Archives:
Elfstones and Gemstones
Kirinki: It seems Thranduil loved emeralds:
quote:
From that treasure Bard sent much gold to the
Master of Lake-town; and he rewarded his followers and friends freely. To the
Elvenking he gave the emeralds of Girion, such jewels as he most loved, which
Dain had restored to him. (The Hobbit)
Do you think there is a kind of connection between the sap-green emeralds and
the love for trees? The trees most cherished by Thranduil´s people were the
beeches:
quote:
In fact the subjects of the king mostly lived and
hunted in the open woods, and had houses or huts on the ground and in the
branches. The beeches were their favourite trees. (The Hobbit)
If there is any leaves that makes me think of emeralds, that is the new spring
leaves of the beeches. (Just a few weeks now! Sigh!:daisy
Is it possible that the name given to the prince Legolas might refer to the
beech trees, as a sort of honorific?
Does anyone remember any references in LotR concerning Legolas and beeches?
Luthien: I think that the connection is there
too, more than likely. Elves have always had a thing for green though didn't
they? I think beryl, the elfstone was green also!
Offhand I don't remember any references with Legolas and beeches.
Rain: I do remember Legolas talking about the
trees in Mirkwood, but I really don't know if there are any references to
beeches in particular. Legolas is a Silvan name, is it not? Wouldn't it be
Laegolas in Sindarin - correct me if I'm wrong.
Morgan: Luthien, Kirinki,
Being very interested in the esoteric properties of stones myself, I have often
thought about the signifigance of beryls. There are actually several different
forms of beryl and not all of them are green. There are also bixbite,
goshenite, heliodor, morganite and a variety known simply as golden beryl. Of
all these, only emeralds are truly green. The rest range in colour from black,
to blue/green, red, gold, yellow and rose.
Symbolically, emeralds represent love, domestic bliss, sensitivity and loyalty
within self and within others. They are said to bring harmony to all areas of
ones life. Very appropriate for Elvish symbology don't you think?
The Elessar was also green and IIRC, was made to capture the essence of
sunlight through the green leaves.
Luthien: Yes indeed Morgan, these stones do
represent very Elvish aspects of existence. Thanks for the info!
