Thranduil

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**Thranduil**, son of Oropher, was an Elven king who ruled over the Woodland Realm in the Second and Third Ages. Though inherently cautious, he eventually committed his kingdom to fighting against Sauron in the War of the Ring. He was the father of the Elven prince of Mirkwood, Legolas, who was a member of the Fellowship of the Ring.

In *The Hobbit*, Thranduil is only referred to as the **Elvenking**.

## Biography

### First and Second Ages

Thranduil was the only son of Oropher, the King of the Woodland Realm. He was born sometime during the First and Second Age. At the beginning of the Second Age, the Sindar travelled east and Oropher eventually founded Greenwood the Great.

In SA 3434, Thranduil and his father fought in the Battle of Dagorlad. Oropher was slain and Thranduil returned to Greenwood with roughly a third of the army that had marched to war. He claimed his inheritance and some time before TA 1000 inherited Oropher's title of King of the Woodland Realm, reigning over the south of Greenwood the Great.

### Third Age

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At the beginning of Thranduil's reign his kingdom encompassed all of Greenwood the Great and was known as the Woodland Realm, but as the Third Age progressed, the shadow of the Necromancer advanced, and the Greenwood grew dark and became known as Mirkwood, and became infested with Orcs and giant spiders. The Wood-elves of Mirkwood were reduced in number and retreated to lands in the north of Mirkwood. By the time of the events of *The Lord of the Rings* Thranduil's title was *King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood*.

In his realm, both Sindarin and Silvan Elvish were spoken, though not all members of his Woodland folk spoke Sindarin.

#### The Quest of Erebor

When Thorin Oakenshield and his party of Dwarves entered northern Mirkwood, Thranduil captured Thorin and locked him up in a secure room when he refused to divulge his true intentions. The Dwarves were treated well, with plenty of food and drink. Subsequently, when the rest of the Dwarves had been captured by the elves, Thranduil had them unbound and treated them as his guests (save that they were not allowed to leave the caverns), until they angered him by being surly and impolite, insulting him for keeping them as prisoners, and not revealing why they had entered the forest, after which he gave them each their own cell. He did not tell them that Thorin was also his prisoner.

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After the death of the Dragon Smaug, Thranduil supported Bard the Bowman's claim of a share of the treasure the dwarves recovered from the Lonely Mountain, since Bard was a descendant of Lord Girion of Dale, and the treasure of that town had been taken by Smaug to the Lonely Mountain.

Thranduil led the elven forces in the Battle of the Five Armies. His army was position on the southern side of the Mountain, and was the first to charge.

After the battle and of Thorin's death, Thranduil took Orcrist, which was previously confiscated in Mirkwood, and laid it upon Thorin's tomb. The treasure was divided among Elves and Men, and Thranduil received the emeralds of Girion. Bilbo, Gandalf and Beorn traveled with the elf-host back to Mirkwood but would not stay in the woods, even when Thranduil asked them to.

When Bilbo and Gandalf bade farewell, Bilbo gave Thranduil a necklace of silver and pearls. The king gave Bilbo the title of "elf-friend" and returned with his host in their halls.

#### War of the Ring

During the War of the Ring, he sent his son Legolas to Rivendell, along with other Elves, to report Gollum's escape from Mirkwood. The gradually-established friendship between the dwarf Gimli and Legolas later helped to reconcile Thranduil's people with the Dwarves.

When the forces from Dol Guldur later attacked Mirkwood, Thranduil repulsed an attack and had the victory. His actions were in concert with the Dwarves and the Men of Dale against the Easterlings who attacked from the East. He came into an agreement with Celeborn that the southern part of Mirkwood would be counted as East Lórien. Thranduil took the northern region as far as the mountains; the wide forest between Mirkwood and East Lórien was given to the Beornings. By this time also, Thranduil renamed Mirkwood *Eryn Lasgalen*, the Wood of Greenleaves.

### Fourth Age

After the fall of Sauron, Thranduil fixed the southern boundary of his realm as the Mountains of Mirkwood, and his realm flourished well into the Fourth Age. He may have stayed on as the king of the Great Forest or left Middle-earth and departed to the Undying Lands.

## Etymology

***Thranduil*** is a Sindarin word for "Vigorous spring", from *tharan* ("vigorous") and *ethuil* ("spring"). It was said that the name "Thranduil" was of Lemberin language (later Avarin or Telerian), along with other Sindarin names such as Legolas, Nimrodel, and Amroth among others.

### Titles

Thranduil first appears as a character in *The Hobbit,* where he is not named. Tolkien refers to him as *the elf-king* or *the king,* and also by the titles **Elvenking** and **King of the Elves of the Wood**. The name *Thranduil* first appears in *The Lord of the Rings,* in which his title was given as the **King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood**. Elsewhere in Tolkien's writings he was also referred to as **King of the Woodland Realm**, a title he inherited from his father.

