Gildor Inglorion was an Elf of the House of Finrod, one of the Exiles who had not yet gone over the Sea. On the hobbits' first night out of Hobbiton his company came through the Woody End singing a hymn to Elbereth, and a Black Rider sniffing after Frodo slipped away at the sound.1
Frodo greeted them in their own tongue, Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo, and Gildor, delighted, named him Elf-friend. The Elves took the hobbits to their camp in the woods to eat and sleep.1
Gildor would tell Frodo little about the Riders except that they were servants of the Enemy and that he must not delay. When Frodo pressed him about Gandalf, he gave an answer that has become proverbial.1
Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
Gildor promised that the Elves would send messages of the hobbits' plight, and Glorfindel later said that some of his kindred had done so, which is how he came to be looking for them on the road. Gildor was among the Elves who rode with Elrond and Galadriel to the Grey Havens at the end.1,2,3
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Published story The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as Tolkien published them.
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, ch. 3, “Three is Company”
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, ch. 12, “Flight to the Ford”
- Published story The Return of the King, Book VI, ch. 9, “The Grey Havens”