The Full Story of LEGOLAS | Middle Earth Lore — Transcript

Hey guys, and welcome to The Broken Sword. Today, we are looking at the world's most famous and beloved elf, Legolas. We are going to try and use what information Tolkien made available to figure out what he was doing before the War of the Ring, as well as what he did after. Let's get into it. [Music]

ring as well as what he did after let's get into it [Music] now while legolas past may be lacking the history of his race is certainly not tolkien went to great depths to explain the traumatizing past of the elves most

Now, while Legolas' past may be lacking, the history of his race is certainly not. Tolkien went to great depths to explain the traumatizing past of the elves, most of which takes place in the First Age of Middle-earth, which is mainly outlined throughout The Silmarillion. The bulk of this history focuses on the branches of the elven people who migrate far over the western sea to the Blessed Realm.

eventually they return to middle-earth and fight with sauron's master the original dark lord morgoth from here follows an incredibly complex and fascinating story that leads to the near destruction of the complete elven race the fall of morgoth and the eventual

Eventually, they return to Middle-earth and fight with Sauron's master, the original Dark Lord Morgoth. From here follows an incredibly complex and fascinating story that leads to the near destruction of the complete elven race, the fall of Morgoth, and the eventual rise of Sauron to replace him. However, those details aren't necessarily important to this story, so we'll cover them in another video in the future.

elves quiet nature-loving individuals headed northeast early in the second age and began to settle in a giant forested area known as greenwood the great the same area that would eventually become known as mirkwood in the book unfinished tales tolkien explains that over time

So, how do we get from this to Legolas? Well, a group of elves called the Silver Elves, quiet nature-loving individuals, headed northeast early in the Second Age and began to settle in a giant forested area known as Greenwood the Great, the same area that would eventually become known as Mirkwood. In the book Unfinished Tales, Tolkien explains that over time the Sylvan Elves chose to migrate further north into the woods that they already inhabited.

between themselves and their relatives in lothlorian who would eventually come under the strong world leadership of caliborn and galandrial in addition it's suggested that they want to create some space between themselves and the dwarves who were busily thriving in kaza doom at

There are multiple different motives offered up for this decision. The Sylvan Elves are fairly private, and it's suggested that they're simply looking to create some distance between themselves and their relatives in Lothlórien, who would eventually come under the strong world leadership of Celeborn and Galadriel. In addition, it's suggested that they want to create some space between themselves and the dwarves, who were busily thriving in Khazad-dûm at the time.

course of the second age a powerful group of sylvan elves established themselves further and further north in greenwood the great initially their kingdom is large expanding beyond the elves of the woods and possibly even right around the lonely mountain for a

Finally, it's mentioned at another point in the book that their king, disturbed by the rising power of Sauron, decides to move his people further north, away from the action. Regardless of the actual reasons for this, the takeaway here is that over the course of the Second Age, a powerful group of Sylvan Elves established themselves further and further north in Greenwood the Great.

woods eventually though he acknowledges the need to resist the spreading power of the dark lord sauron and he leads an army to fight in the last alliance the alliance of elves and men are of course successful in the war and sauron

Initially, their kingdom is large, expanding beyond the Elves of the Woods and possibly even right around the Lonely Mountain for a while, and they're consistently ruled by the same father-son duo for centuries. The first king of that realm in Mirkwood is an elven lord named Oropher. He leads his people as they relocate over and over again, deeper and deeper into the woods.

course of the third age that follows thranduil finds himself leading an ever shrinking kingdom this is mainly due to the fact that the necromancer aka sauron and his minions have set up shop in the southern portion of the woods and are

Eventually, though, he acknowledges the need to resist the spreading power of the Dark Lord Sauron, and he leads an army to fight in the Last Alliance. The alliance of Elves and Men are, of course, successful in the war, and Sauron is temporarily defeated. However, two-thirds of the Sylvan army is destroyed in the fighting, and their king loses his life.

