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Broadly speaking, there are two types of LOTR fan fiction:
bookverse and movieverse—and, for some reason, movieverse
stories are often considered inferior to bookverse.
I would classify my own Legolas/Eowyn stories as movieverse
(though set, for the most part, after the films), with additional
material from the books (including The Hobbit and some
of the other writings), and influenced by other writers’
fan fiction.
My discussion of Legolas and Eowyn here also mixes these sources.
…
To the best of my knowledge, there are only two passages in the
book that show Legolas taking notice of Eowyn. The first occurs
in The Return of the King, Book 5, Chapter II, ‘The Passing
of the Grey Company’.
[Aragorn’s] company was all mounted, and he was about to
leap into the saddle, when the Lady Eowyn came to bid them farewell.
She was clad as a Rider and girt with a sword … and [Aragorn]
said: ‘Farewell, Lady of Rohan! I drink to the fortunes of
your House, and of you, and of all your people. Say to your brother:
beyond the shadows we may meet again!’
Then it seemed to Gimli and Legolas who were nearby that she
wept, and in one so stern and proud that seemed the more grievous.
But she said: ‘Aragorn, wilt thou go?’
‘I will,’ he said.
‘Then wilt thou not let me ride with this company, as I
have asked?’
‘I will not, lady,’ he said. ‘For that I could
not grant without leave of the king and of your brother; and they
will not return until tomorrow. But I count now every hour, indeed
every minute. Farewell!’
Then she fell on her knees, saying: ‘I beg thee!’
Legolas recalls this same incident in Book 5, Chapter IX, ‘The
Last Debate’, when he tells the hobbits,
‘For all those who come to know [Aragorn] come to love him
after his own fashion, even the cold maiden of the Rohirrim. It
was at early morn of the day ere you came there, Merry, that we
left Dunharrow, and such a fear was on all the folk that none
would look on our going, save the Lady Éowyn, who lies
now hurt in the House below. There was grief at that parting,
and I was grieved to behold it.’
In the films the pairing fares only slightly better.
In The Two Towers, when Eowyn runs into the Golden Hall
(as Gandalf is driving Saruman’s enchantment out of Theoden
King), Legolas is the first to notice her—though it is Aragorn
who lunges for her and holds her back.
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Some pictures show Legolas and Eowyn standing side-by-side.
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And, for some strange reason, this moment was chosen for a well-known
publicity shot.
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In the Extended Edition of The Two
Towers, as preparations are being made for battle at Helm's
Deep, Eowyn confronts Aragorn[2] and,
for a moment, Legolas—who is trying to persuade his friend
to rest—looks annoyed, though it is not clear whether his
anger is directed at Eowyn or at Aragorn.
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Eowyn reveals that she is in love with Aragorn but he refuses
to allow her to fight at his side. When Eowyn runs away, Legolas
catches her and steadies her.
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Finally, in The Return of the King, Legolas is standing
outside Eowyn’s tent when she arms Merry and sends him to
the smithy to have his sword sharpened.
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He must overhear her asking Eomer why Merry (and, by implication,
she) cannot be allowed to fight for those he loves—and then
hear Eomer reply that she knows as little of war as the hobbit:
“He would flee and he would be right to do so. War is the
province of men, Eowyn.”
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All in all, there is very little canon support
for this ship—though, of course, we fan fiction writers thrive
on crumbs such as these!
And there are other moments when Legolas
and Eowyn might have come together—before
or during the journey to Helm’s Deep[3],
for example, or amidst the preparations for the battle, or
after the battle[4],
or when Eowyn is in the House of Healing[5].
…
Who is Legolas?
Last month I wrote about the movie
starring Orlando Bloom. I forget who else appeared in that flick,
but in case you missed it, he played an elf named Legolas. Okay,
I know … Orlando had a supporting cast and all, but it was
his movie.
Michael
Martinez.
For me, as for the overwhelming majority
of fan fiction writers, Legolas is Orlando Bloom’s Legolas—a
tall, slender, ethereal beauty with long blond hair.
