Why is Legolas "strange"?

[Jedi Master Tessa]

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?

 

[NotACat]

Somewhat late, I know, but I always figured that it meant "an Elf that Frodo hadn't seen around Rivendell before". He's been there a while, he's probably seen most of Elrond's household at mealtimes, so it's likely that he's already seen all the other Elves that show up at the Council. The delegation from the Havens might complicate matters but since it is explicitly pointed out that Boromir had only just arrived that morning, I feel that we might be forgiven for assuming that the others had been there a while…which admittedly raises the question of why Frodo hadn't seen Legolas before: maybe he arrived the previous evening?

 

[Jedi Master Tessa]

He hasn't been there a while: he only woke up the day before, and only left his room for the feast/hall of fire. Bilbo probably knows all the Elves, but I don't think even Sam, who has been there four days, would know what everyone looked like.

 

[Anthony Lawther]

It isn't detailed in this text, but Elrond is the closest thing there is to a High King of the Noldor, so you could expect his people to dress with that in mind.
Maybe Legolas is strange because he is dressed for Mirkwood, while the Rivendell Elves are dressed for the Court of the High King.

 

[JJ48]

The beginning of the paragraph starts with, "[Elrond] then pointed out and named those whom Frodo had not met before." So, the "strange Elf remark may not even be Frodo's observation, but rather Elrond telling him that Legolas is a stranger to these lands.