## Appearance in the Books and Films

### In the books

* *The Silmarillion*
* *Unfinished Tales*
* *The History of Middle-earth* (Mentioned only)
* *The Hobbit* (First appearance)
* *The Fellowship of the Ring* (Mentioned only)
* *The Return of the King*

### In the films

* *The Fellowship of the Ring (film)* (Mentioned only in the Extended Edition)
* *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey*
* *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug*
* *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies*

## Portrayal in adaptations

> "*Such is the nature of evil. In time all foul things come forth.*"
> ― Thranduil in *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug*
>
>

### The Hobbit film trilogy

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Lee Pace portrays Thranduil as a blonde elf with a crown of leaves and twigs in Peter Jackson's adaption of *The Hobbit,* and is a major character in *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.* Unlike other elves he is arrogant, egocentric, cold, severe, ect. The films incorporated several changes to Thranduil's character and actions. While the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain are fleeing their home after Smaug's attack, Thranduil, riding an Elven elk, arrives with an army. Thorin sees them and asks for help, but Thranduil, realizing that he would just be leading his soldiers to their deaths, refuses, not wanting to risk the lives of his kin, causing Thorin to develop a strong dislike of the Elves. In the extended edition of *An Unexpected Journey*, it was revealed that King Thrór withheld gems from Thranduil, causing goodwill between Dwarves and elves to run thin.

In *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug*, Thranduil appears on his throne after the capture of Thorin and Company. Thranduil offers to release the Dwarves from captivity and help them in their quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain if Thorin will give Thranduil a share of the treasure. Thorin refuses, recounting the time when Thranduil refused to help his people during the siege of Smaug in the Lonely Mountain. As Thorin continues his narrative, Thranduil looks horrified and angry. He demands that Thorin should not talk to him about the dragon fire for he has suffered from it himself, having "faced the great serpents of the North." At this point—by temporarily either creating or removing an illusion—he briefly shows himself with severe burns on the left side of his face, including a missing cheek and an apparently blind left eye, and asserts that it was Thrór's greed that incurred the dragon's wrath. He then orders his guards to take Thorin away. Additionally, Thranduil is more antagonistic toward the Dwarves in the films, locking them into dungeon cells as soon as they arrive, whereas in the book *The Hobbit* he was more generous, giving the Dwarves (aside from Thorin, whom he had previously captured and imprisoned) free run of his stronghold until they proved insulting and disagreeable toward him.

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Later, Thranduil confronts Tauriel, telling her that as a captain of the guard she must drive the Giant Spiders out of Mirkwood. She explains that new spiders would enter the kingdom after the previous ones were wiped out, and suggests sorties to destroy the spider's source outside the kingdom's boundaries near Dol Guldur, but Thranduil quickly dismissed this idea due to his isolationist doctrine. When she brings up that other lands would also be susceptible to spiders, Thranduil says that he doesn't care about other lands. He mentions then that Legolas, his son, has grown fond of her but that she should not give him hope, because she is a common Silvan elf and Legolas is the son of a king. Thranduil is once again seen when Legolas and Tauriel return with an Orc hostage, Narzug. He is interrogated but refuses to answer, mocking Tauriel about the impending death of a dwarf. Thranduil dismisses Tauriel after she threatens to kill the Orc, commenting that he doesn't care about the death of one dwarf. However, when Narzug begins to mock Thranduil about a coming great war, saying his master serves *The One,* the Elf-king swiftly decapitates the captive with a stroke of his sword, clearly fearful of what the Orc had revealed. When Legolas asks why he did that when the Orc could have told them more, Thranduil replies, "There was no more he could tell *me.*" Reminded of his promise to free the Orc, Thranduil replies, "I did free him. I freed his wretched head from his miserable shoulders." He then orders that all the gates to the kingdom to be closed, now knowing that the dangers of war were upon them, stating that,"No one enters this kingdom, and no one leaves it."

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In *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies*, an armoured Thranduil arrived in Dale upon a magnificent large elk, and gave supplies to the townsfolk who had lost everything to the dragon's fire. Despite Bard's thanks, he told him that his true purpose for coming was to reclaim a jewel necklace in Thorin's possession - the White Gems of Lasgalen, which was revealed much later to be a remembrance of his late wife, who had died in the hands of the Witch-king. Bard was aghast at the prospect of fighting for jewels, but Thranduil doubted that a Dwarf could be reasoned with. Nevertheless, he agreed to give Bard a chance to convince Thorin to give in. Bard failed, and Thranduil ordered his army to march.

Elsewhere, Legolas revealed to Tauriel that his mother (Thranduil's wife) had been taken prisoner to Gundabad, where she died, and Thranduil never spoke of her, as if she had never existed to begin with. When Gandalf arrived, he urged Thranduil and Bard to call off the attack on the Lonely Mountain, and informed him about Sauron's elaborate plans of taking the Mountain, which would enable him to eventually destroy all of Middle-earth. However, Thranduil refused to believe him, and accused him of reigniting the enmity between Elves and Dwarves by urging Thorin and his Company to embark upon their quest. Even after Bilbo gave them the Arkenstone in an attempt to stop the fighting from materializing, a war nearly broke out, but Azog's arrival and Dain's departure to deal with the army of Orcs called it off. Initially, Thranduil was intensely reluctant to participate in the fight, but after Gandalf forced him to realize that it was madness to not fight the Orcs, he relented - sending his swordsmen into the fray, instructing his archers to rain down death, and he himself wielded his broadsword skillfully against the forces of evil.

