Editing Eärendil and Elwing (section)

{{Short description|Characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion}}
{{redirect|Elwing|the German ice hockey goaltender|Sebastian Elwing}}
{{redirect|Eärendel|other uses|Earendel (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox character
| name        = Eärendil 
| series      = [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] 
| caption     = The emblem of Eärendil
| aliases     = Eärendil the Mariner <br/> <small> originally "''Eärendel''" <ref name=Rausch-2005-p14/>{{sfn|Flieger|2005|p=xi}}</small>
| race        = [[Half-elven]]
| lbl24       = Book(s)
| data24      = {{plainlist|
*''[[The Silmarillion]]'' (1977)
*''[[Unfinished Tales]]'' (1980)}}
}}
{{Infobox character
| name        = Elwing
| series      = [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] 
| aliases     = Elwing the White
| race        = Half-elven
| lbl24       = Book(s)
| data24      = ''The Silmarillion''
}}

'''Eärendil''' ({{IPA|qya|ɛ.aˈrɛn.dil}}) the Mariner and his wife '''Elwing''' are characters in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Middle-earth]] [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]]. They are depicted in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' as [[Half-elven]], the children of Men and Elves. He is a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried the [[Venus|Morning Star]],<ref name="Letter 297" group=T/> a jewel called a [[Silmaril]], across the sky. The jewel had been saved by Elwing from the destruction of the [[Havens of Sirion]]. The Morning Star and the Silmarils are elements of the symbolism of light, for divine creativity, [[Christianity in Middle-earth#Light|continually splintered]] as history progresses. Tolkien took Eärendil's name from the [[Old English]] name [[Aurvandill#Crist I|Earendel]], found in the poem ''[[Crist 1]]'', which hailed him as "brightest of angels"; this was the beginning of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology. Elwing is the granddaughter of [[Lúthien and Beren]], and is descended from [[Melian (Middle-earth)|Melian]] the [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maia]], while Earendil is the son of [[Tuor and Idril]]. Through their progeny, Eärendil and Elwing became the ancestors of the [[Númenor]]ean, and later [[Dúnedain]], royal bloodline.

Eärendil is the subject, too, of [[Song of Eärendil|the song]] in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' sung and supposedly composed by [[Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo]] in [[Rivendell]], described by [[Tom Shippey]] as exemplifying "an elvish streak{{nbsp}}... signalled{{nbsp}}... by barely-precedented intricacies" of poetry.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=217–220, 277–281}}