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Though Film Legolas is undeniably an action hero, some people
still find him effeminate (especially compared to the sweaty-male
ruggedness of Aragorn, Boromir and Eomer). But this was certainly
not Tolkien’s concept of the elf:
“He was tall as a young tree, lithe, immensely strong,
able swiftly to draw a great war-bow and shoot down a Nazgûl,
endowed with the tremendous vitality of Elvish bodies, so hard
and resistant to hurt that he went only in light shoes over rock
and through snow, the most tireless of all the Fellowship.”
The Book of Lost Tales, Volume 2, Chapter 6.
For me, and for many others, Film Legolas simply represents a
different kind of masculinity.
In the films we learn nothing of Legolas’ background except
what we can deduce from the fact that he arrives at Rivendell
on horseback and he is clearly awed by what he sees there.
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In the Council scene he is flanked by several similarly-clad
blond elves over whom he seems to have authority.
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If we want to know more about him, however,
we must turn to the book. In The Fellowship of the Ring,
Book 2, Chapter II, ‘The Council of Elrond’, Tolkien
describes him as
… a strange elf clad in green and brown,
Legolas, a messenger from his father, Thranduil, King of the Elves
of Northern Mirkwood.
What is strange about him? I think Tolkien
simply means that he’s a stranger in Rivendell. Interestingly,
although Legolas is a King’s son, no one in the book ever
refers to him as ‘Prince Legolas’ (though, in the film,
Gimli calls him a ‘pointy-eared princeling’); and the
fact that his father has sent him as a messenger (to break the
unpalatable news that Gollum has escaped) has led some people
to speculate that Legolas must be a very junior member of the
royal family—perhaps even an illegitimate son. No
mention is ever made of his mother[6].
In the book it is Elrond who informs Boromir
of Aragorn’s heritage. In the film, however, it is Legolas
who leaps to his feet and says:
This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son
of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance …
Aragorn’s response, “Havo dad (Sit
down), Legolas,” implies that the two are already friends,
and Peter Jackson chose to emphasise this relationship, having
Legolas act as Aragorn’s faithful lieutenant—which has,
of course, inspired the work of many slash writers.
Film Legolas joins the Fellowship by
volunteering his bow. And when, a moment later, Gimli volunteers
his axe, the elf gives what Orlando Bloom has called his ‘Oh
no, not the dwarf!’ look.
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Michael
Martinez makes an interesting comment
on this look:
And just at that moment …
[Legolas] realizes that this really isn’t
HIS movie[7].
For me, the Council scene sums up Legolas’
character before he joins the Fellowship—a
protected, slightly spoilt, slightly vain, young elven prince[8].
In the course of his adventure, however, Legolas—already
a great warrior—grows as a person. He learns to accept other
races as equals—humans, hobbits and, most remarkably, dwarves
(forming a friendship with Gimli that will last to the end of
the dwarf’s life). He learns to follow a human leader and
to fight beside human comrades, he becomes someone his non-elven
friends can rely upon, using his keen eyes, his quick reflexes
and his elven senses to protect them—pulling Gandalf to safety
on Mount Caradhras, preventing Boromir from falling from the steps
in Moria, hauling Aragorn and Gimli over the wall at Helm’s
Deep.
Book Legolas has a playful, almost childlike
nature, which is not shown in the films except in his Orc-killing
contests with Gimli.
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Film Legolas is shown learning several painful lessons about
death and loss; for example, when Gandalf falls in Moria;
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when Boromir dies at Amon Hen;
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when he believes that the hobbits have died beside the Forest
of Fangorn;
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Book Legolas’ loyalty to his mortal friends
costs him dearly. By following Aragorn to Pelargir, he comes too
near the sea and hears the gulls’ cry, and it awakens in
him a great longing to sail to the Undying Lands, where elves
dwell beside the Valar.
‘Then I thought in my heart that we
drew near to the Sea; for wide was the water in the darkness,
and sea-birds innumerable cried on its shores. Alas for the wailing
of the gulls! Did not the Lady tell me to beware of them? And
now I cannot forget them.’
The Return of the King, Book 5, Chapter IX, ‘The Last
Debate’.
