The Lord of the Rings, a three-volume series by British writer JRR Tolkien, was first published in 1954. The events and story in the Middle-earth universe created by the author have become the favorite of fantasy lovers. New Zealand director Peter Jackson adapted this series to the cinema and brought it together as a trilogy in 2001-2003. The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power series will air on Amazon Prime Video on September 2, 2022.
One of the most striking characters of the Middle-earth universe in Lord of the Rings is the elves. Thanks to their noble stance and strong warrior qualities, they have become the favorite of many fans. These characters, which are described in much more detail in the books, are mentioned a little more blindly in the movie. So let’s take a closer look at some interesting facts about the Elves of Middle-earth in Lord of the Rings, some of which you will hear for the first time.
Some interesting facts about the Middle-earth elves in Lord of the Rings:
Elves are almost immortal:
Elves, unlike other Middle-earth races, do not age and do not get sick. Since they do not die from disease or old age, they are somewhat immortal. However, they can die by violence, as we see in wars in movies, or by strong negative energy, as described in books. Other than these, their deaths are not like the death we know, they turn into ghosts. When they fade into a ghost, if they can’t find a new body, they perish. However, even getting to this point takes many, many years.
There are ancient elves that are never mentioned in the movie:
We have seen many elves in the Lord of the Rings movie series, and we have heard of some of them. However, there are some ancient elves who were the first representatives of this race. We meet these elves called Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë in the book The War of the Jewels, in Turkish, written by JRR Tolkien. It is said that Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë are the kings of the elven race. They were created by the god Eru Ilúvatar and were awakened and sent to Middle-earth.
JRR Tolkien wrote about elves before the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings:
JRR Tolkien lived from 1892 to 1973 and produced countless works throughout his life. Of course, it was The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that made us all know him. That’s how many of us met elves. However, even before Tolkien wrote these books, he spoke of an elven race even in his early works. He wrote his own stories, adapting mythological elven stories. For this reason, the elves are the race with the deepest history in the Lord of the Rings series because they have a special place for the author.
Elves appear in stories from many different mythologies of the world:
If you are not interested in fantasy literature or mythology stories, but you like Lord of the Rings, we are sure that the characters in this story come to your mind when you say elf. However, elves are figures that find their place in the stories of many different mythologies of the world. They are frequently mentioned especially in Celtic and Scandinavian mythologies. However, as Tolkien said, the elves described in mythologies have little to do with the elves in Lord of the Rings. However, the basis of the narrative is based on elven myths.
Elves carry the spirit of nature in their hearts:
Elves are depicted as devoid of greed and lust in both books and movies. In this respect they differ from other Middle-earth races. Elves are also very aesthetically pleasing with their men and women, they are creative and have an artistic flair. They show all these good qualities in the nature in which they live. From this point of view, we can say that the elves carry the spirit of nature in their hearts and therefore they are pure.
Gandalf is not actually an elf, but has been accepted among them:
Those who know the Lord of the Rings story only from the movies may mistake the wizard Gandalf as an elf because of the visual similarity. However, he is one of the Middle-earth races, the Istari, or sorcerer. Being a wizard with nature and nature crafts, he established close relations with the elves. For this reason, the elves accepted him as one of their own and called him the elf of the wand.
Legolas is no ordinary elf:
One of the best-known elves in the Lord of the Ring story, Legolas is no ordinary elf, as he is the only elf on the team to take the Ring to Mount Doom. His father, Thranduil, is the king of the Deepwood elves. So Legolas is therefore also the prince of the Nookwood elves. Legolas’ mother, whose age is unknown, died in the War of Eternal Tears. We have seen his talent as a warrior often in both movies and books. Moreover, he is extremely loyal.
Elrond is a hybrid:
Elrond of Rivendell, full name Elrond Peredhil means star dome in Sindarin. He is the son of Earendil and White Elwing. More importantly, he is the grandson of Beren and Lúthien. His father was half-elf, for Elrond’s grandfather was a man who was literally death. Beren Erchamion is a mighty warrior. Sent by Vala Ulmo in the Noldor’s war against Morgoth. We learn the story of Beren Erchamion from the book The Silmarillion written by JRR Tolkien.
Arwen is not a very important character in the Lord of the Rings books:
When we look at the Lord of the Rings books, we see that the elf Arwen character has a supporting role, but not as important as what we see in the movies. The name that brought Arwen to the fore was Peter Jackson. The director brought Arwen forward because she wanted the female character in the movie’s love story to be much stronger. For example, in The Fellowship of the Ring, in the scene where Arwen saves the hobbits, there was actually a male elf. Arwen fell in love with Aragorn and married. A year after Aragorn died, unable to bear the pain, he too died because he had renounced his immortality.
The role of an elf named Glorfindel was greatly reduced in the movie:
The elf who saved and healed Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring is actually Glorfindel. However, unless you watch the Lord of the Rings movies very, very carefully, you can hardly see Glorfindel. Because Peter Jackson chose to feature Arwen as a female character. Glorfindel is one of the first generation elves and is a very strong warrior.
We tried to get to know these popular characters better by talking about interesting information about the elves in Middle-earth, the universe where the Lord of the Rings story takes place. You can share your thoughts about Lord of the Rings and Middle-earth elves in the comments.
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