Who should choose the Fellowship of the Ring?

[Rivendell_librarian]

In The Ring Goes South it is Elrond who chooses the nine of the fellowship (acceding to Gandalf over Merry and Pippin) yet it is Gandalf who is the implicit leader, so shouldn't Gandalf be the one who chooses?

 

[Ent]

so shouldn't Gandalf be the one who chooses?

Gandalf is known as the wisest of the Maia. Elrond is known as the wisest in Middle-earth.
But in the end, they both know 'in the multitude of counsellors is wisdom.'

Gandalf is in Elrond's realm, and the people who have come have not been 'summoned', but by Providence, have all come on their own missions - including Gandalf and the hobbits.

Elrond is wise enough to see the implication, and has called the Council.
In the Medieval nature of Middle-earth, when you are in someone else's realm, they are the head of all things, and their word is law.

Just as Gandalf deferred to Theoden, and to Denethor, he would defer to Elrond. Yet just as he also did with them, he would voice his opinions and give his counsel into whatever was at hand.

And, in a sense, although Gandalf was their 'leader', I personally do not think he ever saw himself as such... he saw himself as a Servant fulfilling his role in aiding the people of Middle-earth in their battle against evil. (In this particular case, against Sauron himself as the embodiment of the primary evil of the age.)

Elrond didn't choose Frodo... Frodo chose himself. Elrond didn't really choose Sam...he saw Sam also as offering himself into the danger, just as Frodo had.

Merry and Pippin both also 'choose' in their own way to go on, (Chapter 3, paragraph 1 - 5, "The Ring Goes South") And Gandalf knows this. (Paragraph 6). Thus, he speaks on their behalf.

Elrond himself says "And I will choose you companions to go with you, as far as they will or fortune allows.'

Then he 'chooses'. '...the Free Peoples...' Legolas shall be for the Elves, and Gimli son of Gloin... they are willing to go at least to the passes of the Mountains. So clearly Elrond knows of their willingness in advance... either by discussion during the time passing by, or by intuition...I suspect the former.

Aragorn is an obvious 'choice' for the reasons cited in the text.

Interestingly, Boromir is only included because his path back to Minis Tirith lies along the same road as theirs for a time. His 'quest' or reason for going is entirely different from the rest.

So yes, Elrond 'chooses'... but does he?

There is certainly no interference with the free will of those in the Party. And Elrond errs a bit in his resistence to Merry and Pippin, both of whom play a key Providential role in events along the way... especially Pippin, the one whom Elrond was most concerned about but who provides for the greatest events at times of need. (The providence of Gandalf's confrontation with the Balrog bringing about his essential death, the Providence of revealing the issues of the Palantir and more, etc.)

So I don't see anything particularly 'amiss' with Elrond being the one to cite the composition of the Nine. Mostly he's just citing the results of the facts at hand, in the end, and (if you will) acknowledging the decision of people who are willing to go.

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

Elrond says "I will choose you companions to go with you" yet it is Aragorn who names Boromir: by prior agreement with Elrond?

Would Gandalf's choice be different? Likely not (except for Merry and Pippin) but the point is that it would be his choice as the one responsible for the party. After they withdraw from the Redhorn Pass it is Gandalf who calls a council.

However, I don't want to get into a long-winded discussion of the question with just one forum member, and would like to know the views of others without any partisanship. Odd how this one question prompted a response but my comments on the chapter did not so far. Maybe it would have been better to ask the question in that post.

 

[Olorgando]

Elrond, together with Celeborn and Galadriel, would have been one of the few to know Gandalf's true nature as a disguised Maia (and that of the other four Istari). Celeborn and Glorfindel would likely belong to the very few others. So while dealing with human rulers like Denethor or Théoden (and several generations of their ancestors, possibly), Gandalf would have "observed protocol" as an advisor. The situation with Elrond seem to me to be quite different. For appearances, that protocol might well also have been observed, but in back-room discussions ...

Then there is the point of the actual leaders of the Fellowship on the quest starting from Rivendell. As far as experience in the wide lands of M-e, Gandalf certainly tops Elrond in the 2,000 years since he arrived by a wide margin. Even Aragorn in his 67 years of travels up to the CoE would have been much more "up-to-date" than his prospective father-in-law. These two would have had some say in those chosen. Aragorn mostly deferred to Gandalf as long as the latter was around.

As R_l points out, after the failed attempt at Caradhras, the Fellowship holds its own council about how to proceed. One of the few times Aragorn contradicts Gandalf, or at least warns him about Moria. The issue is settled by the attack of those strange wargs, no corpses remaining even though several are (supposedly) killed.

And in my view all that are present at this second council are volunteers - with in a certain way excepting Boromir, for whom it would have been the "and back again" part of his quest starting in Minas Tirith. So how much choosing Elrond actually did ...