QUESTIONS AND INFORMATION
QUESTION: What do the other Elves make of Lothrin's dedication to the Rangers and the race of Men?
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ANSWER: Uh oh, that’s a very touchy subject. You gotta have like level 5 friendship clearance to unlock the backstory™ behind this. Or you would have, if you were one of the residents in Middle-earth.
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Trust me when I say, this is something she will not talk about with anyone. Even her best friends Astoeth and Naeriel only know little about her feelings on this matter. She simply refuses to answer, if ever asked. It’s a very hard subject for her to talk about for various reasons.
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It honestly depends on the elves in question.
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The elves of Imladris not only agree with this endeavor, but wholeheartedly support her. It was at her behest that Elladan and Elrohir started their campaigns in the north. She was also a great influence behind Andriel’s friendship with the ranger Eradan. Her unfaltering dedication to the northern lands inspired the Imladrim elves and greatly helped in the number of skirmishes they led in Eriador.
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The elves of Lindon are indifferent to this situation. Maybe indifferent is strong, neutral is best said. The elves of Lindon have always been isolationist, with only very limited campaigns outside their borders (the rescue of Arvedui and the Battle of Fornost coming to mind). They still care about tidings from afar, as Cirdan and Elrond are good friends and messengers go between the two realms all the time, but they prefer to keep to their own. Singular Lindon elves might travel to dúnedain settlements to help.
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The elves of Lórien are a whole other cup of tea. There’s a lot of history to get into, so I’ll just go step by step. Out of all the elven realms of MIddle-earth, I would say the elves of Lórien have had the least human contact ever. The elves of Imladris are in constant contact with the dúnedain, those of Lindon have both the dúnedain and the humans settled around Ered Luin, those of Eryn Galen have the men of Dale and Esgaroth and those of Edhellond had the men of Dol Amroth. Who do the elves of Lórien have? I remember from the books that Haldir while courteous to Aragorn and his dúnedain kin, was also very distant and kept his interactions to a polite minimum. The men of Rohan say that Lórien is cursed and that Galadriel is a witch. This belief couldn’t have come from nowhere, surely?
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What you have to keep in mind about Lórien, is that it has been one of the most affected elven kingdoms in the wake of Sauron’s destruction, only surpassed by Eregion. Lindon and Imladris have been relatively sheltered due to their location. It was Lórien that had to bear the brunt of Noldor and Sindar refugees that came from Eregion, it was Lórien that had to comfort dwarven refugees and double their military skirmishes when the Balrog destroyed Khazad-dûm, it was Lórien then Eryn Galen that lost almost all of their population in the War of the Last Alliance. The point that I’m trying to make is that Lórien is a land that has been hit with near extermination, they now care terribly about their youth.
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How does Lothrin fit into this equation? Well, if you remember from her bio, her elder brother died in the War of the Last Alliance, alongside a great number of Lórien elves. I cannot begin to describe to you the grief that followed the end of the war. Lothrin followed her younger brother home and delivered the news to her parents but did not stay. She departed for the northern lands, and that’s when she found lake Nenuial and Annúminas. By leaving both her parents in their time of grief and her land in its time of need, Lothrin committed a cultural taboo. But I understand her reasoning, leaving was her way of dealing with her grief and war memories.
Years later, when the elves of Lórien heard what she had been up to, some of them named her Adasser “Lover of Mortal Men”, as she chose humans over her own kin. Relations between herself and her homeland have slowly but surely cooled. She still visited Lórien, but her mother especially was ever upset that her daughter chose not to remain home and guard her birth realm. Combined with the fact that the Nandor culture was slowly being replaced with that of the Sindar and Noldor, made Lothrin feel a great cultural disassociation from her own homeland. Of course, both her and the dúnedain are still courtly treated as Lady Galadriel is kin to Lord Elrond who in turn is one of the great supporting forces behind the dúnedain, but Lothrin is ever wary of talking about her home. She feels more or less like a stranger there.