[Gothmog]

Resurrecting a very old thread here... I don't know if this is the right place, but it is the ultimate discourse about Gildor, so why not?

I'm not going to go in on why Gildor left Frodo alone because that discussion seems neverending. What I'm curious of is Gildor's origin.

The facts posted here and on other threads is to start with:

Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod. Though the house of Finrod doesn't necessarily mean he is of the house of Finrod Felagund: Finrod was Finarfin's name in an early version. According to CT (quote in Heren's post below) House of Finrod wasn't changed at he same time. That also means Gildor might not be related or servant (depending on the definition of the word house) of Finrod Felagund at all.

Inglorion=Son of Inglor. Inglor Felagund=Finrod Felagund. But we know that Finrod (=the "modern" Finrod from now on) left his beloved Amarië in the Undying Lands. If Gildor indeed was Finrod's son he would have been the rightful Highking of Noldor after Gil-Galad and taken over Nargothrond after his father, instead of Orodreth. Besides, no son of Finrod is ever mentioned. Could Amarie have given birth to a child after Finrod went to ME? Maybe, but how would Gildor get across the sea? I don't know of any elves arriving from the west, only sailing to the west (resurrected Glorfindel could be an exception).

Gildor says that he has relatives, or rather "kinfolk" in Rivendell. Does that mean anything? Or is it kinfolk as in elves? He doesn't seem to live in Rivendell no matter his possible family ties.

Something that might be unnimportant but anyway: Gildor was on the ship that left Grey Havens together with Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo and many more. This shows he is an elf of dignity, doesn't it?

By naming himself as of the House of Finrod, he implies that he has tight bonds to either Finrod or Finarfin, which I presume means he's been around for a while. Did he live in Nargothrond during Finrod's era? Did he meet Túrin? The only Gildor mentioned in Silmarillion is one of the twelwe companions of Barahir...In short: who was he back then?

And who is he now? I hope someone can help me with some more information here. And I know it's been discussed elsewhere, but new, fresh thinking is never wrong!