Legolas' mother?

[Lanelf]

Anyone have any idea who she is? I haven't managed to find anything but that Legolas' dad is Thranduil and he's king of Mirkwood. Maybe someone's got something from the HoME series or something?
Lanelf.

[Lefty Scaevola]

No information to be had on that subject. Here is a quote from Michael Martinez.
"But Legolas is an enigma. A lot of people have devoted a great deal of time to trying to figure him out. The color of his hair isn't the only question people have asked about him. How old is he? Is he married? Does he have any brothers or sisters? Was he at the Battle of Five Armies?
The answers to all these questions are: Don't know. What do you think? and Whatever you want the answer to be."

[Lanelf]

Drat. Oh well. Thanks for telling me, Lefty!
*feels evil plotbunnies latching on to ankles* Damn!
Lanelf.

[Varda Oiolosseo]

I read somewhere, It may not be true at all but Legolas' mother was Celeborn's sister. Which would make Galadriel his aunty and Elrond his cousin and Arwen his second- cousin.

But i don't think it sounds right. :confused: :rolleyes:

[Lefty Scaevola]

Celebotn does not have a sister, at least not one metion fy the Tolkiens. He had a brother, Galthil.
Martinez' essay, on the Elweans, including uses of HoME sources, is here:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tolkien/78071

[Elf Girl]

Originally posted by Varda Oiolosseo
I read somewhere, It may not be true at all but Legolas' mother was Celeborn's sister. Which would make Galadriel his aunty and Elrond his cousin and Arwen his second- cousin.
Where did you hear that? Blatantly false.

[Artanis]

Originally posted by Varda Oiolosseo
I read somewhere, It may not be true at all but Legolas' mother was Celeborn's sister. Which would make Galadriel his aunty and Elrond his cousin and Arwen his second- cousin.Eh - Celebrian would be his cousin, not Elrond.

Hehe - I guess the Hobbits who wrote the Red Book were too engaged in their own family trees to care much about the family matters of a Mirkwood Elf.

[durin's bane]

Of course. :D

We don't know much about Legolas because he was not as important as Aragorn or Gandalf or Frodo. We know more about these three because they had more of a role and the book focused on them more. Still, it would be nice to know a bit more about him than just, "He's an Elf, he's prince of Mirkwood, he's good with a bow." OK, we got a bit more than that, but you get the picture.

[Varda Oiolosseo]

I said i read i didn't say it was true or that i believed it. :rolleyes:

[Miranda]

Originally posted by Varda Oiolosseo
I read somewhere, It may not be true at all but Legolas' mother was Celeborn's sister. Which would make Galadriel his aunty and Elrond his cousin and Arwen his second- cousin.

But i don't think it sounds right. :confused: :rolleyes:

Varda my dear that sounds terribly like my fan fic take on Legolas' family my sweet and I can assure that was all nonsense- just there for effect and connections in the story. Mx

[Varda Oiolosseo]

yeah i read it there but i also read it somewhere else too. lol
It was somewhere on the net and it was this site that didn't really have a clue about anything and i was on the site when i was also on the moot near this thread.
So i repiled :rolleyes: :)

[Wayfarer]

Weren't Celeborn and Thranduil kinsmen? In that case I highly doubt Thranduil would have married Celeborn's sister. Elves don't make out with kin.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally posted by Wayfarer
Weren't Celeborn and Thranduil kinsmen?Taht can neither be confirmed or denied on the basis of texts
Elves don't make out with kin. The rule stated in customs and law among the Eldar is not with first cousin or closer (and apparently counting removed in generation to be a further distance in relationsship, recall that Arwen and Aragon are forst cousin about 60 times removed) At one point JRRT even wrote that this was only wehn the were first cousin through BOTH Parents (a pair of sibling married a pair of siblings and thier children thus first cousins on both sides), and such double first cousin were called "half siblings" among the elves. This however may have being only a temporary idea of his when he was experimenting making celeborn a Grandon of Olwe and thus Galadriels first cousin on one side.

[Eärloth]

Hell, maybe Tolkien never actually wrote anything about Legolas's age or mother; but I would say he was a blonde, because I read somewhere that he's a distand relation of Finrod Felagund (Galadriel's (dead) brother), and their mother being of the Vanyar, all Finrod and Galadriel (and their siblings) and their relations had blonde hair. Maybe that's why he was referred to as the Lórien Elves' 'kin' in the FotR. But I dunno, it's questionable that it's true and I can't remember where I got that 'fact'. Also, I'd say he was probably at the Battle of Five Armies.

[galadriel]

Originally posted by Eärloth
Hell, maybe Tolkien never actually wrote anything about Legolas's age or mother; but I would say he was a blonde, because I read somewhere that he's a distand relation of Finrod Felagund (Galadriel's (dead) brother), and their mother being of the Vanyar, all Finrod and Galadriel (and their siblings) and their relations had blonde hair. Maybe that's why he was referred to as the Lórien Elves' 'kin' in the FotR. But I dunno, it's questionable that it's true and I can't remember where I got that 'fact'. Also, I'd say he was probably at the Battle of Five Armies.
If Legolas really was related to Celeborn - which, as far as I can see, he's not - he'd be very, very distantly related to Finrod. He wouldn't be related to Finrod's Vanyarin grandmother, though.

Thranduil is blond, so that supports the argument for a blond Legolas. My own personal refutation is that, since his hair color isn't described, our mental image should automatically insert what seems to be Tolkien's default Elven hair color: brown.

[Eärloth]

Originally posted by galadriel
If Legolas really was related to Celeborn - which, as far as I can see, he's not - he'd be very, very distantly related to Finrod. He wouldn't be related to Finrod's Vanyarin grandmother, though.

