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Legolas (pronounced [ˈlɛɡɔlas]) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, featured in The Lord of the Rings. He is an Elf of the Woodland Realm and one of nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Literature[link]

Legolas was the son of Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood,^[1][2] who appears as "the Elvenking" in The Hobbit.^[3] Thranduil ruled over the Silvan Elves or "Wood-elves" of Mirkwood.^[1]

Although he lived among the Silvan Elves, Legolas was not one himself. His father Thranduil had originally come from Lindon; he and his son were actually Sindar, or "Grey Elves", called in the singular Sinda; "Sindarin" was their language. A small minority of Sindar (headed by Thranduil by the time of The Hobbit) ruled the predominantly Silvan Woodland Realm. Thranduil himself was the son of Oropher. Legolas' mother is never mentioned; the Elves of Mirkwood have no Queen at the time of The Hobbit.

The realm's Sindar minority, who should have been more noble and wise than the Silvan Elves, went "native" at the end of the First Age. After Melkor was defeated and all of the grand Elf-kingdoms of Beleriand were destroyed, the Sindar returned to "a simpler time" in their culture. The realm of Lothlórien was similar to the Woodland Realm in that a community of Silvan Elves was ruled by a non-Silvan minority, namely Galadriel and Celeborn.

Legolas was introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring, at the council of Elrond of Rivendell, where he came as a messenger from his father to discuss Gollum's escape from their guard.^[1] Legolas was chosen to be a member of the Fellowship that intended to destroy the One Ring. He accompanied the other members in their travels from Rivendell to Amon Hen, serving as the group's archer.^[4]

When the Fellowship was trapped by a snowstorm while crossing the mountain Caradhras, Legolas provides a bit of comic relief as he scouted ahead, claiming he was "off to find the Sun"; at the same time his scouting efforts proved invaluable to both Aragorn and Boromir, who were disheartened by a seemingly impassable wall of snow until Legolas informed them that they were nearly through.^[4] Since the attempt to cross Caradhras failed, Gandalf took the Fellowship on an underground journey through Moria, an ancient Dwarf-kingdom, though some (including Legolas) did not wish to travel there. Before they reached Moria, however, Legolas helped fend off an attack by Sauron's wolves in Hollin. Once in Moria, he helped fight off Orcs and recognized "Durin's Bane" as a Balrog of Morgoth.^[5] After Gandalf was lost while facing the Balrog, Aragorn took charge of the Fellowship and led them to the Elven realm of Lothlórien, the Golden Wood. Legolas served as the initial spokesperson for the company, speaking with the inhabitants, the Galadhrim, whom he considered close kin.^[6]

Within the Fellowship, there was initially friction between Legolas and the Dwarf Gimli, because of the ancient quarrel between Elves and Dwarves after the destruction of Doriath in the First Age; and also because Thranduil once threw Gimli's father, Glóin, in prison.^[3] In addition Thranduil had been disliked by dwarves ever since he refused to pay them for crafting his raw metals.^[3] Legolas and Gimli became friends, moreover, when Gimli greeted the Elven queen Galadriel with gentle words.^[6] The Fellowship left Lothlórien after receiving several gifts. Legolas was given a new longbow, along with other gifts that Galadriel and Celeborn gave him and the rest of the Fellowship, such as Elven cloaks and lembas bread.^[7] While the Fellowship was travelling over the River Anduin, Legolas used his new bow to shoot down a nearby "fell beast" with one shot.^[8]

After Boromir was killed and Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took were captured by Orcs in The Two Towers, Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli set forth in pursuit of the two captured hobbits.^[9] Legolas and his companions met a resurrected Gandalf in Rohan, who passed on a message from Galadriel - which he interprets as foretelling his death:

"...If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,

Thy heart shall rest in the forest no more."^[10]

