Was Glorfindel from the first Lord of the Rings Book a woman or man?

Question

I've started to read the books and have watched the movies. I remember in the movies when Frodo is poisoned from the dagger when he got hit on the weathertop, an elf comes to swiftly take him to some place for healing. The elf was a woman am I wrong? But in the book, I just got past that part and it says he is a man. Am I misunderstanding something or did they just add the woman to the movie to make it more interesting?

Answer 1

Chicks always make things more interesting.

Answer 2

"In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Glorfindel is an Elf, a Noldo who appears in the tales of Middle-earth.
The character and his name (Glor + findel "golden-haired") are among the oldest in the legendarium, going back to the original version of the Fall of Gondolin of 1916-17.
Glorfindel was blond, as his very name says. Blond hair was also found in the Noldor royal family (House of Finwë), among the descendants of Indis the Vanya, second wife of their High King Finwë — namely in the Golden House of Finarfin, his third son, which included Galadriel. Otherwise, somewhere in Glorfindel's family line there is Vanyarin blood, such as possibly through his mother (which would account for him being blond and still be counted among the Noldor). Both the Vanyar and the Noldor kindreds lived in the fair city of Tirion upon the hill of Túna in Valinor for a time, and in other parts of the royal family tree it has been shown that other Vanyar married in, so it is conceivable that the two sects mingled in more than just the royal line."

Glorfindel is not prominently featured in film versions of The Lord of the Rings.
In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version, his role and lines are given to Legolas, who is apparently not a Wood-elf here.
In Peter Jackson's live-action The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), his role is given to Arwen, who even takes Frodo herself to the Ford and summons the horses of water through an incantation, which is not present in the book. However, in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), there are some blond Elf background extras present at Aragorn's coronation at Minas Tirith. One of them is identified in promotional material as Glorfindel; he is played by Jarl Benzon [1]."

"Arwen Undómiel is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. She appears in his best-known novel, The Lord of the Rings. Arwen is one of the Half-elven who lived during the Third Age.
In Quenya Arwen's name signifies noble woman (Q. 'ar'=noble, 'wen'=maiden). Her second name or epessë, Undómiel means Evenstar (Evening star) (Q. 'undómë'=dusk, 'él'=star) Therefore she is also called Arwen Evenstar."

Answer 3

I think you're right. He was an elf dude in the book and quite a hot piece of elven eye candy in the movie. Artistic license.

Answer 4

Glorfindel was a man.