However, Azog realised that the armies could not fight on two fronts, and sent the rest of his army to Dale to cut them off. This forced Thranduil to retreat to the city with Bard, Gandalf, Bilbo, and a large portion of his army, leaving the Dwarves to fend for themselves. Upon his entry into the city, he was dismounted and surrounded, but easily killed his assailants and continually participated in the battle, but ended up being aghast at how much Elven blood was spilled in defense of a Dwarven land, and rather than warning Thorin or helping Dain, he attempted to take advantage of the respite to pull out. It was then that he encountered Tauriel, who declared that he would not depart, for the Dwarves would die if he left, but his response was that it did not matter as the Dwarves were mortal. At this, Tauriel drew her bow and accused him of being a loveless person who viewed his life as more important than those of others. Thranduil retaliated by slicing her bow, telling her that what she felt for Kili was not real, and asked if she was ready to die for love.

This reduces Tauriel to tears, but before Thranduil had time to strike at her, Legolas intervened by striking down Thranduil's sword, and told him flatly that he would have to kill his son if he wished to slay her. Legolas and Tauriel then departed for Ravenhill, leaving Thranduil in shock. In a deleted scene, it was at this moment that Gandalf reminded him that his wife not only left him with gems, but also a flesh-and-blood son (Legolas), and asked him which did he think she would prefer him to value more, causing Thranduil to turn to Gandalf in a state of greater shock and grief.

It was unknown if Thranduil had a change of heart, and stayed to aid the Dwarves. However, after the battle ended, he went to Ravenhill alone to find Legolas and Tauriel. He ran into Legolas, who confessed that he could not go back with him. Thranduil advised him to find the Dunedain, for there was a young ranger there whom he should meet - his father, Arathorn, was a good man, and he might become a great man himself. He went on to explain to Legolas that the ranger's name in the wild was *"Strider"*, but his true name (Aragorn) was something he had to learn for himself, and he also confided in Legolas that his mother loved him more than anything else in this world. At this, father and son exchanged a mutual gesture of farewell and affection, and Thranduil accepted Legolas' decision to be on his own.

As Legolas left to go to the North, Thranduil found Tauriel weeping over Kili's corpse, and upon seeing him, she asked him why love could hurt so much. Touched by the sight, along with the memory of his wife's death at Angmar's hands, he replies *"Because it was real"*, and agreed with her plan to bury Kili. Though he was not seen afterwards, it was safe to assume that after the funerals and burials, he departed for Mirkwood.

### Rankin/Bass's The Hobbit

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In the Rankin/Bass 1977 animated version of *The Hobbit*, Thranduil was voiced by Otto Preminger. In this version he is a golden-haired, balding, green-skinned being whose people bare little resemblance to the more human-looking Elves led by Elrond. He captures Thorin's company after mistaking their approach for an attack, and despite their attempts to convince him otherwise he has them imprisoned. He and Bard later join forces to take the Lonely Mountain, only to quickly join forces with Thorin's army of Dwarves upon seeing the approach of the Goblin Army.

### Voice Dubbing actors

 French (France)
 Spanish (Latin America)
 Spanish (Spain)
 Italian (Italy)
 Czech
 German
 Hungarian
 Polish

### Radio

In the 1968 BBC radio series, he is voiced by Leonard Fenton.

### Video games

* Thranduil is also one of the playable Elven heroes in the real-time strategy game *The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II.*

## References

1. ↑ *Unfinished Tales*, Part Two: The Second Age, IV: "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, and of Amroth King of Lórien", Appendices: Appendix B, The Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring*, Book Two, Chapter II: "The Council of Elrond" Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "council" defined multiple times with different content
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *The History of Middle-earth*, Vol. 12: *The Peoples of Middle-earth*, II: "The Appendix on Languages", Languages at the end of the Third Age
4. ↑ *Unfinished Tales*, Part Two: The Second Age, IV: "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, and of Amroth King of Lórien", Appendices: Appendix A, The Silvan Elves and their Speech
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *The Hobbit,* Chapter VIII: "Flies and Spiders"
6. ↑ *The Hobbit,* Chapter IX: "Barrels Out of Bond"
7. ↑ *The Hobbit,* Chapter XVI: "A Thief in the Night"
8. ↑ *The Hobbit,* Chapter XVII: "The Clouds Burst"
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *The Hobbit,* Chapter XVIII: "The Return Journey" Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "return" defined multiple times with different content
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 *The Lord of the Rings*, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Great Years"
11. ↑ *Parma Eldalamberon 17*, Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in *The Lord of the Rings* by J.R.R. Tolkien
12. ↑ *The Hobbit,* Chapter XIV: "Fire and Water"
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