July 14, 2003

Re: Legolas' Age
Elrond

Thank you, Mr. Underhill. I have done a little research on this, as Legolas is a character with little said of his background, and I did not find any mention of his birthdate. However, we can assume that he is at least 500 years old, as he says "Five hundred times have the red leaves fallen in Mirkwood in my home since then, but little time does that seem to us." This also brings up another problem. As you may know, Legolas frequently refers to his people as a whole, and not as individuals, so he may have just been counting the years that one of the other Elves had counted. Although the number is not made clear, he is still young for an Elf. In TTT(book), Gandalf is talking aloud to himself and the three companions overhear him. Gandalf says that "it is a habit of the old." Aragorn says that he is no longer young, but Legolas does not say anything, so, therefore, we can assume that he is not old for an Elf.
~Elrond