July 15, 2003

How Old is the Elf?
David Took

The Elf in question obviously being Mr Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood. There has been some interesting debate on this here but there isn't even a remote possibility that he is only 500 years old. In Fellowship (the film), most will remember that in the Mines of Moria it was Gandalf that identified what the 'Shadow and Flame' was. "It is a Balrog. A demon of the ancient world". In the book, however lies the clearest indication of how old Legolas really is. 'But it was not the Trolls that had filled the Elf with terror...."Ai! Ai" wailed Legolas. "A Balrog! A Balrog is come!"...."A Balrog," muttered Gandalf. "Now I understand." He faltered and leaned heavily on his staff. "What an evil fortune! And I am already weary." [Source: J.R.R. Tolkien - The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 5]. So it was only Legolas who recognised the Balrog for what it was. This is the clearest indication that Legolas is very, very old as the Balrogs fled into the deep places of the world after the Valar overthrew Morgoth in the First Age (at least 6460 years earlier). Indeed Tolkien himself said, 'The Balrog is a survivor from the Silmarillion and the legends of the First Age. It is observable that only the Elf knows what the thing is - and doubtless Gandalf.' [Source: J.R.R. Tolkien - The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]