The three met with the Rohirrim, fought in the Battle of the Hornburg, and witnessed Saruman's downfall at Isengard together with Gandalf, where they were reunited with Merry and Pippin. In the Battle of the Hornburg, Legolas and Gimli engaged in an Orc-slaying contest, which Gimli won by one, killing forty-two to Legolas's forty-one, but the real result was stronger mutual respect.^[11]

In The Return of the King, Legolas and Gimli accompanied Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead, along with the Grey Company.^[12] After Aragorn summoned the Dead Men of Dunharrow to fight for him, Legolas saw them frighten away the Corsairs of Umbar from their ships at Pelargir. Galadriel's prophecy was fulfilled: as Legolas heard the cries of seagulls, he began to experience the Sea-longing — the desire to sail west to Valinor the "Blessed Realm" which was latent among the Sindar.^[13] He fought in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields^[14] and of the Morannon^[15] and watched as Sauron was defeated and Barad-dûr collapsed.^[16]

After the destruction of the One Ring, Legolas remained in Minas Tirith for Aragorn's crowning and marriage to Arwen. Later, Legolas and Gimli went travelling together through Fangorn forest and to visit the Glittering Caves of Helm's Deep, as Legolas had promised Gimli.^[17] Eventually, Legolas founded an Elf-colony in Ithilien and spent his remaining time helping to restore its devastated forests.^[18] It was told in the Red Book of Westmarch (first written by Bilbo Baggins, continued by Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee and finally passed down through his heirs), that after Aragorn's death in the year 120 of the Fourth Age Legolas built a grey ship and left Middle-earth to go over the Sea to Valinor, and that Gimli went with him.^[18]

Characteristics[link]

Tolkien first describes Legolas in The Fellowship of the Ring as "a strange Elf, clad in green and brown".^[19]

As part of the Fellowship of the Ring, Legolas is armed with a bow and arrows and one "long white knife". While the Fellowship attempts to cross Caradhras, Legolas alone remains light-hearted. He is little affected by the blowing winds and snow; he does not even wear boots, only light shoes, and his feet scarcely make imprints on the snow - illustrating the Elves' otherworldliness. Legolas can see and hear from great distances. He is also lithe and slender with bright, keen eyes and ears and is fair of face as all elves are. He is an unrivalled archer and Gandalf calls him a dangerous warrior. He often bursts into song during the journey and is often the most cheerful member of the Fellowship. His keen eyes, ears and fighting skills are of immense use to the Fellowship but his friendship and loyalty to Aragorn, Gimli and Frodo make him an even more important member.^[4]

Legolas' hair colour is not definitively stated. Both Ralph Bakshi and Peter Jackson make him blond in their respective film adaptations (see below). This is supported by the fact that Thranduil, Legolas's father and a Sindarin elf, is described in The Hobbit as having blond hair, in spite of most Sindarin elves having dark hair. In a musical version of The Lord of the Rings, Legolas is dark-haired. In the real-time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, his hair is white or silver.

Though neither Legolas' age nor his birthdate are directly given in Tolkien's writings, some passages indicate he is far older than Aragorn and Gimli. For instance, he calls them "children" and says he has seen "many an oak grow from acorn to ruinous age".^[10] The Appendices to The Lord of the Rings do reveal Gimli's and Aragorn's birthdates: at the time of the War of the Ring, they are 139 and 87 respectively.^[18]

Though his father and his kingdom appear in The Hobbit, Legolas does not appear himself, as his character had yet not been created (though his name had). However, since he is over 139 years old, being older than Gimli, he must have been alive during the events of The Hobbit, which take place less than a century before the Quest of Mount Doom.^[18]

Concept and creation[link]

The name Legolas Greenleaf first appeared in The Fall of Gondolin, one of the "Lost Tales", circa 1917. The character, who guides some survivors of the sack of the city to safety, is mentioned only once and is unrelated to the character discussed above. As the Lost Tales were the first versions of what would become Tolkien's "Middle-earth" writings, and by the time The Lord of the Rings was written much had changed, this in all likelihood is not the same elf, and he was not included in the published Silmarillion.^[20]

