Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-88.117.41.142-20151221171736/@comment-27723099-20151223075108

Madman198237 wrote:

Elrond has power over the Bruinen. He can control the river. He a lord of the Elves and a very, very tough Elf himself and owner of the strongest of the Three Rings (Forged without the help, direct or indirect, or any Valar or Maiar, though Sauron did help Celebrimbor create the art of Ring-forging. Which, by the way, does not mean that the magical strength of the Three came from Sauron. Any power must have come from Celebrimbor himself, because he did not trust Sauron and did not accept anything from Sauron). He does not call on a Vala or Maia. There is no way to prove that they had no indirect help of the Valar. The Valar are as mystical as the forces of nature, in fact they ARE the forces of nature. Theis essence is in everything.

But the funny thing is, Elrond is able to use weak Ainur magic, because he is a descendant of the Ainur! Elrond's matrilineal grand-grandmother was Luthien, daughter of Melian the Maia. However, the same couldn't be said about Galadriel (who protected Lothlórien with similar powers as Melian used for Doriath) or Celebrimbor, or the elves of the First Age (Feanor, who created the Silmarils). That means at least the very old elves do have power n their own. If these powers really depend on the age of the elf, then Cirdan should be very powerful, being one of the oldest known elves still alive in the Third Age.