[Moralanqua]

Anyone got any tasty description notes from canon on GG?

[BittenBuggy]

Gil-galad was supposedly tall (6 feet or more), fair and golden haired, from the House of Fingolfin! Yay!

*Pats her Noldorins on the head*

[Dragon]

I think that the only stuff I've seen is that he's tall and has a mighty sword and spear, and I think that's in the Fall of Gil-galad poem in LoTR. Encyclopaedia of Arda has http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/gilgalad.html

Personally I thought he was dark haired but I could be wrong.

[BittenBuggy]

Well, it would make sense that he was dark-haired, since his father Fingon was darked haired. But Fingon's grandmother was golden-haired, therefore it could have skipped a couple generations. The gene is still there though.

[Dragon]

Ah, I suspect I'm influenced by the movie! (That and the dark haired Fingolfin picture in the shiney hardback copy of the Silmarillion that I will *never* be able to afford)!

[Haleth]

Gil-Galad's parentage isn't exactly clear.

Before people slap me with a hardbacked copy of the Silmarillion, Christopher Tolkien admitted that he may have been a bit hasty in assigning Fingon as Gil-Galad's father.

At various times during the evolution of the legend, Gil-galad was the son of Fingon, the son of Felagund (Finrod) or the grandson of Angrod.

The last two would certainly go a long way to explain the blond hair.

[Elentari]

[Leila]

[Andreth]

The only physical characteristic known for certain about Gil-galad is that he was tall. Hair color, eye color, none of that is ever specified anywhere in the books.

And Peoples of Middle-earth, The Shibboleth of Feanor, deals with the subject of Gil-galad's parentage. Apparently the son of Fingon was some of Christopher Tolkien's editing of the Silmarillion when he put it together and he says he would have been better off to leave Gil-galad's parentage vague and uncertain. Though Christopher Tolkien shows his father's last writings on the subject and says naming Gil-galad as the son of Oropher as: "There is no doubt that this was my father's last word on the subject" and that his being the son of Fingon was an "ephemeral idea".

Needless to say, it's another one of those things that people are of different minds about.

[BittenBuggy]

*Bows to the law that is Andreth*

You are so wise...

[Andreth]

I know....you may bow to my superior wisdom now.

Nah, not really. Ereinion Gil-galad is one of my hard-working muses, so I had to make sure he was well researched before I started writing him. Didn't want somebody coming back and saying, 'no! you can't write him that like that! He's like this not that!' Fortunately he's one of those vague characters that can be played around with. And boy, does he like being played around with.....

[Dragon]

Found this bit, that may be of help, but I think there's more somewhere.

Gil-galad was an elven king,
Of him the harpers sadly sing,
The last who's realm was fair and free
Between the mountains and the sea.

His sword was bright, his lance was keen,
his shining helm afar was seen;
The countless stars of heavens field
Were mirrored in his silver shield.

But long ago he rode away,
And where he dwelleth none can say;
For into darkness fell his star
In Mordor, where the shadows are.