Galadriel and Elrond are undoubtedly among the most powerful Elves in The Lord of the Rings ( see our comparison here ). Beyond their great wisdom or their combat skill, the two characters seem capable of predicting the future. Enough to take stock of this gift of prescience.
ELROND, GALADRIEL OR GLORFINDEL HAVE THE GIFT OF PRESCIENCE
The Elf race is certainly the most complex in Lord of the Rings. Tolkien endowed the elders of the Children of Ilúvatar with very complex abilities and powers. In addition to having super fine hearing and Lynx eyesight, they are immortal. If their fleshly envelope can decompose, their spirits cannot die. Some Elves are also endowed with the power of healing and telepathy. Characters like Galadriel have even managed to develop this power exponentially. We see him when the Fellowship of the Ring visits him in Lorien after the tragic events at the Moria Mine.
But one of the most intriguing Elf powers is that of the gift of prescience, or the ability to glimpse the future, as several examples within the books written by Tolkien demonstrate. In The Silmarillion , Elrond predicted that Isildur’s sword Narsil (the fragments of which were subsequently given to Aragorn) would remain broken until the discovery of the One Ring. In The Fellowship of the Ring , Gandalf revealed that the Lord of Rivendell had predicted Sauron’s escape from Dol Guldur . He also planned that his daughter Arwen and Aragorn would have a son.
Elrond is not alone in this. Let’s talk about Glorfindel, who predicted the prophecy of the death of the Witch-king of Angmar, which took place thousands of years later when Éowyn pierced him with her sword during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. In Peter Jackson’s film adaptations, Arwen can also noticeably predict the future. She sees her son there in particular. As for Galadriel, although she uses her magic mirror, she predicted certain events that actually happened. She had indeed correctly predicted that Aragorn would go to the Paths of the Dead in The Return of the King.
LIMITED POWER
However, Galadriel like Elrond does not fully master their power of clairvoyance. Galadriel cannot predict what the mirror will show or whether the visions will come true, and Elrond could not control the visions that came to him. This is why he could not give Frodo or the other members of the Fellowship details of the dangers that await them. Galadriel and Elrond are the two main characters who can see the future. In the case of the latter, the fact that he is a descendant of Melian, one of the Maiar (who possess exceptional gifts of prescience), undoubtedly grants him this type of ability.
Tolkien does not specifically explain why Elves can read the future. This gift reserved for certain chosen ones helps to make this race the most mystical in the entire universe, and to add magical and epic sequences that are always welcome.