The answers to Were any of the Elves in Tolkien twins? include Elladan and Elrohir as twins. Is there any canon sources backing this up? Wikia is a dreadful source for Tolkien canon, is it stated anywhere that the sons of Elrond are twin brothers?
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@WadCheber this is a specific question asking for clarification on something commonly stated without evidence– user46509Commented Oct 3, 2015 at 18:46
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This is why we can open bounties asking for canonical sources. You're basically asking "Are the answers to this other question right?".– Wad CheberCommented Oct 3, 2015 at 18:47
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@WadCheber I can't open bounties. No option?– user46509Commented Oct 3, 2015 at 18:49
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1farm6.staticflickr.com/5736/21730255580_29c30e66f8_b_d.jpg– Wad CheberCommented Oct 3, 2015 at 19:00
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1farm6.staticflickr.com/5748/21730370298_d563673018_z_d.jpg– Wad CheberCommented Oct 3, 2015 at 19:01
1 Answer
Appendix B:
130 Birth of Elladan and Elrohir, sons of Elrond.
Return of the King Appendix B "The Tale of Years" (ii) The Third Age
Of course this doesn't preclude the possibility that one was born early in the year and one was born late, as sometimes happens with human children, but writings in Morgoth's Ring debunks this notion; the Elvish gestational period is twelve months:
A year passed between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child, so that the days of both are the same, or nearly so.
History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 3: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" Chapter 2: "The Second Phase" Laws and Customs Among the Eldar
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This becomes dangerous when dealing with various versions of the legendarium. My understanding is History of Me is a full history and contains conflicting versions? Also Elrond was half-man ;)– user46509Commented Oct 3, 2015 at 18:48
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1@CarlSixsmith Generally yes, but the essays in Morgoth's Ring are later and more stable writings, and typically viewed with some authority by Christopher Tolkien. The issue of Elrond being half-elven is more complicated, but Elves and Men are biologically identical; the differences in this case are spiritual, rather than physiological Commented Oct 3, 2015 at 18:51
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@JasonBaker: if they're biologically identical, then the period of gestation can't possibly be different, and vice versa. So which is it?– MarthaCommented Oct 7, 2015 at 15:10
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@Martha Both, with the understanding that Tolkien is not really interested in the finer points of biology. From the man himself (talking about immortality, granted, but the principle is the same): "I do not care. This is a biological dictum in my imaginary world. It is only (as yet) an incompletely imagined world, a rudimentary 'secondary'; but if it pleased the Creator to give it (in a corrected form) Reality on any plane, then you would just have to enter it and begin studying its different biology, that is all." Commented Oct 7, 2015 at 15:14