Despite knowing that he will never again
be content in Middle-earth, Legolas decides to stay until after
Aragorn’s death, and he founds an
elven colony in South Ithilien[10].
“In days to come, if my Elven-lord
[his father] allows, some of our folk shall remove hither; and
when we come it shall be blessed, for a while.”
The Return of the King, Book 6,
Chapter IV, ‘The Field of Cormallen’.
Legolas … brought south Elves out of
Greenwood, and they dwelt in Ithilien, and it became once again
the fairest country in all the westlands. The Return of
the King, Appendix A, ‘Annals of the Kings and Rulers,
III Durin's Folk’.
Peter Jackson filmed, but never used,
footage of Legolas in his new home:
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After Aragorn’s death (120 years later), Legolas finally
builds a ship and sails west with Gimli.
…
Who is Eowyn?
Grave and thoughtful was her glance, as she looked on the king
with cool pity in her eyes. Very fair was her face, and her long
hair was like a river of gold. Slender and tall she was in her
white robe girt with silver; but strong she seemed and stern as
steel, a daughter of kings.
The Two Towers, Book 3, Chapter VI, ‘The King of the Golden
Hall’.
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Eowyn, daughter of Eomund, Marshall of the Mark, and Theodwyn,
a sister of Theoden King, was orphaned at the age of five or six,
when her father was slain by Orcs and her mother succumbed to
grief soon after. Eowyn and her older brother, Eomer, were taken
in by their uncle, who raised them as his own children.
Theoden fell under the spell of Saruman’s spy, Gríma
Wormtongue, and whilst the King’s son, Theodred, and Eomer
fought to protect their people, Eowyn was forced to care for the
prematurely aged king (and to suffer Wormtongue’s amorous
advances). When Gandalf arrived at Edoras, with Aragorn, Legolas
and Gimli, Eowyn immediately fell in love with Aragorn. He rejected
her, and refused to let her fight at his side, so Eowyn disguised
herself as a man, (calling herself Dernhelm, meaning ‘Secret
Helmet’), and, together with the hobbit, Merry, followed
her uncle and her brother to Pelennor Field. There she fought
bravely and, with Merry’s help, won lasting renown by slaying
the Witch King of Angmar, whose boast,
‘Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!’
The Return of the King, Book 5 Chapter VI, ‘The
Battle of Pelennor Fields’.
she dismissed with the reply, ‘I am no man!’
[Film script]
Though Eowyn won the fight, she was wounded, and her spirit was
tainted by the Nazgûl’s ‘black breath’. She was found,
lying on the battlefield, by Eomer, and brought to the House of
Healing, where her body was healed by Aragorn, and her spirit
by the love of the gentle Faramir.
Book Eowyn describes herself as a ‘shieldmaiden’ (though
in the film it is Aragorn who uses this term), and there is some
debate amongst fan fiction writers as to what this might mean—has
she been trained to fight, or merely to ‘Farewell the men’
as they leave for battle, and to find food and bedding for them
when they return?
In both the book and the film, Eowyn is a skilled horsewoman,
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and a skilled, courageous swordswoman:
Suddenly the great beast … fell down upon Eowyn, shrieking,
striking with beak and claw.
Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings,
slender but as a steel-blade, fair but terrible. A swift stroke
she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove
asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. The Return
of the King, Book 5 Chapter VI, ‘The Battle of Pelennor
Fields’.
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I believe that Eowyn and other women
of the Rohirrim have been thoroughly trained in the martial arts
(and that Eowyn has shown a particular aptitude), but that the
men of their male-dominated society regard
women warriors as the ultimate last resort[11]—because
to call on the women to fight would be to admit that they had
themselves been defeated.
Book Eowyn uses the term shieldmaiden[12]
to signify qualities that are the opposite of traditional womanly
virtues. At first she uses it positively, when she tries to persuade
Aragorn to let her accompany him through the Paths of the Dead:
‘Too often have I heard of duty,’
she cried. ‘But am I not of the House of Eorl, a shieldmaiden
and not a dry-nurse?…’ The Return of the King,
Book 5 Chapter II, ‘The Passing of the Grey Company’.