The Legolas of Gondolin, whom Tolkien would likely have renamed, has a different etymology. His name (Laiqalassë in its pure form) comes from the primitive Quenya (Qenya) words laica, green, and lassë, leaf. The names are very similar, but the characters were different: Legolas of Gondolin was possibly a Noldorin Exile, of the House (kindred) of the Tree. However, the published Silmarillion, in describing Turgon's founding of Gondolin, states that Turgon took with him up to a third of the people under Fingolfin, but an even larger number of the Sindar. Thus, whether Legolas of Gondolin was of Noldorin or Sindarin descent is debatable.

Adaptations[link]

Legolas was voiced by Anthony Daniels in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. In the film, he takes Glorfindel's place in the "Flight to the Ford" sequence; he meets Aragorn and the hobbits on their way to Rivendell, and sets Frodo on his horse before he is chased by the Nazgûl to the ford of Bruinen. Here, he answers to Elrond and is not explicitly identified as a Wood-elf.

Legolas is absent from the 1980 animated version of The Return of the King, but was voiced by David Collings in the 1981 BBC Radio 4 adaptation.

In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (2001–2003), Legolas was portrayed by Orlando Bloom. He is presented as an unstoppable fighter, performing various feats or stunts in battle scenes; in the book Legolas' exploits in battle are not presented in great detail. In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Legolas and Gimli continue their friendly competition that started in The Two Towers, which usually (and comically) leaves Gimli on the losing side. Due to technical mishaps involving Bloom's contact lenses, in the films Legolas' eye colour sometimes changes between brown, purple, and blue (In the Extended Edition of the movie, on the director's commentary, Peter Jackson admitted that they did, indeed, forget to put Bloom's contacts in several times).
Merchandise for the live-action film trilogy includes two non-canonical figures for the character's age. In one of the official film guidebooks, a birthdate for Legolas is set to 87 of the Third Age.^[21] This would make him 2931 years old at the time of the War of the Ring. Coincidentally or not, the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings give Aragorn's year of birth as T.A. 2931. Another invented figure appears in Top Trumps cards for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, with the card for Legolas stating his age at 7000, making him older than Elrond.^{[citation needed]} Bloom will reprise his role of Legolas in Jackson's upcoming film adaptation of The Hobbit (2012-2013).^[22]

In the West End musical, The Lord of the Rings: The Musical, Legolas was portrayed by Michael Rouse.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Legolas at the Tolkien Gateway
• Legolas Greenleaf at the Encyclopedia of Arda
• Legolas at The Thain's Book
• Legolas at the Internet Movie Database

Orlando Bloom
Bloom at the Venice Film Festival, 4 September 2005
Born	Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom (1977-01-13) 13 January 1977 (age 35) Canterbury, Kent, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Miranda Kerr (2010–present)
Children	1

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He had his break-through roles in 2001 as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings^[1] and in 2003 as blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. He subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood films, including Elizabethtown and Kingdom of Heaven. He appeared in the ensemble films New York, I Love You, Sympathy for Delicious, and Main Street. Bloom made his professional stage debut in West End's In Celebration at the Duke of York's Theatre, St. Martin's Lane, which ended its run on 15 September 2007. On 12 October 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Early life[link]

Orlando Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England, and has one sister, Samantha Bloom, who was born in 1975.

