fa799fea   
   XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: no.spam@no.spam   
      
   On 9/9/2011 4:43 PM, Christopher Kreuzer wrote:   
      
   > But are there story-internal reasons why Elrond and Glorfindel   
   > couldn't have come south to the wars with the sons of Elrond?   
      
   They could have, but:   
      
   > Are we   
   > to suppose that they had their own battles or potential battles to   
   > fight in Rivendell?   
      
   I believe that's the answer. Later on Gandalf says to Frodo and Gimli,   
      
      Think of what might have been. Dragon-fire and savage swords   
      in Eriador, night in Rivendell. There might be no Queen in Gondor.   
      We might now hope to return [presumably to Rivendell] from   
      the victory here only to ruin and ash.   
      
   Earlier on, Elrond admits that if worse comes to worst he hasn't   
   the means to resist Sauron:   
      
      What power still remains lies with us, here in Imladris, or with   
      Cirdan at the Havens, or in Lórien. But have they the strength,   
      have we here the strength to withstand the Enemy, the coming   
      of Sauron at the last, when all else is overthrown?"   
      
      "I have not the strength," said Elrond; "neither have they."   
      
   And with his sons gone to war in the South, Elrond would have   
   even less. But *someone* had to stay in Rivendell to defend   
   the place... and Arwen.   
      
   SQ   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)