Council of Elrond

The Council of Elrond was the great meeting held at Rivendell in the year 3018 of the Third Age, at which the free peoples of Middle-earth took counsel concerning the One Ring and resolved that it must be destroyed. Convened by Elrond, lord of Rivendell, the Council brought together representatives of Elves, Dwarves, and Men, along with the wizard Gandalf and the hobbit Frodo, bearer of the Ring. It was at this Council that the course of the War of the Ring was set, and the Fellowship of the Ring was formed.

The Gathering

The Council was not summoned by design so much as gathered by chance -- or by the workings of a deeper purpose. Many errands had brought messengers and travelers to Rivendell at the same hour: Boromir of Gondor, seeking the meaning of a riddling dream; Glóin the Dwarf, bearing troubling tidings from Erebor; Elves from Mirkwood and the Grey Havens; and Frodo himself, who had carried the Ring to safety out of the Shire at great peril.

The Counsel

Over the course of the Council the long history of the Ring was laid bare. Elrond recounted the tale of its forging by Sauron and the fall of the Last Alliance; Gandalf revealed the treachery of Saruman, who had turned to evil and sought the Ring for himself; and the journeys that had brought the Ring to Rivendell were told in full. The assembled wisdom weighed every course: to hide the Ring, to send it over the Sea, to wield it against Sauron. Each was found wanting, for the Ring could not be used for good, and Sauron would never cease to hunt it.

At last it was resolved that there was but one road: the Ring must be carried into Mordor and unmade in the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged. When the choice was made and none knew who should bear so dreadful a burden, Frodo spoke up and offered to take the Ring, though he did not know the way.

Outcome

The Council named Frodo the Ring-bearer, and Elrond chose companions to go with him -- the Fellowship of the Ring, nine walkers to stand against the Nine Riders: Frodo and three hobbit companions, Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas the Elf, and Gimli the Dwarf.

Significance

The Council of Elrond is the hinge on which the whole War of the Ring turns. It was here that the free peoples, despite their old divisions and mistrust, chose the seemingly hopeless path of destroying the Ring rather than wielding it -- and entrusted the fate of the world to the courage of a hobbit. From this council came the Fellowship and the quest that would, in the end, bring down Sauron.