Ælfwine (OE, Elf-friend) was the main character behind the early stages of Tolkien's mythos. He was the son of Eadwine son of Oswine, and was an Anglo-Saxon man from the lands of Wessex.

While searching for remote islands in the Atlantic, Ælfwine found a way to Eressea, and was allowed by the Elves to stay there for a while, learning their history. Later, he returned to England and wrote down the tales he had heard. These eventually came down to Tolkien to write about, thus making his stories into an attempt to be a true mythology of England.

In "The Cottage of Lost Play", he married an Elda called Eadgifu.

He was also known as Eriol in different versions of the stories.


**Note : This information comes from the HoMe series of books, which means that it is considered to be from J.R.R. Tolkien's earlier, unrevised writings. Therefore, this information cannot necessarily be considered canonical.**

(rewritten using borondir's information by atalante)