Estelrien was born in Gondor, only daughter of a well-to-do merchant with political aspirations.  He and his wife had high hopes for their daughter, but she proved to be a disappointment, as she preferred her books and swordfighting to needlework and matchmaking.  Though she managed to defy them long enough to attain a good education (her father presuming that, after all, perhaps the welll-placed families would prefer a daughter-in-law who had some learning), it became clear that all that was expected of her was to make a good match to secure her father's ambitions in Gondor.

The night before the wedding banns were to be spoken (said marriage to be to an elderly, doddering, but wealthy man), Estelrien bribed the stable-boy to find her a swift horse.  She packed up the greatsword crafted by her grandfather, a master weaponsmith of high repute, what food she could find and what money she had hidden away for months, and made her escape.  She rode out of Gondor and headed north, having heard and read of Bree and the lands up there. She did not know what lay before her, but it had to be better than what lay behind.