His mother, Sonia Constance Josephine (née Copeland), was born in the British section of Kolkata, India, the daughter of Betty Constance Josephine Walker and Francis John Copeland, who was a physician and surgeon. Through her, Bloom is a cousin of photographer Sebastian Copeland.^[2] Bloom's maternal grandmother's family lived in Tasmania, Australia, Japan, and India, and were of English descent, some of them having originally come from Kent.^[3] During his childhood, Bloom was told that his father was his mother's husband, Jewish South African-born anti-Apartheid novelist Harry Saul Bloom; however, when he was thirteen (nine years after Harry's death), Bloom's mother revealed to him that his biological father was actually Colin Stone, his mother's partner and family friend.^[3][4][5] Stone, the principal of the Concorde International language school,^[6] was made Orlando Bloom's legal guardian after Harry Bloom's death.^[5] Bloom is named after the 16th century composer Orlando Gibbons.^{[citation needed]}

Bloom was raised in the Church of England.^[7] As a child, he managed to get through The King's School Canterbury and St Edmund's School in Canterbury despite his dyslexia.^[5][8] He was encouraged by his mother to take art and drama classes.^[5] In 1993, he moved to London to follow a two year A Level course in Drama, Photography and Sculpture at Fine Arts College, Hampstead. He then joined the National Isa Youth Theatre, spending two seasons there and earning a scholarship to train at the British American Drama Academy.^[9] Bloom began acting professionally with television roles in episodes of Casualty and Midsomer Murders,^[5] and subsequently made his film debut in Wilde (1997), opposite Stephen Fry, before entering the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he studied acting.

Career[link]

Bloom at the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest London premiere, July 2006

Bloom's first appearance on the screen was in a small part, as a rent boy, in the 1997 film Wilde. Two days after graduating from Guildhall in 1999,^[10] he was cast in his first major role, playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003).^[9] He had originally auditioned for the part of Faramir, who does not appear until the second movie, but the director, Peter Jackson, cast him as Legolas instead. While shooting a scene, he broke a rib after falling off a horse, but eventually recovered and continued shooting.^[11] At the same time, Bloom also played a brief role in the war film Black Hawk Down as PFC. Todd Blackburn. In 2002, he was chosen as one of the Teen People "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" and was named People's hottest Hollywood bachelor in the magazine's 2004 list.^[9] All members of the cast of the Rings films were nominated for Best Ensemble Acting at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for three years in a row, finally winning in 2003 for the third film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Bloom has also won other awards, including European Film Awards, Hollywood Festival Award, Empire Awards and Teen Choice Awards, and has been nominated for many others. Most of Bloom's box office successes have been as part of an ensemble cast.^[1]

Bloom next starred opposite Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a blockbuster hit during the summer of 2003. After the success of Pirates, Bloom next took to the screen as Paris, the man who effectively started the Trojan War, in the 2004 Spring blockbuster, Troy opposite Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Peter O'Toole. He subsequently played the lead roles in Kingdom of Heaven and Elizabethtown (both 2005). In 2006, Bloom starred in sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and in the independently made Haven, of which he was also executive producer. In the same year he was one of the guest stars in the sitcom Extras, in which he portrayed an exaggeratedly arrogant, narcissistic version of himself who had a great loathing for Johnny Depp (his co-star in Pirates of the Caribbean); Bloom pushed for Extras to go further by making his part unlikeable, and contributed to the gag about him admiring Depp out of sheer jealously, that Depp was far more talented than he was, not to mention rated higher than him on the 'top hottest' charts.^[12] Also in 2006, Bloom was the most searched male on Google News.^[5] As of May 2007, Bloom has appeared in four of the top 15 highest grossing films of all time.^[10]

Bloom at the location filming of The Three Musketeers in Würzburg, Germany, 2010

Bloom then again portrayed Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, released on 24 May 2007. Bloom, who had intended to become a stage actor after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, had stated that he would to like to leave films for a time and instead appear in stage roles,^[9] and is "avidly looking for the right sort of material that [he] can do something with"^[13] and go "back to basics".^[14] During the summer of 2007, he appeared in a London revival of In Celebration, a play by David Storey.^[14][15] His character was one of three brothers returning home for their parents' 40th wedding anniversary.^[16] On 24 August 2007, he made his first ever TV commercial appearance on late-night Japanese TV, promoting the Uno brand of cosmetics maker Shiseido. A "one night only", 2-minute version of the Sci-Fi themed commercial kicked off the product's marketing campaign.^[17] In 2008 he signed on to play a small role in the British film An Education^[18] but dropped out to take the lead in Johnny To's film Red Circle.^[19] Also in 2009, he was one of many stars to appear in New York, I Love You, which contained twelve short films in one. His most recent film role is in The Three Musketeers opposite Milla Jovovich, Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Juno Temple and Christoph Waltz, released in 2011.