Later she uses it negatively, when talking
to Faramir of her despair, in the House of Healing:
‘Shadow lies on me still. Look not
to me for healing! I am a shieldmaiden and my hand is ungentle…’
And, when she recovers from her despair—perhaps
Tokien is saying, in order to recover from her despair—she
specifically rejects the role of shieldmaiden and accepts the
role of ‘woman’.
‘… and behold the Shadow has departed!
I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders,
nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer,
and love all things that grow and are not barren.’…
‘And would you have your proud folk
say of you: There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of
the North! Was there no woman of the race of Numenor to choose?’
The Return of the King, Book 6, Chapter V, ‘The
Steward and the King’.
At the end of the book, as part of the restoration
of normality, the strong, ‘masculine’ woman becomes
feminine, and marries the sensitive, ‘feminine’ man,
who becomes the Prince of Ithilien; so all is well, and Legolas
builds them a garden…
Film Eowyn differs quite markedly from Book
Eowyn in two respects. First, whereas Tolkien repeatedly describes
Book Eowyn as stern and cold (though passionate), film Eowyn,
though just as strong, is softer, gentler, and cries more readily.
Secondly, Book Eowyn’s desire to go to
war is shown to be suicidal:
[Merry] caught the glint of clear grey eyes;
and then he shivered, for it came suddenly to him that it was
the face of one without hope who goes in search of death. The
Return of the King, Book 5 Chapter III, ‘The Muster of
Rohan’.
Eowyn it was, and Dernhelm also. For into
Merry's mind flashed the memory of the face that he saw at the
riding from Dunharrow: the face of one that goes seeking death,
having no hope.
The Return of the King, Book 5 Chapter VI, ‘The Battle
of Pelennor Fields’.
But Film Eowyn, created for a twenty-first
century audience, goes to war for entirely heroic reasons—and,
unlike Book Eowyn, she never gives the ‘I will be a shieldmaiden
no longer’ speech, and she never explicitly marries Faramir.
…
Why Legolas/Eowyn?
Why ship Legolas and Eowyn?
Obviously, they look good together.
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Some writers who ship Legolas/Eowyn are
inspired by the tragic potential of the pairing—by the fact
that one is mortal, the other elven; that one will age, the other
will not; that anything but the most fleeting union between them
is impossible; and that Legolas, whether
as a lover or a friend, must one day watch Eowyn die[13].
As a result, some beautifully bittersweet
L/E Stories have been written.
Other writers, myself included, are attracted
to a pairing of two warriors[14]
that has all the advantages of slash without
actually being slash. Legolas is not a typical male, Eowyn is
not a typical female, and their relationship is not typical male-female.
So, within a single scene, they may shift (and I'm not just talking
about sex) from male-female to female-male or to male-male or
to female-female.
…
Legolas and Eowyn in other writer’s
fiction
There is relatively little L/E fan fiction
available on the web. The following stories are ones that I have
particularly enjoyed:
The
Price of Freedom by Erin Lasgalen.
Rating: R.
This is the most inventive L/E story I have ever read. After the
Ring war, Eowyn, damaged as much by Gríma Wormtongue as
by the Witch King’s black breath, declines Faramir’s
offer of marriage and travels south where she finds employment
as the Queen of Rhunballa’s bodyguard. After four years,
the past catches up with her, she and Legolas are thrown together,
and find themselves fighting an ancient evil. This is a ‘two
warriors’ story, in which Eowyn is perhaps the stronger of
the pair, especially since (given the nature of the villain) Legolas’
sex puts him more at risk.
A
Healing Union by Larien. Rating: NC-17.
Fighting on the Deeping Wall, Eowyn is overpowered by an Uruk
Hai. Legolas comes to her rescue but is stabbed with a poisoned
dagger. As Eowyn nurses him, she finds herself fighting Sauron’s
evil influence. This is the story that introduced me to the L/E
pairing and it’s still one of my favourites! It depicts Legolas
and Eowyn as two damaged people, (Legolas by Sauron, Eowyn by
Gríma), drawing strength from each other. The ending is
bittersweet.
