Jedi Master Tessa
New Member
So I know this was a while back, but I never got around to posting it, and I don't recall anyone else mentioning it. Why is Legolas introduced at the beginning of The Council of Elrond as a "strange Elf"? We know that Tolkien doesn't use that word to mean bizarre or unusual. Does he ever use it to mean "unfamiliar"? Is it that nobody at the council has ever met Legolas before? If so, how would Frodo know that? Is it the usual meaning of "foreign"; i.e., Legolas isn't a native of Rivendell? Neither is Galdor, and he isn't "strange". Is Legolas more foreign because he comes from over the mountains? The Elves might see it that way, but I'm not convinced that the hobbits would, after Bilbo's interactions with the Wood-Elves. Plus, we know that Legolas is of Sindarin descent (though Tolkien probably didn't at the time), so anything foreign about him would have to be cultural. Is it his clothes, which are mentioned? Is it the way he speaks? Something else?