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Both Galadriel and Glorfindel were Noldor born in Aman who followed Fëanor to Middle-earth, and are still there at the end of the Third Age (though yes, technically Glorfindel died, was reembodied, and sent back to Middle-earth). As far as I know, all of the other elves living in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age were born there. The only other potential exception I can think of is Maglor, though it is not confirmed whether he is still alive.

Is there any confirmation of an elf other than Galadriel and Glorfindel living in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age who was born in Aman?

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    Note that the Elves first awoke in Middle-earth, and those that left for Valinor did so many years later in the Great Journey. So it's possible there were Elves in Middle-earth who had been born (or even awoken) in Middle-earth, journeyed to Valinor and then returned with either Fëanor or the Host of the Valar.
    – DavidW
    Commented Oct 6, 2022 at 2:25
  • @DavidW those that came with the Host were highly unlikely to have stayed though.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Oct 6, 2022 at 20:12
  • @OrangeDog Definitely. I only added that because I can't guarantee there were none.
    – DavidW
    Commented Oct 6, 2022 at 20:21
  • Why are you presenting no research, please? Why did you not at least put the whole passage, including "… in living in Middle-earth" through your spell-checker? Why and how are people like Elrond ruled out in this Question? Since you must know that the number is a great many more than two, how could it matter how many elves were born in Aman? Commented Oct 7, 2022 at 22:17
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    @RobbieGoodwin Thank you for pointing out the typo. It is well-established in the works of Tolkien that Elrond was born in Middle-earth. So were almost all of the other elves named in the Lord of the Rings trilogy who are living in Middle-earth in the third age such as Celeborn, Círdan, Legolas, and Thranduil. It was not at all clear to me that the number is a great many more than two since besides the exceptions I mentioned, all the key Noldor of the first age seem to have died or left, which is why I asked the question.
    – Plutoro
    Commented Oct 8, 2022 at 1:17

2 Answers 2

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There are no indications that there are not other Noldor who have tarried in Middle-Earth—quite the contrary, in fact. There is no reason to think that Galadriel was unique in being concerned that she would be not be allowed to return to Elvenhome; any who participated in the revolt of the Noldor and swore the Oath of Fëanor are presumably in the same situation. So a number of the elves who appear, especially in The Fellowship of the Ring may have been born in Aman.

Of particular note is Gildor, who tells Frodo

‘I am Gildor,’ answered their leader, the Elf who had first hailed him. ‘Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod. We are Exiles, and most of our kindred have long ago departed and we too are now only tarrying here a while, ere we return over the Great Sea....’

This certainly makes it sound as though he (and probably at least some of the others in his company) came back from Aman during the Elder Days. This is further reinforced by the hymn they had been singing, which ended:

O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
Thy starlight on the Western Seas.

All of these indications could be interpreted as referring not to the Elves like Gildor individually, but to their ancestral families. However, the plain reading seems to suggest that Gildor, among others, really do remember the starlight over the seas off Tol Eressëa.

Others among the Elves of Rivendell are probably also from the original Noldor contingent that crossed the sea. Gandalf says so:

And here in Rivendell there live still some of his chief foes: the Elven-wise, lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas. They do not fear the Ringwraiths, for those who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm live at once in both worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they have great power.

Narratively, this is (part of) the explanation that Gandalf gives Frodo of what Frodo saw at the Fords. As he was slipping into the Unseen world, Frodo could see that Glorfindel was just as strong on that side of the curtain as on the Seen side. However, while Glorfindel is, after Elrond, presumably the most powerful of the Noldor remaining in Rivendell, it is probable that several of the other senior members of Elrond's household had also come from the Blessed Realm. There were several such individuals attending the Council of Elrond; only Erestor is identified by name, but he and the others were probably among the original exiles from Aman.

The other named Elf at the Council of Elrond is Galdor, who was there as a messenger from Círdan. Galdor could also conceivably have been either Noldor or Sindar. Círdan himself was among the Sindar, but had been among Teleri leaders all the way back at the time of the Great Journey and seems to be treated, by virtue of his extreme age and wisdom, as basically equivalent in craft and lore to the Noldor. He, like Elrond, may have surrounded himself with Elves from both kindreds at his home by the Grey Havens.

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    It's very likely there were remaining Noldor in the Grey Havens, given that it is in Lindon, the main seat of Noldorin power throughout the Second Age. (Rivendell only assumed greater importance following the death of Gil-galad, when Elrond become the de facto leader of the Noldor, though he never styled himself as king as there were too few Noldor, and they too scattered, to constitute an actual realm.)
    – chepner
    Commented Oct 6, 2022 at 14:26
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There are the eleves in the band met by Frodo & co. in the Shire in The Fellowship of the Ring. their leader is Gildor.

The question has arisen of the identity of this character. Gildor calls himself "Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod." He also says: "We are Exiles, and most of our kindred have long departed and we too are only tarrying here a while, ere we return over the Great Sea.

https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Gildor_Inglorion

Some of them may have been born in Middle-earth after the return from Valinor. Some of them might have been born in Middle-earth before being summoned to Valainor, and I suspect the majority were born in Valinor coming to Middle-earth.

And when Frodo wakes up in Rivendell, Gandalf tells him something about elf lords living in Rivendell who came from the Blessed realm and are mighty in both the physical world and the spiritual world.

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    +1 I recalled Gandalf mentioning something like that. I thought he was referring just to Glorfindel, but on rereading I see "lords" is plural; there are others, even if we do not know there names.
    – Plutoro
    Commented Oct 6, 2022 at 2:24

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