Bloom will reprise his role as Legolas in The Hobbit, Peter Jackson's two-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Bloom in 2008

Relationships[link]

Bloom met American actress Kate Bosworth outside a coffee shop in 2002, where he was introduced to her by a mutual friend. He met her again at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers later that year. The two had an "on-and-off relationship"^[21] from 2002 until splitting up in September 2006.^[22][23]

In late 2007, Bloom began dating Australian model Miranda Kerr.^[24] The couple's engagement was announced on 21 June 2010.^[25] Kerr released a statement on 22 July 2010 announcing that she and Bloom had married in "an intimate ceremony."^[26] On 19 August 2010, Kerr announced that she was four months pregnant with the couple's first baby.^[27] Kerr gave birth to a son, Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland Bloom, on 6 January 2011 in Los Angeles.^[28][29][30]

Other interests[link]

Bloom has said that he tries "not to exclude [himself] from real life as much as possible".^[5] He is a Manchester United fan and lives in London.^[31] During filming in Morocco for Kingdom of Heaven, Bloom rescued and adopted a dog, Sidi (a black Saluki mix with a white mark on his chest).^[32] Bloom is a practising Buddhist.^[10] In 2004, he became a full member of Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist association affiliated with the teachings of Nichiren.^[33][34] Bloom has also been a part of Global Green, an environmental company, since the early 2000s.^[1] As part of his environmental involvement, he has renovated his London home to use solar panels, incorporate recycled materials, and utilise energy efficient lightbulbs.^[1][5] Bloom has been approached by UNICEF to act as an international ambassador.^[1]

Bloom has a tattoo of the English word "nine" on his right wrist, written in letters of the fictional Tengwar Elvish script, a reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring. The other actors of "The Fellowship" (Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, and Elijah Wood) got the same tattoo with the exception of John Rhys-Davies whose stunt double got the tattoo instead.^[35] Bloom also has a tattoo of a sun on his lower, left abdomen, which he got at the age of 15 just before moving to London.

Bloom has sustained several injuries: he broke his left arm and cracked his skull three times, broke his nose while playing rugby union, broke his right leg skiing in Switzerland, broke his left leg in a motorbike crash, broke his right wrist while snowboarding.^[10] He also broke his back when he slipped trying to reach a roof terrace of a friend's house and fell three floors.^[36]

On 12 February 2009, Bloom actively participated in the 'Australia Unites' fundraiser to raise support for the victims of the Australian bushfires on 7 February 2009.^[37]

On 13 July 2009, four hooded teenagers broke into the Hollywood Hills home of Orlando Bloom and stole nearly half a million dollars worth of possessions. The burglars, dubbed the "Bling Ring", targeted the homes of young celebrities. Most of Bloom's stolen items have been retrieved.^[38]

On 12 October 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He has been involved in the organisation since 2007 and has visited schools and villages in Nepal in support of sanitation and education progammes.^[39]

On 15 November 2008, Bloom participated in a test drive in Moscow celebrating the 60th anniversary of Land Rover.^[40]

Accolades[link]

On 13 July 2010, Bloom was presented with an Honorary Degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury Cathedral.^[41]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Orlando Bloom

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Orlando Bloom

• Orlando Bloom at the Internet Movie Database
• Orlando Bloom at AllRovi
• Orlando Bloom at Yahoo! Movies
• Orlando Bloom at People.com
• Orlando Bloom discusses Haven'BI' at independentfilm.com