Legolas Research and Fan Club Thread

Club Member’s Impressions of Legolas’ Appearance

Compiled by Ithildin

 

This is the first of several posts in which I will attempt to consolidate information posted here recently regarding Legolas’ appearance. I tried to include everyone’s comments – please consider any omissions entirely unintentional. Additional comments welcome!

I will begin with at few quotes from the Professor himself:

 

Tolkien’s Description of Legolas:
He was tall as a young tree, lithe, immensely strong, able swiftly to draw a great war-bow and shoot down a Nazgul, endowed with the tremendous vitality of Elvish bodies, so hard and resistant to hurt that he went only in light shoes over rock or through snow, the most tireless of all the Fellowship
The Book of Lost Tales, II, The History of Eriol or Aelfwine, Ballantine Books, 1992, p.333

'Alas! alas!' cried Legolas, and in his fair elvish face there was great distress. FotR

But Legolas stood beside him, shading his bright elven-eyes with his long slender hand, … The Two Towers

'You are a Wood-Elf, anyway, though Elves of any kind are strange folk.' (Gimli) The Two Towers

Together the Elf and the Dwarf entered Minas Tirith, and folk that saw them pass marveled to see such companions; for Legolas was fair of face beyond the measure of Men … The Return of the King

 

Club Members Opinions of Legolas’ overall Appearance:
Elanor
I have a very clear mental picture of Legolas, which is quite different from the film. He is, as Tolkien notes, very tall, probably, as tall as Boromir, but much slender. His posture is very upright but doesn’t look stiff because of his movements - they are very swift and precise; all together makes the impression of surpassing gracefulness. He is, as already mentioned, very slender but it doesn’t imply weakness or femininity, on the contrary, he is full of strength (guessed at) and energy - an arrow set to the string and ready to fly, speaking metaphorically.
What may seem strange, his features are somewhat irregular, at least according to the beauty canons of ancient Greece – the face is more narrow and, probably, longer than the Greek standards would allow. Nevertheless, the features are strong and clear-cut, yet delicate; very light skin is indeed unblemished. His fair complexion looks almost alabaster-white by contrast with the dark hair.
Usually his face holds rather peculiar expression – a “Mona Lisa” smile, when the corners of the lips are slightly raised, but the eyes remain thoughtful (sometimes even sad). In general, beautiful and expressive face.
Indeed, an overall impression of him is that of surpassing beauty (“fair of face beyond the measure of Men”), and subdued but unmistakable strength. Yet he doesn’t look very non-human or ethereal – at least Eomer failed to recognise an Elf in the company of three, where one was obviously a Dwarf… The Prince Imrahil was smarter, but he definitely knew what to look at…
Rain
I agree with almost everything you said Elanor, though I imagine him to be slightly taller than Boromir - not that he towers above him, but just those couple of inches taller, which make him look even more slender. I like Tolkien's description of him, in that he looks like a young tree.
Noooo, he does look non-human. Eomer is a dummy, Imrahil is much smarter
Luthien Undomiel
Very tall, slender and long limbed. He has long flowing hair, that shines golden in the starlight, and skin that is quite pale and flawless. His body is finely muscled, without being large and brawny, and he has good upper body strength. His movements are indeed very graceful and quick, as you say, almost as if his being is one with his surroundings. They are seamless and unified.
He has finely chiseled facial features, and his face holds a mysterious beauty that cannot be identified by one feature, but by the sum of its parts…
His general aura is one of youthful contentment and peace.
Ithildin
I agree with the preceding well-written descriptions! I picture Legolas as tall, slim, possessing unexpected strength and amazing agility. His movements would be graceful and fluid and could be accomplished with astounding speed. I visualize his face as being what I would call handsome in a “classically beautiful” way with very symmetrical features. His expression would be one of alertness and interest noticing everything around him. And, though I may stand alone on this one – I like the image of slightly pointed ears. I just can’t imagine Elves without them!

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“Well, I am going back into the open air, to see what the wind and sky are doing,” said Legolas. TTT

 

 

 

This is the second of several posts in which I will attempt to consolidate information posted here recently regarding Legolas’ appearance. I tried to include everyone’s comments – please consider any omissions entirely unintentional. Additional comments welcome!

Hair:
Tolkien’s Description:
Frodo looked up at the Elf standing tall above him, as he gazed into the night, seeking a mark to shoot at. His head was dark, crowned with sharp white stars that glittered in the black pools of the sky behind. FotR - chapter: The Great River

Club Members Opinions of Legolas’ Appearance:
Luthien Undomiel
He has long flowing hair, that shines golden in the starlight…
Elanor
He is, of course, dark-haired (I don’t know why “of course”, but so it feels…), though his hair is dark chestnut-brown, not raven-black. It’s long (falls down to the shoulder blades), very thick and heavy, as dark hair usually is, almost flat but curling slightly at the ends. Naturally, very shiny.
…hair colour If you imagine really thick and shiny hair of deepest brown; so dark, indeed, that the colour looks almost black. Only in direct sunlight you can see the lush undertones of the darkest red, and if you hold a tress in your hand (let's say there is an opportunity ) you can see that the separate hairs are coloured differently - some are black, and some are almost pure ruby.
Rain
Ok, the hair...tough one here. I agree that his hair is long and flowing, and not tied back. I imagine it to be longer than his shoulder blades, just that it doesn't get in the way of his quiver and arrows. I imagine his hair to be straightish and thick. As for the colour.... I thought about it quite a lot. Whenever you mentioned dark hair, Elanor, I always imagined black, because brown is sooo normal . No offence to anyone, but I come from a place where most of the people are dark - so an elf like Legolas has to be blond. Ok, ok, I know that Elrond and the rest are dark-haired, but ....Legolas is not
Undomiel
I too pictured him with brown hair, though maybe lighter than what you said. It makes it more interesting that Tolkien never said Legolas' hair color. Leaves a lot to the imagination!
Ithildin
I seem to remember a quote from Tolkien that indicated that most of the Elves had very dark hair. Since Thranduil was described as having “golden” hair, it seemed reasonable to me to picture Legolas with light hair too. I liked the idea since that color seemed to be less common among the Eldar. I also picture it long, fairly straight and worn pulled back. (From a practical standpoint I can’t feature warrior Elves not keeping their hair pulled back away from their faces – at least while “on duty!”)

