in Lindon has been skirting around the edges of The Rings of Power story for some time now. He has been seen in the fantasy series, in conversations with Gil-Galad and Elrond about the power of Mithril, and the future of the Elven race.
Then, in Rings of Power episode 8, the season finale, The Rings of Power character Celebrimbor became a pivotal power as the creator of the three rings. It was a dramatic moment, and of course, Sauron was involved too.
Those rings were split between Galadriel, Elrond, and Celebrimbor himself, and are some of Celebrimbor’s most important contributions to Middle-earth. But what else do we know about the Elf, and what lies ahead for him, in his future? Luckily, we’re here to give you everything you need to know, with our guide to: Celebrimbor explained.
Celebrimbor in the First Age
Celebrimbor was born in the First Age, as the son of an Elven king. During the years of the First Age, he fought along side many other Elves against the forces of Morgoth in several important battles. The most significant of those battles was the Fall of Gondolin.
Gondolin was a hidden Elven city in Middle-earth which was destroyed by Morgoth in the Fall of Gondolin. Many Elves were killed during the assault, which was spearheaded by Morgoth’s evil Balrogs. However, Celebrimbor survived the attack, and escaped from Gondolin. After the battle, he remained in Middle-earth.
Celebrimbor in the Second Age
In the Second Age of Middle-earth, Celebrimbor settled in the region of Eregion as one of its ruling Elves. He was important to the growing relationship between the Elves and the nearby Dwarves in Khazad-dûm.
It was here, in Eregion during the Second Age, that Celebrimbor focussed on his smithing. He was known as one of the greatest craftsmen in Middle-earth, and his skill in working metal was compared to that of the Dwarves.
As we see in Rings of Power, Celebrimbor’s reputation for his ability at the forge is exploited by Sauron. Rings of Power deviates slightly from Tolkien’s own writing here, but in both instances, Sauron manipulates the Elven smiths and helps them in their crafts. In both instances, again, Celebrimbor crafts the three Elven rings away from Sauron because he has become distrustful of him. Those three rings are the ones we see in Rings of Power: Vilya, Narya, and Nenya.
In Tolkien’s writing, Celebrimbor and the Elven smiths also forge further lesser rings, which are eventually distributed among the other races of Middle-earth. Unbeknownst to Celebrimbor, Sauron uses his own skill to forge a master ring – the one ring – which has power over the three Elven rings and the other lesser rings too. However, knowing Sauron’s true identity, Celebrimbor sought to hide all of the rings from Sauron, and keep them from him.
Celebrimbor’s death
Sauron was not happy, to put it mildly, to be kept from the lesser rings. In spite of Celebrimbor’s defiance, he used his armies to attack Eregion. In the attack, Celebrimbor was captured.
He was tortured, and Sauron was able to extract the whereabouts of the lesser rings from Celebrimbor. However, Celebrimbor would not reveal the locations of the three Elven rings.
Celebrimbor was executed. His body was shot with arrows, and he was tied to a pole, which Sauron used as a flag in future battles. A pretty gruesome, unfortunate end for the Elven smith is coming then, maybe even in Rings of Power season 2.
For more deep dives into Middle-earth, check out our guide to the Rings of Power: Wizards explained, or you can check out our guide to the Rings of the Power cast.