The Lord of the Rings was mainly concerned with events that occurred on dry land, but ships and other aquatic vessels were a crucial part of the Elves’ history. In Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, some swan-shaped Elven boats make a brief appearance in Lothórien. Similar ships were featured in the first episode of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, when Galadriel and the other Elves made a voyage to the Undying Lands. The opening flashback from that series even showed Galadriel sending a small paper swan down a river.

These were all nods to a detail from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings novel. In the chapter “Farewell to Lórien” from The Fellowship of the Ring, the members of the Fellowship saw what appeared to be “a swan of great size” floating down the river, but as it grew nearer, they realized that it was actually “a ship, wrought and carved with elven-skill in the likeness of a bird.” These swan-ships did not play a major role in The Lord of the Rings, simply adding to the strong connection between Elves and the natural world, but they were extremely important to one of Tolkien’s other Middle-earth novels: The Silmarillion.

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The tradition of swan-ships began with the Teleri, one of the three main clans of Elves. In ancient times, a Maia named Ossë sent giant swans to pull the ships of the Teleri from the island of Tol Eressëa to Valinor, and from that moment onward, the Teleri revered swans. To honor the majestic birds who had once aided them, the Teleri built their future ships in the image of swans, and they named their main city Alqualondë, meaning “Haven of Swans” in the Elvish language of Quenya. In the section “Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië” from The Silmarillion, Tolkien described that the swan-ships were made of white wood but had “beaks of gold and eyes of gold and jet.” The use of precious metals and gemstones showed how important the swan-ships were to the Teleri. Their beauty was not their only notable trait, as they were the greatest ships in the Undying Lands and the only vessels capable of crossing the Great Sea of Belegaer to reach Middle-earth.

Unfortunately, the swan-ships made the Teleri a target. After the Dark Lord Morgoth destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor and stole the Silmarils, the Elves of the Noldor clan — led by Galadriel’s uncle, Fëanor — decided to pursue Morgoth to Middle-earth. They asked to use the swan-ships to do so, but the Teleri refused to help with such a reckless endeavor, especially since the godlike Valar disapproved of it. Fëanor then tried to steal the swan-ships from the Teleri, and when he was discovered, he turned to violence. The Noldor attacked the Teleri in a bloody event that came to be known as the First Kinslaying. This wicked act caused some of the Noldor to turn against Fëanor, but the rest carried on to Middle-earth in the stolen swan-ships. Upon reaching the shore, Fëanor set fire to the swan-ships so that none of his followers could attempt to return to the Undying Lands.

The Tradition of Swan-ships Continued Into The Lord of the Rings

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Galadriel’s husband, Celeborn, was a member of the Teleri clan, and though Galadriel was considered one of the Noldor, she was descended from the Teleri on her mother’s side. Thus, they and the other Elves of Lothlórien carried on the swan-ship tradition. The Lothlórien swan-ships looked very similar to those made in the Undying Lands, even down to the golden beaks and jet eyes, but they were significantly smaller. Lothlórien was a forested realm far away from the coast, so Galadriel’s people did not need large vessels that could cross the Great Sea. The swan-ships of Lothlórien were instead meant for rowing down rivers such as the Celebrant, which flowed from the Dimril Dale just outside the Mines of Moria to the river Anduin, passing through Lothlórien in the process.

Lothlórien was not the only region of Middle-earth in which swan-ships held significance. The Gondorian city of Dol Amroth used a silver swan-ship upon a blue background as its crest. This is because the leaders of Dol Amroth — including Imrahil, the uncle of Boromir and Faramir from The Lord of the Rings — were distantly related to the Teleri. The first Prince of Dol Amroth was Galador, the son of a Númenórean and an Elf. He thus adopted some Elven imagery and passed it down to future generations of Gondorians. The greatest warriors from Dol Amroth were even called swan-knights. Though neither Jackson’s films nor The Rings of Power delved into the history of the Elven swan-ships, their inclusion was rewarding for fans of Tolkien’s wider legendarium.

The Lord of the Rings

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The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

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The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Summary

The Lord of the Rings is a long-running fantasy franchise created by J.R.R. Tolkien. The core series consists of four primary books: The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, the Two Towers, and The Return of the King, all of which have been adapted into films. The Lord of the Rings core franchise centers around Frodo Baggins, a living being known as a hobbit, and a group of heroes from the various kingdoms such as the kingdom of man, the kingdom of dwarves, and the kingdom of elves. Together with the great wizard Gandalf, the group will embark on a perilous quest across Middle Earth to take The One Ring to Mount Doom to destroy it, before it can corrupt anyone and return to the hands of the evil entity known as Sauron, hellbent on conquering all of Middle Earth. The original novel/prequel films, The Hobbit, stars Frodo’s uncle Bilbo Baggins as he embarks on a quest from the comfort of his home and seeks the treasure of a dragon known as Smaug. Bilbo stumbles upon The One Ring on his quest, and finds himself amidst a great war. The most recent media for the franchise is the currently airing The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, airing exclusively on Prime Video.

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