Namárië
by Alida-Fruit. Rating: K+.
A very sad, very beautiful story in which the immortal Legolas
says farewell to his mortal friend.
Eowyn,
Part 6 of Warrior Elf, by Nessa.
Rating: NC-17.
A short but moving L/E interlude in an otherwise slash story,
in which a tragically doomed Legolas spends the hours before Helm’s
Deep with Eowyn. This Legolas, though bound to Boromir, gives
himself to all, without reservation, and takes pity on a lonely
Eowyn.
Pottymouth by LeRouret at www.scribeoz.com.
Rating: NC-17.
A very AU story, set in the present, in which all the main characters
from LOTR, granted immortality as a reward for having defeated
Sauron, must make lives for themselves as best they can. Legolas,
the pottymouth of the title, rescues Eowyn from the misery of
a 9-to-5 job after Faramir has divorced her. Lots of fun.
Cold
Comfort by Lady Aranel. Rating: G.
A beautiful, sad story in which, after her death, Legolas remembers
Eowyn as she once was. Hints of an unrequited love?
Ethereal
Night by Eowynangel. Rating: PG.
A brief, dreamlike encounter after the Battle of Helm’s Deep,
in which Legolas tells Eowyn that Aragorn will never be hers,
but reassures her that it is through no shortcoming of her own.
Crimson
Flowers in a Garden of Snow by slightly-psychotic.
Rating: T. WIP (and unlikely, I think, ever to be completed).
Legolas has been seriously injured at Helm’s Deep but, for
some reason, is hiding the fact from Aragorn and Gimli. As Eowyn
tends his wounds, they draw closer, both physically and emotionally.
This is a lovely story—I wish she had finished it.
Where the Blue of the Night by
Holly Golightly. Rating: unknown. No longer available on the web?
Legolas and Gimli, about to sail from the Grey Havens, encounter
Eowyn. For reasons the writer does not explain, Eowyn has not
aged and, as she bids farewell to Legolas, there’s a hint
that, had circumstances been different, there might have been
a great love between them.
…
Legolas and Eowyn in my own fiction
I started writing L/E fiction because
I wanted to see a healthy, non-pregnant, masculine Legolas enjoying
a happy heterosexual relationship (whilst having an adventure
or two). When I happened upon a handful of stories that paired
Legolas with Eowyn—Larien’s A
Healing Union, Terri’s
My Love at www.scribeoz.com, Alida-Fruit’s
Namárië
and Holly Golightly’s Where
the blue of the night—I immediately
began mentally adding Eowyn to other people’s Legolas stories!
But the pairing was not popular, and I realised that, if I wanted
more, I would have to start writing it myself. It was the first
fiction I’d ever written, and I chose to write movieverse
because I love Orlando Bloom’s Legolas, and because
my imagination works best when I have a visual and aural image
in my mind.
In my first story, My
bow shall sing with your sword (NC-17),
Eowyn travels to Legolas’ colony of Eryn Carantaur to attend
the Harvest Ceremony and finds herself helping him solve a murder.
Legolas has been in love with Eowyn since the moment he first
saw her, Eowyn has fallen in love with Legolas more gradually,
they come together as a result of the Ceremony—will they
stay together?
It seemed to me that, five years or so
after declaring ‘I will be a shieldmaiden no longer’,
Eowyn might be regretting it. One of the ongoing themes of my
stories is that Legolas (for the most part) lets Eowyn make her
own decisions and stands by her when she faces the consequences.
My second story, To
the Sea, to the Sea, the white gulls are crying (NC-17)
opens with Legolas teaching Eowyn to use a bow. When the couple
travel to Dol Amroth (to take part in Prince Elfwine’s Naming
Ceremony), Legolas becomes the target of a dastardly apothecary
who needs ‘elven seed’ for one of his preparations,
Eowyn is stalked by his psychopathic associate (one of my better
OMCs!), and the couple take turns in rescuing each other.
