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Why Elves Disappeared from Middle-Earth or
Just how inbred are Elrond's kids, anyway?


If we are to judge by the younger elves in LOTR, the Eldar were more or less responsible for the extinction of their own species. Arwen chooses mortality and marries a man, Legolas ends up with a dwarf, and as for Elladan and Elrohir, their celibacy has inspired some rather twisted explanations among fanfic writers.

Whatever the cause of the twins' long bachelorhood, the example set by their ancestors would not encourage them to range far afield in their love interests. Their mother's parents, Galadriel and Celeborn, are second cousins. Elrond's grandmother, Nimloth, is Celebrian's cousin, and his other grandmother, Idril, is Celebrian's second cousin. Celebrian's father is Elrond's great-great uncle. Elrond's great-great grandfather, Galadhon, is cousin to his great grandmother, Lúthien. Even the mortals are not innocent - great grandfather Beren is first cousin twice removed to Elrond's grandfather, Tuor.

Then again, Elladan and Elrohir would not have many choices outside the family, either. Papa is a bit of a snob, so we can rule out the wood elves. Thranduil's clan? Well, if Celeborn's cryptic comment upon meeting Legolas in LOTR is to be understood the way many fans read it, Legolas and any brothers or sisters are close relatives of both Celebrian and Elrond. Círdan's relatives? Círdan is probably the son or grandson of Celebrian's great grandfather, Olwë (ref: The Peoples of Middle-Earth).

Indeed, Tolkien's penchant for linking royal blood lines would leave the hereditary rulers of elves with few suitable choices among their own species. If the wood elves followed the example set by the Eldar, one may assume that they, too, became hopelessly inbred. Over time, their better elven sensibilities would disappear, and the hapless remnants of once proud elves would be twisted by fanfic writers in mockery of all that is good and canonical. In short, they would become, in modern times, that loathsome species known as Mary Sues, bane of spell-checkers and grammatically intact fanfic. Alas, we have only Elrond and his over-bred progeny to blame for their humiliating decline and the ensuing extinction of the elven species.