In a world as expansive and detailed as Middle-earth, it makes sense that the effort put into creating the world would extend to the people and creatures that live within that world as well. There is a lot of lore and history behind all of the races that abide in the world of Middle-earth, as Tolkien seemingly took the time to flesh out as many of them as he could. This just means that die-hard fans get even more content when they look further into his work and see all the history that he planned around this fictional world.
The Elves in particular are quite interesting and have a long, storied past within the world of The Lord of the Rings. There are a lot of different clans and offshoots of the Elves, though most of this backstory isn't mentioned within the core text. Legolas is probably the most well-known Elf in the series, as he is a member of the Fellowship of the Ring and plays a major role in saving Middle-earth from Sauron's clutches. But what kind of Elf is Legolas, exactly, and where does his family come from?
RELATED: What Happened To Legolas After Lord of the Rings?
There are a lot of different sub-divisions of the Elves that happened over time, and some of them differ culturally from each other. When the Elves were asked to come to Valinor by the Valar, the first division, or Sundering, happened. Those who chose to go were called the Eldar, and they were comprised of three clans: the Vanyar, the Noldor, and the Teleri. Those who did not go to Valinor (either because they were content in Middle-earth or they distrusted the Valar) were called the Avari, or the Unwilling. The Eldar made their journey towards Valinor, but when they reached the Misty Mountains, some of the Teleri chose to stay behind, and those that remained in this area of Greenwood were called the Nandor ("the valley people").
The rest of the Elves reached the coast and the Valar began finding a way to get them across the sea to Valinor. In the meantime, some of the Teleri chose to stay behind in Beleriand, and they became known as the Sindar. Later on during the First Age, some of the Nandor traveled to Beleriand as well and became known as the Laiquendi, but most of the remaining Nandor mixed with the Avari and became known as Silvan Elves. These offshoots of the Teleri are most of the Elves that make up the landscape of Middle-earth as it is seen in The Lord of the Rings, with a few notable exceptions like Galadriel and Elrond who were Noldor.
What Type of Elf Is Legolas?
While the Elves that hail from the Mirkwood area are Silvan Elves, Legolas and his father Thranduil, who ruled over them, were actually technically Sindarin. Legolas's grandfather Oropher was a noble of Doriath, the forest kingdom where Thingol, the leader of the Sindar, had ruled. Oropher survived the fall of Doriath and moved his family east, where he established a new kingdom amongst the Silvan Elves who lived in Greenwood (which was later renamed Mirkwood). The kingdom moved around a few times after this to avoid certain dangers, and Oropher ruled over the Silvan Elves until he was killed in the War of the Last Alliance.
His son Thranduil survived and swiftly took over his place as ruler. Thranduil returned the clan to Greenwood, but when Sauron started occupying Dol Guldur and spreading his evil in the Third Age, Thranduil moved his people to shelter behind the Mountains of Mirkwood. It seems that the Sindar who accompanied Oropher when he first began his rule over the Silvan Elves adopted a Silvan lifestyle and dialect, as they saw it as a way to return to a simpler lifestyle and a more natural existence for Elves. There are also some sources that say that the Silvan language was actually overtaken by a dialect of Sindarin, so it's difficult to know how exactly the two cultures merged together.
Long story short, this means that Legolas, as the son of Thranduil, would be a Sindar Elf by blood. However, he (along with the rest of the Fellowship) seems to consider himself a Wood-elf (one of the Silvan Elves), as they are his people. Silvan Elves were often considered the lower rung on the hierarchy of Elven clans, so for someone in a position of nobility to consider himself one of them even when his bloodline said otherwise would likely be a big deal. Though the Elven clans all shared similarities, there was still a slight difference in culture between all of them, especially between those who belonged to clans that chose to stay in Middle-earth versus those who traveled to Valinor.
Legolas (pronounced [ˈlɛɡɔlas]) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He is a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and son of its king, Thranduil
king, Thranduil
Thranduil is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He first appears as a supporting character in The Hobbit, where he is simply known as the Elvenking, the ruler of the Elves who lived in the woodland realm of Mirkwood.
, becoming one of the nine members of the Fellowship who set out to destroy the One Ring
One Ring
Powers. The Ring's primary power was control of the other Rings of Power and domination of the wills of their users. The Ring also conferred power to dominate the wills of other beings whether they were wearing Rings or not—but only in proportion to the user's native capacity.
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