What motivated Celeborn to remain in Middle-earth?

[Starflower]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but it just bugs me time to time.WHy did Celeborn not go over the Sea with Galadriel ? I mean he had every right to, being an elf, I would imagine him not being very happy without her. I think it says somewhere that he did go over the Sea at some point ( too lazy to look it up), but why wait? Why would he not go with Galadriel ?

 

[Greenwood]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but it just bugs me time to time.WHy did Celeborn not go over the Sea with Galadriel ? I mean he had every right to, being an elf, I would imagine him not being very happy without her. I think it says somewhere that he did go over the Sea at some point ( too lazy to look it up), but why wait? Why would he not go with Galadriel ?

Galadriel came from the West to Middle Earth so was essentially "returning home". Celeborn on the other hand originated in Middle Earth (if memory serves), so yes as an elf he had a right to go over the Sea, but he still loved Middle Earth.

 

[Starflower]

hmm ...yeah....but still.. I don't know... I mean I don;t like being separated from my husband, and we haven't been together for thousands of years.. surely it must have been difficult to be separated like that...seem also terrible selfish of Galadriel to just go and leave her husband behind

 

[Greenwood]

hmm ...yeah....but still.. I don't know... I mean I don;t like being separated from my husband, and we haven't been together for thousands of years.. surely it must have been difficult to be separated like that...seem also terrible selfish of Galadriel to just go and leave her husband behind

Maybe after thousands of years together she needed a break?

 

[Beleg]

Originating in Middle-earth, [Specially as a Sindar which Celeborn supposedly was] doesn' mean anything. Once awakened sea longing couldn't be quelled in any elf of Middle-earth, much less in a Sindar. A prime example is Legolas.
I just don't think that the sea longing had quite caught on with Celeborn; or perhaps he stayed in Middle-earth as the last royal emissary of the fading high elves [Since supposedly not all high elves left with the departure of the grey ship] or perhaps he just wanted to view the unfolding of the tale of the dominance of men from within them...
I don't think Galadriel is to be blamed in this. Begetting of the childering is the high time of affinity between the spouses which is the only time when they are required to stay closer to eachother. And that time was long past when Galadriel departed. Elves are almost immortal within Arda so Galadriel knew that she'll meet the guy again even if it meant the passing of a few centuries; a little time in her eyes.

 

[Arthur_Vandelay]

hmm ...yeah....but still.. I don't know... I mean I don;t like being separated from my husband, and we haven't been together for thousands of years.. surely it must have been difficult to be separated like that...seem also terrible selfish of Galadriel to just go and leave her husband behind

I have the impression that romantic love perhaps isn't quite as important among Elves (with maybe a few exceptions aside) as it presumably is among hobbits and Men.

 

[Ithrynluin]

Like Greenwood says, Galadriel was heading home after many thousands of years of being sundered from it, and Celeborn wanted to enjoy his home for yet a little while.

I believe Celeborn was, at the time of the writing of the LOTR, considered a Sinda of Doriath, and the idea of him being of the Teleri of Alqualondë only 'occured' to Tolkien later on. In this latter version, Galadriel and Celeborn are given a separate departure from Aman to Middle-Earth. Though I'm fond of this version of the story just as much as the first one (or even more), the problem is that Galadriel and Celeborn are both grandchildren of Olwë and Elves did not wed such close kin, so I guess the idea wasn't completely thought out.

Anyway, if this second version of Celeborn's origins had been accepted at the time of the writing of the LOTR, I wonder how that would have influenced his decisions at the end of the Third Age...

 

[Flammifer]

"...when Celeborn at last sought the Havens and passed over the Sea, and with him went the last living memory of the Elder Days in Middle-earth."

The Lord of the Rings Prologue (A reasonably accurate paraphrase). There's the quote if you're looking for it.

 

[Minuel Lasgalas]

I have always thought that the impending parting referenced in RoTK in the chapter 'Many Partings' was exceedingly sad:

"But Celeborn said: "Kinsman [speaking to Aragorn], farewell! May your doom be other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the end!"

Time seems not to have been a real issue with the Eldar in terms of partings.

 

[Ithrynluin]

I would say Celeborn is exaggerating there a little. How could he expect him and his wife to remain together in Middle-Earth forever? It is not as if they were torn apart by some great doom and could never be united again to begin with.

Or perhaps he simply wasn't aware of the fate that would fall the Elves eventually (their bodies fading away)? Though I doubt that for some reason, mainly because Galadriel is a High-Elf and she would most likely have been aware of this.

 

[Inderjit S]

I think he wanted to experience the beauty of M-E for a few more years, it was after all his home and it was his home with or without the three rings and the splendour of Lorien.

 

[Rangerdave]

Besides, with Galadriel gone; this gave Cele time to kick back and do all those guy things that he couldn't do with a wife around.
I can just see him now: hanging out in the tree house in his underwear. Watching football and drinking beer. Maybe a card game with the boys. Belching and scratching whenever he felt like it.

When you consider the life span of the Elves, and the length of their marriage. The time between Galadriel leaving ME and Celeborn joining here is essentially just a long weekend.

And what man wouldn't want that.



RD
gets ready to be bashed for this one

 

[Greenwood]

Besides, with Galadriel gone; this gave Cele time to kick back and do all those guy things that he couldn't do with a wife around.
I can just see him now: hanging out in the tree house in his underwear. Watching football and drinking beer. Maybe a card game with the boys. Belching and scratching whenever he felt like it.

When you consider the life span of the Elves, and the length of their marriage. The time between Galadriel leaving ME and Celeborn joining here is essentially just a long weekend.

And what man wouldn't want that.



RD
gets ready to be bashed for this one

Rangerdave,

If you are married I assume your wife does not visit the Forum?

 

[Minuel Lasgalas]

RD gets ready to be bashed for this one

Galadriel was probably tired of his hovering around and wishing for a long weekend herself. Last one she probably had was when he was with Elrond and the refugees going to Imladris after being thrashed in Eregion after the Ring debacle by Sauron/Annatar in mid-Second Age.



But I tend to agree with Inderjit... Taking time to be a Sindar again.