Thranduil is blond, so that supports the argument for a blond Legolas. My own personal refutation is that, since his hair color isn't described, our mental image should automatically insert what seems to be Tolkien's default Elven hair color: brown.

Well Celeborn originally came from Doriath, so maybe that could give us some indication of Legolas' origins if you studied the texts enough; but if he was related to Finrod he would be related to Galadriel, she being Finrod's sister; but if a person is related to someone else, even so many times removed, how can they not be related to someone like their grandmother?

[Eärloth]

Originally posted by Eärloth
...if he was related to Finrod he would be related to Galadriel, she being Finrod's sister...

Unless of course he was only related to Finrod by marriage, but that really destroys the whole basis of that argument; if he's not related by blood, then why would even Thranduil, being a woodland Elf, have blonde hair?

[galadriel]

Originally posted by Eärloth
Well Celeborn originally came from Doriath, so maybe that could give us some indication of Legolas' origins if you studied the texts enough; but if he was related to Finrod he would be related to Galadriel, she being Finrod's sister; but if a person is related to someone else, even so many times removed, how can they not be related to someone like their grandmother?
If Legolas was related to Finrod, it would be through Finrod's mother. Finrod (and Galadriel) inherited their golden hair from their *father's* mother. Different side of the family, see?

[Eärloth]

Oh yeah I see :rolleyes: dumb me

[Sister Golden Hair]

Yes, the only way I could see Legolas being related to Finrod and Galadriel, would be either through Finrod and Galadriel's Telerin mother, Earwen, or through marriage on Celeborn's side. He could not be related to them through their Noldorin, or Vanyarin relations.

[Lefty Scaevola]

We do not know how many generations of Elves there were before Elwe/Olwe (and Finwe and Ingwe) So there is large expansive possibilities for family connection through earlier generations.
Assuming that Imin, Tatya, & Enel are anything other than myths (or even if they are myths), It is likely that most noble/royal/princely houses (Like Gwinder's family or Glorfindal's or Lenwe's) claim descent from them. With 'immortality" and nearlyperfect memories, we can assume that Elves are very knowledgable about they ancestry and relations for many generations.

[Durin1]

I have always liked the idea that Legolas' mother would have been one of the Wood Elves (Thranduil apparently being of Sindarin origin). Legolas declares in "The Ring goes south" that he is of the Silvan folk. I don't know why but are can't really think of him as of purely Sindarin origin. He must have been brought up, of course, amongst Silvan Elves so he would have developed through their own, quite unique, culture anyway.

It is a strange but excellent choice for Tolkien to have chosen one of the Silvan folk to be a part of the fellowship. It demonstrates that they ALSO were a part of ME

[Ruinel]

No way is Finrod related to Legolas! :eek: NO WAY!!! I can not accept that Legolas, the barely-do-anything-at-all, and Finrod, the-most-brave-loyal-fair-and-wonderful-
of-all-Elves-ever, are related, even remotely. no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no *curls into a corner and rocks back and forth with glossy eyes*

[Sheeana]

Ruey, you should stop using shampoo on your eyeballs. It ain't healthy.

[galadriel]

Originally posted by Durin1
I have always liked the idea that Legolas' mother would have been one of the Wood Elves (Thranduil apparently being of Sindarin origin). Legolas declares in "The Ring goes south" that he is of the Silvan folk. I don't know why but are can't really think of him as of purely Sindarin origin. He must have been brought up, of course, amongst Silvan Elves so he would have developed through their own, quite unique, culture anyway.

It is a strange but excellent choice for Tolkien to have chosen one of the Silvan folk to be a part of the fellowship. It demonstrates that they ALSO were a part of ME
I like that idea as well... as an elf living in both Sindarin and Silvan culture, there would be no better way to showcase Legolas's duality than giving him a Sindarin father and a Silvan mother.

Ah, come on, Ruinel... just because Legolas isn't the multitasker that Aragorn or Gandalf are doesn't mean that he's utterly worthless. He's no Finrod, but who *does* live up to Finrod? Of course, I still don't think they're related.

[Kirinki54]

Originally posted by galadriel
I like that idea as well... as an elf living in both Sindarin and Silvan culture, there would be no better way to showcase Legolas's duality than giving him a Sindarin father and a Silvan mother.


Perhaps so, but if that is what Tolkien wanted to showcase, he would have been specific. As it is, we can only speculate.

Originally posted by galadriel
Ah, come on, Ruinel... just because Legolas isn't the multitasker that Aragorn or Gandalf are doesn't mean that he's utterly worthless. He's no Finrod, but who *does* live up to Finrod? Of course, I still don't think they're related.

I perceive Legolas´ role in LotR to be one of the few Elves in any of his writings to be pictured as a fullblown personality with both humor and depth, a warrior and a poet. This is IMHO more valuable than just another Elf with a well recorded genealogy. There are many others of these. And, Legolas achieved a lot during the quest. Do we really want another Frodo or Gandalf?

[Artanis]

Originally posted by Ruinel
No way is Finrod related to Legolas! :eek: NO WAY!!! I can not accept that Legolas, the barely-do-anything-at-all, and Finrod, the-most-brave-loyal-fair-and-wonderful-
of-all-Elves-ever, are related, even remotely. no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no *curls into a corner and rocks back and forth with glossy eyes* Hee-hee. Have you forgotten that Thingol is also related to your beloved Finrod. Closely related. :D ;)

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Artanis
Hee-hee. Have you forgotten that Thingol is also related to your beloved Finrod. Closely related. :D ;) Yeah, that is too bad. Poor Finrod.:(