In the third story, The
time of the Orcs has come (NC-17),
Legolas, planning an Orc hunt, briefly loses his nerve and tries
to order Eowyn to stay at home… He relents, but the story
goes on to explore his fear of losing her in battle, and ends
with his deciding exactly what he will do when she (inevitably)
dies. The plot sees the pair fighting a supernatural enemy, as
the Mulder and Scully of Middle-earth.
My fourth story, The
lady vanishes (NC-17), is set at Minas
Tirith during the Yuletide celebrations. It begins with Legolas
and Eowyn’s discovering a body[15]
in the ruins of Osgiliath, shows them
investigating the related disappearance of a young woman, and
uncovering the villainy of a local crime lord. In a subplot they
face the possibility that Eowyn might be pregnant.
In the following story, Misrule
in Mirkwood (NC-17), Legolas and Eowyn
travel to Eryn Lasgalen hoping to persuade King Thranduil to give
them his permission to marry. (Since The Hobbit is a fairy tale)
Thranduil sets Eowyn three tasks. The plot is a reworking of the
myth of Cupid and Psyche and has a similar ending—Eowyn dies
and is revived as an immortal.
Travelling home in the next story,
The strange sea road
(NC-17), the couple are captured by slavers
and taken to Far Harad where, together with Haldir and Faramir,
they have a very AU adventure, set in the world of the Arabian
Nights. The story deals (too briefly, really) with the idea of
immortality and the impact it has had on Eowyn (nowhere near enough,
but I like a happy ending[16]).
Story seven, The
usual suspects (NC-17), finds Legolas
and Eowyn, waiting in Far Harad for a fair wind, and encountering
an old enemy, in another AU plot that was partially inspired by
the film Casablanca. (Meanwhile, Faramir has his own adventure
in the desert).
I am currently working on two more long stories,
- Shadowland,
which is a crossover with the world of Dungeons and Dragons
and features armies of dark elves, and… a parallel Middle-earth,
complete with a Shadow Legolas and a Shadow Eowyn
- the fanfic100 Eowyn/Legolas
Challenge, which is set between
stories five and six, and is gradually evolving into a continuous
narrative, with some input from readers.
…
Resources
A list of things that I have found good
sources of help or inspiration.
The Books
JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit
The Elvenking of The Hobbit is Legolas’ father, King
Thranduil (though he is not named, and Legolas does not appear
in the book). The Hobbit describes Mirkwood and King Thranduil’s
Cave-Palace, and provides the context for Legolas’ life before
LOTR.
JRR Tolkien, Morgoth’s Ring (The
History of Middle-earth, volume 10)
Contains Laws and Customs Among the Eldar pertaining to marriage
and other matters related thereto… (known as LACE).
Wayne G Hammond and Christina Scull, JRR
Tolkien, Artist and Illustrator
Includes Tolkien’s drawings of Mirkwood, the Elvenking’s
Gates, the Forest River, Esgaroth, etc, and shows how his ideas
developed.
The DVDs
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
All directed by Peter Jackson. I would recommend watching both
the theatrical and the extended versions, the extras and the appendices.
It’s fun to see how young Orlando Bloom seems when
he’s not in ‘Legolas mode’.
Reference books
Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth
A useful A-Z reference book, endorsed by Christopher Tolkien.
Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Tolkien's
Middle Earth
A complete set of maps that allow you to describe landscapes,
predict weather, calculate distances, estimate journey times…
The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring
The Art of The Two Towers
The Art of The Return of the King
The Art of The Lord of the Rings
Conceptual art and designs from the films. Full of inspiring visual
details.
References on the web
The Encyclopaedia
of Arda
An online encyclopaedia with short articles
about key topics.
Ellen Brundige, The
boy with the bow
An interesting analysis of Legolas’
archery in The Fellowship of the Ring film.
Michael Martinez, Legolas
you’re just so darn cute
One of Martinez’s articles about
LOTR. It’s always worth typing ‘Michael Martinez’
into the Suite101 search engine & seeing what comes up. (Lots!)
