Legolas

He is a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and son of its king, Thranduil, becoming one of the nine members of the Fellowship who set out to destroy the One Ring.

Commentators have noted that Legolas serves as a typical Elf in the story, demonstrating more-than-human abilities such as seeing further than anyone else in Rohan and sensing the memory of a long-lost Elvish civilisation in the stones of Hollin.

Legolas is the son of Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood,[T 1] who appeared as "the Elvenking" in The Hobbit.

[T 7] When the fellowship left Lothlórien, Galadriel gave the members gifts; Legolas received a longbow,[T 8] which he used to bring down a Nazgûl's flying steed in the dark with one shot.

Legolas interpreted this as foretelling the end of his stay in Middle-earth: The three met with the Riders of Rohan, fought in the Battle of Helm's Deep, and witnessed Saruman's downfall at Isengard, where they were reunited with Merry and Pippin.

[T 13] After Aragorn summoned the Dead of Dunharrow to fight for him, Legolas saw them terrify the Corsairs of Umbar from their ships at Pelargir.

Galadriel's prophecy was fulfilled: as Legolas heard the cries of seagulls, he experienced the Sea-longing — the desire to sail west to Valinor, the "Blessed Realm", latent among his people.

[T 18] Eventually[T 17] Legolas brought south many Silvan Elves, and they dwelt in Ithilien, and it became once again the "fairest country in all the westlands.

[2] The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey observes that Legolas, describing the great hall of Meduseld in the capital of Rohan, too far off for any but an Elf to make out clearly, speaks a line which is a direct translation of one from Beowulf: "The light of it shines far over the land", líxte se léoma ofer landa fela.