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Speaking of Legolas... - Page 5

© Michael Martinez

Of course, Legolas also lost his temper when Gimli refused to go blindfold alone into Lorien. That was the only time Legolas ever became cross with anyone. Was he speaking as a proud Elven prince, or as a young Elf-lord who had not yet burned out his youthful fires? Legolas was still curious about the world, following Aragorn all the way to Gondor, seeking the hidden secrets of Fangorn, and allowing himself to become absorbed in the beauty of Aglarond. Perhaps most Elves would have appreciated the sights Legolas encountered on his journey, but there is something youthful and refreshing in the way he glances back at the spirits following Aragorn's company. "...Legolas turning to speak to Gimli looked back and the Dwarf saw before his face the glitter in the Elf's bright eyes...." There is something playful in the way Legolas engages in a deadly game with Gimli at Helm's Deep. Can anyone picture Elrond counting coup on Orcs in the midst of a very serious struggle over the future of Rohan? Or what of Feanor? Filled with fury though he was, at the end of his life he was still the stern and measuring father. Whatever mirth he might have known in youth had long since fallen away. So, too, was the mirth of Fingolfin long since shorn from him when he rode forth to challenge Morgoth to battle. And the Maedhros who chided his angry brothers with laughter over Thingol's cession of empty lands to the Noldor became a grim and determined lord who, by the end of the First Age, was consumed with weariness and the burden of guilt. Legolas seems rather impetuous when he and Gimli are riding through the "herd" of Huorns and Ents who have saved the Rohirrim at Helm's Deep. He can barely contain himself as they ride through the trees, and when he discovers eyes looking out at them, he turns back from the road and starts to enter the strange wood. Only Gandalf's caution brings Legolas out of his curious Elvish euphoria. It is hard to imagine Celeborn or Galadriel being so overcome with curiosity they would abandon their mission to find out more about the eyes in the wood. The character of Legolas is not so much compelling as confounding. I think many people wonder about him because he seems such a paradox, both old and young, both wise and yet inexplicably ignorant of the wide world around him. Legolas is a subtle stroke of Elvish youth at the end of the Elder Days. It may be there were few young Elves around at the time, and his may have been the last great adventure for a young Elf in Middle-earth. When Celeborn finally sailed over Sea, Tolkien notes, the last living memory of the Elder Days went with him. But when Legolas built his ship and departed, it may be that the last sparkle of youthful Elfdom vanished from Middle-earth, too.

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