Elvish and names
Tolkien created several Elvish languages. The one used in the
film is called ‘Sindarin’. If you want to use the odd
Sindarin word or phrase in a story, this is the technique I would
suggest: The
Council of Elrond has a page of language
resources, including an English-Sindarin phrase book. Wherever
possible, use one of these phrases!
For place names, plant names, animal
names, and so on, Ardalambion
provides a Select
Sindarin Vocabulary, which includes
geographical terms, colours, plants, animals… If you want
to invent a word by combining two, (very much frowned upon by
some scholars of the languages), The
Council of Elrond offers a Sindarin
course in pdf format, which, amongst other things, explains the
principles of forming plurals and of lenition (the way, under
certain circumstances, a consonant at the beginning of a word
mutates into another consonant). You can also download a free
interactive
Sindarin-English dictionary called
DragonFlame.
For character names, I would suggest
using The
Encyclopaedia of Arda to find a genuine
Tolkien name of the correct race. However, since elven names should
be unique, you may prefer to use the elven name generator at
The Council
of Elrond.
…
Footnotes
1
This seems like a good starting point for an L/E story, but my
own Eowyn/Legolas Challenge story, Reaffirming
their love (what a crap title!) is the only one I know of.
2 This is another
good starting point for an L/E story. I used it in I
have fought Orcs before, where Legolas and Gimli help Eowyn
prepare to defend the women and children in the Glittering Caves.
I tried to contrast the grim reality of the task that faces Eowyn
with the showy heroics of the men.
3 I used this in
The cage—after
Aragorn and Eowyn’s swordplay in the Golden Hall, Legolas
talks to Eowyn about her fear of the cage.
4 See, for example,
A
Healing Union by Larien, My Love by Terri, at www.scribeoz.com,
Use Me Once by ZeeDrippyVessel at www.scribeoz.com.
5 See the flashback
in my Starlight.
6 So the fan fiction
writer is free to create whatever family circumstances are required.
‘My’ Legolas’ mother, for example, died in childbirth,
and Legolas is his father’s only child. I have two short
stories that show Thranduil with his toddler son, The
Little Prince and The
King.
7 What a great idea
for a Legolas story! The article is called Legolas
you’re just so darn cute.
8 See the beginning
of my A pleasant time in
Rivendell.
9 See
Heaven dissolved so by Victoria P.
10 The setting
for my own stories.
11 I explore
this idea in I have
fought Orcs before.
Incidentally, when Book Eowyn is given political power, it is
also as a last resort-Theoden does not, in fact, consider making
her his regent until Hama suggests it; she is chosen so that a
fighting man need not be left behind; and it is possible that,
if Theoden and Eomer both fall in battle, the people will choose
a new lord (perhaps as a husband for Eowyn):
'Behold! I go forth, and it seems like to be my last riding,'
said Theoden. 'I have no child. Theodred my son is slain. I name
Eomer my sister-son to be my heir. If neither of us return, then
choose a new lord as you will. But to some one I must now entrust
my people that I leave behind, to rule them in my place. Which
of you will stay?' …
'… There is Eowyn, [said Hama] … She is fearless and
high-hearted. All love her. Let her be as lord to the Eorlingas,
while we are gone.'
'It shall be so,' said Theoden. 'Let the heralds announce to the
folk that the Lady Eowyn will lead them!'
Then the king sat upon a seat before his doors, and Eowyn knelt
before him and received from him a sword and a fair corslet.
The Two Towers, Book III, Chapter 6, 'The King of the Golden
Hall'.
(Note the irony of the symbolic sword and corslet).
12 I have found
four examples. Tolkien does not capitalise the word 'shieldmaiden'.
13 See Namárië
by Alida-Fruit, Cold
Comfort by Lady Aranel, and Longings
(and, if you can find it, its epilogue, A Night Between Two
Days), by MelanayeBaggins.
14 See The
Price of Freedom by Erin Lasgalen.
15 In the story proper
Eowyn recognises the body, "I know him," she says, "I
know his wife and children." In an extra scene, The
most handsome man she had ever seen, we learn that she had
had a childhood crush on him.
16
And I think this story has the best ending I've ever written ;-)
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