HEROES OF TOLKIEN-LEGOLAS' FRAME Part 3

And now let us focus on Legolas the Greenleaf. Legolas is an Elf from the Forest of Mirkwood .Son of King Thranduil, Legolas is the Prince of Mirkwood. Although he lives among the Silvan Elves (the elves of the woods) he does not belong with them. He and his father actually come form Lindon and they are Sindar, Grey Elves that is. He speaks the Sindarin tongue (elvish dialect) and as all elves, his senses are extremely developed. He is a very good fighter and has great capacities in battle. The characteristics of his tribe are very obvious on him: He is very tall, with fair, almost golden, hair (although there are opinions that he might have been dark-haired) and has bright blue eyes and perfect eye-sight. Tolkien describes him as "an Elf, clad in green and brown". He is almost always light-hearted and when the fellowship tried to cross Caradhras, he remained in a good mood. He was little affected by the blowing winds and snow, he did not even wear boots, only light shoes, and his feet scarcely made imprints on the snow - illustrating the Elves' otherworldliness!
Legolas is the perfect assassin! He kills the enemy with amazing accuracy. He can perfectly handle the bow and arrow as well as the sword. He is a great horse-rider and one of the charismas of his tribe that has passed straight to him is that he can "talk" to animals so they obey and follow him not by fear but by love and reliability. He is also very open-minded as he becomes very good friend with a dwarf. (Dwarves and Elves were in great dispute since the beginning of the second age). He has a kind and loving heart and he is extremely loyal to the Fellowship and to the great goal they must achieve.
In The Return of the King, Legolas and Gimli accompanied Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead, along with the Grey Company. 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 then 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. His heart longed to see the shores of the Immortal lands.
Legolas' age is never well and plainly presented. Some passages though in Tolkien's books, give some sort of information:
"The forest is old, very old," said the Elf. "So old that almost I feel young again, as I have not felt since I journeyed with you children. It is old and full of memory. I could have been happy here, if I had come in days of peace."
"These are the strangest trees that I ever saw," Legolas said; "and I have seen many an oak grow from acorn to ruinous age. I wish that there were leisure now to walk among them: they have voices, and in time I might come to understand their thought."
"Five hundred times have the red leaves fallen in Mirkwood my home since [the building of Edoras]," said Legolas, "and but a little while does that seem to us." Thus Legolas must be old enough for men and dwarves but a lot less than middle-aged according to the Firstborn.Legolas is certainly older than Gimli and Aragorn, who are 139 and 87 respectively at the time of the War of the Ring .
Here follows the prophecy ,and warning as well, given to him by Galandriel:
"Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall rest in the forest no more."
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. Eventually, Legolas founded an Elf-colony in Ithilien and spent his remaining time in Middle-earth, helping to restore the devastated forests of that war-ravaged land.
It was told in the Red Book of Westmarch (first written by Bilbo Baggins, continued by Frodo Baggins and supposedly finished by Samwise Gamgee), 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!!!!!!!!!