__________________
“Well, I am going back into the open air, to see what the wind and sky are doing,” said Legolas. TTT

 

 

This is the third of several posts in which I will attempt to consolidate information posted here recently regarding Legolas’ appearance. I tried to include everyone’s comments – please consider any omissions entirely unintentional. Additional comments welcome!

Eyes:
Tolkien’s Description:
'You have the keen eyes of your fair kindred, Legolas.' (Gandalf) The Two Towers

But Legolas stood beside him, shading his bright elven-eyes with his long slender hand, … The Two Towers

Legolas turning to speak to Gimli looked back and the Dwarf saw before his face the glitter in the Elf’s bright eyes. The Return of the King

Club Members Opinions:
Luthien Undomiel
His eyes are a light grey (not blue as in the movies), bright and elven-wise.
…and the light of his eyes. They are kind, and pierce the soul, such that you would feel emotionally stirred if he but held your gaze for a moment.
Elanor
The eyes are the most prominent feature in his face (as is the way with Elves…); they are very big (bigger than is common for humans) and very bright, light (but not watery) grey, and they don’t change colour even when shadowed by long and thick black lashes.
Morgan
I can "see" your vision in these words. Our Elven prince is quite the muse isn't he? It's not hard to be inspired by such compelling features. The eyes are always what I imagine first and as you suggest, there is piercing light within them. How perfect that we can each perceive Legolas uniquely and individually, and yet also collectively.
Rain
The eyes - not blue, but not grey either. I imagine them to be greyish-green, or greenish-grey - I mean, grey eyes, with a sparkle of green in them, like gems.
Ithildin
I visualized most of the Elves with grey eyes, but for the Prince of Mirkwood – grey with flecks of green. I picture the Silvan Elves with hazel, green and brown eyes and hair colors ranging from dark to a very light brown. (For me, I imagine his mother having both Silvan and Sindarin heritage, but that’s another story...)
I think there had to be something about elven eyes that made them an identifying feature for Elves. The brightness, the light, the piercing gaze – whatever it was I think it was distinctly non-human – enough so that it was unnerving to many mortals. When someone looked into elvish eyes they knew that Elves were different.
As with humans, I believe the Elves’ eyes often revealed their emotions, even when they were successfully concealed otherwise, from the perpetual elven sadness to their exuberant joy of living. Legolas certainly displayed a playful sense of humor and I’m sure the sparkle of merriment would often be seen in his eyes. His abiding curiosity would also be reflected in his expression. The sea-longing would have added a soul-deep, ever-present wistful element to his gaze.
But I think the most remarkable feature of elvish eyes would be that only there the impression of just how old they were would be revealed. The store of knowledge and wisdom possessed by some would have been enormous and that would contribute to the effect, but the sheer weight of years, the phenomenon of having lived for hundreds (or thousands) of years – it had to show in their eyes – for the eyes are the window to the soul…

__________________
“Well, I am going back into the open air, to see what the wind and sky are doing,” said Legolas. TTT

 

This is the fourth (and at this point final) of several posts in which I will attempt to consolidate information posted here recently regarding Legolas’ appearance. I tried to include everyone’s comments – please consider any omissions entirely unintentional. Additional comments welcome!
Glad everyone seems to be enjoying these compilations

Voice:
Tolkien’s Description:
Together the Elf and the Dwarf entered Minas Tirith, and folk that saw them pass marveled to see such companions; for Legolas was fair of face beyond the measure of Men, and he sang an elven-song in a clear voice as he walked in the morning… The Return of the King – chapter: The Last Debate

“When he saw Strider, he dismounted and ran to meet him calling out: Ai na vedui Dúnadan! Mae govannen! His speech and clear, ringing voice left no doubt in their hearts: the rider was of the Elven-folk.” FotR - chapter: Flight to the Ford (in reference to Glorfindel)

Club Members Opinions:
Luthien Undomiel
His voice is deep and masculine, yet musical and soothing to the ear.
Elanor
There is so much in common – {i.e. between father (Thranduil) and son (Legolas) – editor’s note} the surpassing beauty of face and form, the bearing, and the voice (don't know why but I'm firmly convinced that their voices sound very much alike).
Ithildin
IIRC in LOTR there are at least a couple of instances where characters were recognized as being Elves by their distinctive voices. I would imagine their vocal range to be greater than that of mortals, and the timbre of their voices I would imagine to be richer and fuller also. Their beautiful clear voices, their Sindarin speech and the ethereal quality of their songs added up to a sound that was uniquely elvish. Glorfindel only called out a greeting, yet it was characteristic enough to establish his Elven identity. Legolas’ song as he approached Minas Tirith that morning may have contributed to Imrahil’s ability to recognize him as an Elf.

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“Well, I am going back into the open air, to see what the wind and sky are doing,” said Legolas. TTT