50 Fun Facts About Legolas

To which kindred of Elves does Legolas belong?

The Sindar or Grey Elves ruled over the Silvan Wood-elves of Mirkwood.

Legolas first appears at the Council of Elrond carrying news of whose escape?

Gollum had been held in Thranduil's dungeons for questioning by Gandalf.

How many members made up the Fellowship of the Ring?

Nine walkers were chosen to match the nine Black Riders.

Crossing the Misty Mountains in a snowstorm, what did Legolas report about the drift ahead?

He ran lightly over the snow that Aragorn and Boromir were ploughing through.

In the lowlands of Hollin, Legolas helped fend off an attack by whose wargs?

Saruman's spies and wolves dogged the Fellowship long before the orcs at Amon Hen.

In Moria, Legolas recognised "Durin's Bane" as what creature?

Gandalf fell on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm fighting it.

Whose mistreatment by Thranduil had rekindled the Elf-Dwarf quarrel with Gimli?

Glóin was one of Thorin's company locked in the Elvenking's dungeons in The Hobbit.

What gift did Legolas receive from Galadriel when the Fellowship left Lothlórien?

He used it to bring down a Nazgûl's flying steed in the dark with a single shot.

What did Legolas bring down in the dark with a single arrow from his new bow?

The shot, fired from the banks of the Anduin, is one of the great feats of archery in the book.

Hearing gulls at which port awoke Legolas's Sea-longing?

It happened as the Dead of Dunharrow terrified the Corsairs from their ships.

What is the Sea-longing a desire to do?

The longing is latent among all Elves of Middle-earth and was woken in Legolas by the gulls.

Legolas promised Gimli a visit to which wonder behind Helm's Deep?

Gimli's praise of the caves was the one time Legolas admitted the Dwarf had bested him in speech.

After the war, Legolas settled Silvan Elves in which region of Gondor?

It became once again "the fairest country in all the westlands" and they stayed a hundred years of Men.

After whose death did Legolas build a ship and sail into the West?

He reportedly took Gimli with him, the first Dwarf to reach the Undying Lands.

In which early Tolkien tale, circa 1917, did the name Legolas Greenleaf first appear?

That Legolas guided survivors of the sacked city to safety and is mentioned only once.

Which Old English poem does Legolas's lament over the stones of Hollin recall?

"Deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone."

Legolas's line about Meduseld shining far over the land translates a line from which poem?

Tom Shippey spotted the borrowing: líxte se léoma ofer landa fela.

Scholar Christina Scull calls the Legolas-Gimli friendship the greatest what in the book?

The distrust between their races went back to the Dwarves' sack of Menegroth in the First Age.

Who voiced Legolas in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film?

Daniels, better known as C-3PO, took Glorfindel's place in the Flight to the Ford.

In the 1978 animated film, Legolas takes the place of which Elf on the road to Rivendell?

He sets Frodo on his horse before the Nazgûl chase him to the ford of Bruinen.

Who voiced Legolas in the 1981 BBC Radio 4 adaptation?

Robert Stephens played Aragorn and Ian Holm played Frodo in the same production.

Who played Legolas in Peter Jackson's film trilogy?

It was his first major role, landed two days after graduating from drama school.

In which Hobbit film did Legolas first appear, despite being absent from the novel?

His role was an addition, complete with a romance with the invented Elf Tauriel.

Who played Legolas in The Lord of the Rings: The Musical in the West End?

The Toronto production in 2006 ran three hours before the show transferred to London.

Who played Legolas in the 1993 Finnish miniseries Hobitit?

Kari Väänänen played Aragorn in the same series.

What does the name Thranduil mean in Sindarin?

His son's name, Legolas, is the one that means Greenleaf.

Who was Thranduil's father, killed at the Battle of Dagorlad?

Only a third of the Woodland army that marched to the Last Alliance came home.

Thranduil's underground halls were inspired by which First Age stronghold?

Like Thingol, he used the skill of the Dwarves to build them.

In The Hobbit, what crown does the Elvenking wear in autumn?

In spring he swaps it for a crown of flowers.

How did Thorin's Dwarves escape Thranduil's dungeons?

The barrels floated down the Forest River to Lake-town.

What new name did Thranduil and Celeborn give Mirkwood after the war?

It means The Wood of Greenleaves; Greenwood the Great was its ancient name.

Who plays Thranduil in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy?

Critics praised his "eerie intensity" as a cold, calculating Elvenking.

Who voiced the Elvenking in the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit?

The film director's distinctive Austrian accent gave the Elvenking his voice.

In the Orc-slaying contest at Helm's Deep, how many did Legolas kill?

Gimli won by a single kill, 42 to 41.

How many strands of hair did Galadriel give Gimli?

Gimli had asked for one; she had refused the same gift to Fëanor three times.

Gimli is the son of which member of Thorin's company?

Gimli had wanted to join the quest for Erebor but at 62 was deemed too young.

Who played Gimli opposite Bloom's Legolas in the Jackson films?

The Welsh actor chose an almost Glasgow Scottish accent for the Dwarf.

Gimli became the first Lord of which realm after the war?

His Dwarves replaced the ruined gate of Minas Tirith with one of mithril and steel.

How old was Gimli when he sailed west with Legolas?

He became the first Dwarf in the Undying Lands.

Which part had Legolas's film actor originally auditioned for?

Peter Jackson cast him as Legolas instead; Faramir does not appear until the second film.

How long after graduating from Guildhall was Bloom cast as Legolas?

His only prior film role was a rent boy in the 1997 film Wilde.

What injury did Bloom suffer falling off a horse during filming?

He has also broken his back, both legs, an arm, his nose and his wrist over the years.

Which Elvish word is tattooed on Bloom's wrist in Tengwar script?

The Fellowship actors shared the tattoo; John Rhys-Davies's stunt double got his instead.

Which Fellowship actor skipped the shared tattoo, leaving it to his stunt double?

The other eight, Bloom included, all had the Elvish "nine" inked.

Bloom was named after which 16th-century English composer?

He was born in Canterbury, Kent, on 13 January 1977.

Which Ridley Scott war film did Bloom appear in while also playing Legolas?

He played PFC Todd Blackburn; Kingdom of Heaven came later, in 2005.

Who plays Tauriel, the Elf invented for the Hobbit films?

She was nominated for a Saturn Award for The Desolation of Smaug.

Tauriel's name has been translated as what?

She is head of the Mirkwood Elven guard and a Silvan Elf of lower rank than Legolas.

Which Dwarf does Tauriel form a romantic bond with in the films?

She heals him after he is poisoned; he dies defending her from Bolg.

Which orc does Legolas kill after Tauriel tackles him off a platform at Ravenhill?

Bolg is Azog's son and had just killed Kíli.