far north east part of merkwood this is the area in which we meet the alvin king in the hobbit when bilbo and his dwarven companions are captured it's here that thrandywill decides to dig in he builds a huge subterranean

After Oropher falls in battle, his son Thranduil takes over the reins and becomes the new elven king. Over the course of the Third Age that follows, Thranduil finds himself leading an ever-shrinking kingdom. This is mainly due to the fact that the Necromancer, aka Sauron, and his minions have set up shop in the southern portion of the woods and are spreading quickly.

the grandson of orifer which of course makes him a prince and heir to the throne of the woodland realm despite of his significant importance as a potential leader for an entire race it's never actually stated when legolas is

Eventually, the dwarves, who obviously are not that friendly with the elves, show up at the Lonely Mountain to the east, followed by the dragon Smaug. Now, at this point, Thranduil decides to officially relocate his kingdom to the far northeast part of Mirkwood. This is the area in which we meet the elven king in The Hobbit when Bilbo and his dwarven companions are captured.

original stories this however is not the case and peter jackson and his team took many liberties in their story choices one of the biggest being the decision to heavily include legolas in the second of the three movies however having said that

It's here that Thranduil decides to dig in. He builds a huge subterranean palace and holds up, protected by his elven warriors and the enchanted river that runs through his lands. Sometime during this period, it's actually unnamed, but he does have a son named—can you guess?—Legolas.

500 years old so he was certainly at an age to be going to war and the fact that his fighting skills are so well developed by the time of the war of the ring it's obvious that he must have been

So, Legolas is the son of Thranduil and the grandson of Oropher, which of course makes him a prince and heir to the throne of the Woodland Realm. Despite his significant importance as a potential leader for an entire race, it's never actually stated when Legolas is born. In fact, in spite of his royal lineage and proximity to power, Legolas' early life remains permanently shrouded in mystery.

two towers book legolas aragorn and gimli and gandalf discuss the history of rohan as they arrive in the capital of that dominion the city of ederas as they talk about the age of the kingdom legolas casually states 500

So, some of you may assume that what happens in The Hobbit trilogy is actually what happened in Tolkien's original stories. This, however, is not the case, and Peter Jackson and his team took many liberties in their story choices, one of the biggest being the decision to heavily include Legolas in the second of the three movies.

very very old i would say at least five hundred either way throughout the history of the sylvan elves the woodland realm orefer and even thrandywill the birth and childhood of legolas is never brought up his presence isn't even

However, having said that, although Tolkien did not write about Legolas during the Battle of the Five Armies, it's extremely likely that he would have been involved. Legolas' exact age is never given in any of Tolkien's writings, but most Tolkien experts seem to put his age at at least 500 years old, so he was certainly at an age to be going to war.

difficult there's not exactly an obvious cutoff point where the prince could have been born when we get to the war of the ring the woodland realm has already existed for approximately five to six thousand years and there's no reason to

And the fact that his fighting skills are so well developed by the time of the War of the Ring, it's obvious that he must have been involved in some significant battles in his past. Also, being that he was the son of the elven king Thranduil, he would likely be expected to be at his father's side during such important battles.

also likely that there may have been a female elf similar to tariel in his life hear me out so throughout the lord of the rings we do not hear anything of legolas and his love life he concentrates completely on the quest he

But let's look a little further into this. In The Two Towers book, Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, and Gandalf discuss the history of Rohan as they arrive in the capital of that dominion, the city of Edoras. As they talk about the age of the kingdom, Legolas casually states, "Five hundred times have the red leaves fallen in Mirkwood in my home since then."

after the lord of the rings but we'll get to that soon we can also work out that it's very possible that legolas met aragorn before the story of the lord of the rings as well and no thranduil didn't tell him to go and meet a young

And, "But a little while does that seem to us." The ability for Legolas to just shrug off five centuries as if they were purely months does indicate that he could be very, very old. I would say at least five hundred.

legolas i can imagine that meeting an elven raised man like aragorn would have been a bit of an eye-opening experience for a possibly sheltered person like legolas who probably spent the majority of his time very close to home

