Post by Stormrider on Jan 15, 2009 7:26:20 GMT -6
From: Pearlbloom_Greenleaf Sent: 5/18/2004 7:13 AM
Although many things concerning Legolas' part in the Return of the King have already been discussed, still I would like to briefly say something about it. Of all the wonderful things in the LotR-trilogy, I think the following lines touch me most of all:
"And I," said Legolas, "shall walk in the woods of this fair land, which is rest enough. In days to come, if my Elven-lord allows, some of our folk shall move hither; and when we come it shall be blessed, for a while. For a while: a month, a life, a hundred years of Men."
Somehow, it feels like finally emerging from great, gloomy depths, or getting well after a long, long sickness (not necessarily or directly connected to the One Ring)... Anyway, I just thought I'd share this with you, albeit a little late. And perhaps a tad too personal. Ah well...
Pearl
* * *
From: Desi_Baggins1 Sent: 5/18/2004 7:27 AM
That is a very touching quote. I remember reading it. It tells so much about the elves even though it is not very long.
Desi
* * *
From: Pearlbloom_Greenleaf Sent: 5/20/2004 7:15 AM
Indeed... It is short, and I find myself wishing regularly that there were more about Legolas, or Wood Elves in general, to be explicitly found in the books, but then again: part of the enchantment is exactly this, the fact that you have to 'feel' your way towards them, to learn more about them (weirdly, it always seems a kind of 'recognition' to me...). And if you can't, or are unwilling to do so (whatever the reason is), they will remain just as elusive and ethereal as, I think, they're meant to be. Brilliant. Simply amazing.
Pearl
* * *
From: Desi_Baggins1 Sent: 5/21/2004 8:36 AM
What I find amazing about the Mirkwood Elves is how different they seem in the Hobbit compared to Legolas in LotR. They seem so dark and almost evil in the Hobbit, but we do learn otherwise in LotR.
Desi
* * *
From: Desi_Baggins1 Sent: 5/21/2004 3:42 PM
Many of you might already know this, but this tracking Legolas thread got me curious as to how much is know if his family and Mirkwood. I found this at Encyclopedia of Arda:
At least, Legolas seems to refer to himself as a Silvan Elf: in Eregion, he says '...the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk...' (The Fellowship of the Ring II 3, The Ring Goes South). This is confusing, because his father Thranduil is elsewhere identified as one of the Sindar. Tolkien touches on this question in his Letters, where he describes Legolas as '...a Woodland Elf, though one of royal and originally Sindarin line.' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien No 297, dated 1967, our italics). The explanation for this is found in the History of Galadriel and Celeborn (in Unfinished Tales), where there's a brief account of the arrival of Thranduil's father Oropher among the Silvan Elves of Greenwood the Great. It's made obvious there that Oropher and his small band of Sindar merged themselves completely with the Silvan people of the Wood, leaving behind their Sindarin inheritance. That's why Oropher's grandson Legolas thinks of himself as a Silvan Elf, rather than one of the Sindar.
So I guess Lego is a Sindar Silvan Elf...Now I need to look up more info on those types of elves!
Desi
Although many things concerning Legolas' part in the Return of the King have already been discussed, still I would like to briefly say something about it. Of all the wonderful things in the LotR-trilogy, I think the following lines touch me most of all:
"And I," said Legolas, "shall walk in the woods of this fair land, which is rest enough. In days to come, if my Elven-lord allows, some of our folk shall move hither; and when we come it shall be blessed, for a while. For a while: a month, a life, a hundred years of Men."
Somehow, it feels like finally emerging from great, gloomy depths, or getting well after a long, long sickness (not necessarily or directly connected to the One Ring)... Anyway, I just thought I'd share this with you, albeit a little late. And perhaps a tad too personal. Ah well...
Pearl
* * *
From: Desi_Baggins1 Sent: 5/18/2004 7:27 AM
That is a very touching quote. I remember reading it. It tells so much about the elves even though it is not very long.
Desi
* * *
From: Pearlbloom_Greenleaf Sent: 5/20/2004 7:15 AM
Indeed... It is short, and I find myself wishing regularly that there were more about Legolas, or Wood Elves in general, to be explicitly found in the books, but then again: part of the enchantment is exactly this, the fact that you have to 'feel' your way towards them, to learn more about them (weirdly, it always seems a kind of 'recognition' to me...). And if you can't, or are unwilling to do so (whatever the reason is), they will remain just as elusive and ethereal as, I think, they're meant to be. Brilliant. Simply amazing.
Pearl
* * *
From: Desi_Baggins1 Sent: 5/21/2004 8:36 AM
What I find amazing about the Mirkwood Elves is how different they seem in the Hobbit compared to Legolas in LotR. They seem so dark and almost evil in the Hobbit, but we do learn otherwise in LotR.
Desi
* * *
From: Desi_Baggins1 Sent: 5/21/2004 3:42 PM
Many of you might already know this, but this tracking Legolas thread got me curious as to how much is know if his family and Mirkwood. I found this at Encyclopedia of Arda:
At least, Legolas seems to refer to himself as a Silvan Elf: in Eregion, he says '...the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk...' (The Fellowship of the Ring II 3, The Ring Goes South). This is confusing, because his father Thranduil is elsewhere identified as one of the Sindar. Tolkien touches on this question in his Letters, where he describes Legolas as '...a Woodland Elf, though one of royal and originally Sindarin line.' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien No 297, dated 1967, our italics). The explanation for this is found in the History of Galadriel and Celeborn (in Unfinished Tales), where there's a brief account of the arrival of Thranduil's father Oropher among the Silvan Elves of Greenwood the Great. It's made obvious there that Oropher and his small band of Sindar merged themselves completely with the Silvan people of the Wood, leaving behind their Sindarin inheritance. That's why Oropher's grandson Legolas thinks of himself as a Silvan Elf, rather than one of the Sindar.
So I guess Lego is a Sindar Silvan Elf...Now I need to look up more info on those types of elves!
Desi