Legolas, by Julia Alekseeva
The son of Thranduil, and so a prince of the Woodland Realm in the northeast of Mirkwood, Legolas was descended from the Sindar, but counted himself one of the Silvan people. The date of his birth is not known, but he seems to have been several thousand years old at the time of the War of the Ring. Of his life before the end of the Third Age, we know almost nothing. During Bilbo’s adventures on his journey to Erebor, he spent several weeks in Thranduil’s halls, and later encountered the entire army of the Wood-elves. It seems more than likely, then, that he would have encountered Legolas at this time, but if the two ever met, the fact is nowhere recorded.
He entered history proper on 25 October III 3018. Travelling westward to Rivendell as a messenger of his father, he was called to attend the Council of Elrond, where he reported the escape of Gollum. Afterwards, he was selected to join the Fellowship of the Ring as the representative of the Elves. He accompanied the Fellowship on its long journey into the south, and participated in the entire War of the Ring, when he formed a great friendship with Gimli the Dwarf, a remarkable thing between two races that normally held profound mistrust for one another.
After the War, they journeyed together, visiting Aglarond and Fangorn Forest before travelling to their homes in the north. Soon, though, Legolas and Gimli returned into the south with many of their kindred. Legolas and his Elves of Mirkwood settled in the land of Ithilien, and it came to be called the fairest of all the western lands.
Legolas remained in Ithilien until the death of Aragorn in IV 120. At that time, he gave in to the sea-longing that had awoken at long before at Pelargir, and sailed out into the Great Sea and away from Middle-earth. Legend tells that he took his great friend Gimli with him into the West.
Source: http://www.glyphweb.com
(via raggedyhobbit)