Either way, throughout the history of the Sylvan Elves, the Woodland Realm, Oropher, and even Thranduil, the birth and childhood of Legolas is never brought up. His presence isn't even mentioned, but let's be honest, that is purely down to the fact that The Hobbit was written before The Lord of the Rings, and The Lord of the Rings was where Legolas as a character made his debut.

do with keeping watch over gollum during his imprisonment in merkwood we also know that merkwood was attacked at around this time which is what led to gollum's escape so we can be pretty sure that legolas was involved in these

On top of that, to make a guess even more difficult, there's not exactly an obvious cutoff point where the prince could have been born. When we get to the War of the Ring, the Woodland Realm has already existed for approximately five to six thousand years, and there's no reason to think that Legolas couldn't have been born before the realm was founded anyway.

selected to be a part of the fellowship of the ring now i will not spend ages here going over his dealings during the war of the ring as i would assume that most of you know that part of his life pretty well

Suffice to say that Legolas' age will forever remain a question mark. Now, I am going to speculate here, and I may get some hate for this, but I think it's also likely that there may have been a female elf similar to Tauriel in his life. Hear me out.

the journey of the fellowship his light demeanor encourages the company and keeps things up when their spirits are low and things seem difficult when the group is attacked in moria for example he helps fend off the attacking orcs and

So, throughout The Lord of the Rings, we do not hear anything of Legolas and his love life. He concentrates completely on the quest he is a part of and on his companionship amongst his new friends. Perhaps after being hurt by a previous love interest, he decided to just abandon romance for friendship.

have kidnapped mary and pippin they chase their enemies into rohan where they change course and legolas proceeds to participate in the defense of helmus deep where he kills precisely 41 of sariman's soldiers he continues on with his two companions

This will make more sense when you hear about his life after The Lord of the Rings, but we'll get to that soon. We can also work out that it's very possible that Legolas met Aragorn before the story of The Lord of the Rings as well, and no, Thranduil didn't tell him to go and meet a young ranger named Strider like he does in the movie.

ring is finally destroyed from beginning to end of the war of the ring legolas remains intimately involved and represents the elves from one end of middle earth all the way to the other so directly after the war ended legolas

But we do know for sure that Aragorn took a captured Gollum to Thranduil in Mirkwood, as it was considered a trusted place to keep a dangerous creature like Gollum. This, of course, is also the home of Legolas. I can imagine that meeting an elven-raised man like Aragorn would have been a bit of an eye-opening experience for a possibly sheltered person like Legolas, who pro...

durian's folk there leading a host from the lonely mountain and becoming the first lord of the glittering caves they also restored the hornberg and it became a shared fortress between the dwarves and rohan anyway i'm getting a little off topic here

so legolas and gimli had made a pact of friendship that they would one day walk into the deep woods of fangorn when the war was over so that is what they did legolas then moved into ethylene with some of his followers and decided to

spend his remaining time in middle-earth repairing rebuilding and restoring the woodlands that had been destroyed and torn apart during the war of the ring after the death of his close friend aragorn legolas then decided his time in middle-earth had come to an end he built

a grey ship in athelian and sailed west he took with him his best friend gimli who was the first and only dwarf to ever set foot in the undying lands which i believe confirms my previous point of legolas abandoning romance for

friendship so there we go my friends this is all the information i could find on what legolas was doing before and after the lord of the rings maybe not as detailed or lengthy as some of our other videos of a similar style but i thought

it may still be a topic that you'd be interested in so my question for you guys today is this do you think that if tolkien had had the time to finish his last edit of the hobbit book in 1960 he would have

introduced legolas into the story then for it's heavily rumored that was his intention as we know professor tolkien was constantly revising his works and this was a change that would have made a lot of sense since legolas was now a

character within his legendarium let me hear your thoughts on that in the comments down below okay that's it from me today my friends if you're interested in supporting the channel then please check out our patreon page or become a channel member

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