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tkwrtrilogyhistory · 8 years ago

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The Children of Middle-Earth: Fantastic Kids and Where to Find Them

(Before someone sends me a message having a cow over credits, scroll to the end of the article--that’s where I put them at the most available links/full credits)

Everyone is familiar with the adorable little hobbit children in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings Trilogy” but what about the “other” ones? The humans, dwarves, and most definitely elves?

Rest assured, they are there--in fact they are everywhere. The Hobbit is a children’s story (okay, so children used to be more mature back in the day with longer attention spans). But they aren’t in the books.

So, The Kingdom of the Woodland Realm Trilogy put them there. Book II: The Saga of Thranduil begins with a memory of Thranduil’s earliest childhood memory--when he met his best friends for life--some that would remain with him into adulthood. More of him as a baby comes in Book I: The Epic of Eryn Galen. Along with his cousin Elranduil, there’s Melros, Fëaluin, Fínduin, Elmîr, Aramír, Aramoth Sildôr, Findôl, and some of the girls: Arandil, Nínorë, Sinomë, Tínandril, Aryávë, Ardúin, Linurial and Súlthulë.

By Chapter XVI: Legolas Lasgalen, we get a in-depth look at Elven motherhood with the birth of Legolas. Even in his generation, there are elven children he grows up beside--especially in his immediate household: Tarthôn, Ardôr, Orísil, Aruilos, Elenadar and Elenatar (and if you’ve read the extended version, his little sister Isílriel, @alttkwrtrilogyend). There are more than one little girl: Ëariâth, Arlúin, Nimlúin and Arnîn.

By Chapter XXI: The Best of Sons, everyone has become acquainted with Aranduil and his cousins Nenduîl and Tárimë.

In old Book III: To Eryn Lasgalen, Chapter V: The Fall of Dol Guldur has seen the additions of Bain, son of Bard II and his wife Aurëwyn as well as dwarf child Durin*, son of Thorin III*. Durin (in Tolkien lore) would be the last Heir of Durin to rule (as Durin VII) as the only other heir of Durin would leave for the Undying Lands with Legolas* (Gimli*).

There will be far more children--on in particular I look forward to is Oropher*, father of Thranduil* (and quite possibly Celeborn* and his brother Galathil*) coming to Book I: The Epic of Eryn Galen. I am sure the question becomes, why now? I say why not?

When I began writing TKWR Trilogy in 2015, my typical modis operandi has always been to grow up a person because we didn’t come into this world as adults. Even in Tolkien, if only in passing, children are everywhere.

I became interested in giving them more of a role that shapes whom they will grow to become when I found myself working with Thranduil’s relationship with Baby Legolas--whose habit of crawling between his parents early in the morning for a play date started to become amusing. Though Legolas was Thranduil’s second experience with a child (his first was Tarthôn, the son of his best friend Melros who died during the War of the Last Alliance and made Thranduil promise to take care of him before they left for war), Thranduil became Middle-Earth’s Father of the Year quickly as children seem to find him fascinating--especially young Prince Bain and Prince Durin.

Most of us were young when we discovered the magical world of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth and for most of us, we had a child’s understanding of all the mystical and magical things going on. I thought what it would be like as an actual child--no matter the race--to live in such a world. You will notice most children will act as any child would--for example, Arlúin getting dirty helping her cousin Legolas chase his pet squirrel Lasimë under a bush or Isílriel doing her “adorable” routine to get Thranduil to take her outside for a ride around the kingdom.

In the all the events and happenings of Middle-Earth history, children learn to accept things they cannot change, ask a lot of questions about the world around them and learn from their parents and their world in all stages from childhood to adulthood. For me, it gave the Woodland Realm and other places in Endor a touch of realism. Even when a 500 year old elf thinks 2000 is old.

After all, we were children once and children makes life worthwhile and adventures come to life.--J.

*Canonical.

#welcome back to middle earth #the kingdom of the woodland realm trilogy #tkwr trilogy #tkwr history #in honor of jrr tolkien #children of middle earth #dwarf children #elven children #human children #amwriting #writing fan fiction #writing high fantasy #tolkien fan fiction #tolkien fandoms

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tkwrtrilogyhistory · 9 years ago

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In the beginning....

Thranduil, made famous in 2012 with his first “humanoid” appearance in Peter Jackson’s second epic Tolkien Trilogy “The Hobbit” portrayed by actor Lee Pace. This is the Thranduil the world fell in love with in the first ten seconds of the prologue of the first of three films. For me, it was great--he replaced Gollum’s cousin in my childhood memories:

Yeah, way better look because in 2001, we saw this:

Legolas, son of Thranduil.

And seeing 1977 Thranduil and 1978 Legolas:

You are left scratching your head if you read the book, “There was also a strange Elf clad in green and brown, Legolas, messenger from his father, Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood.”--Chapter 2: The Council of Elrond, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Someone in the seventies watch too much Scooby Doo? No. First of all, they were two different productions altogether. On the book side, Thranduil is not in the Hobbit--well, not as the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood. His introduction was left far less specific, “In a great cave some miles within the edge of Mirkwood on its eastern side there lived at this time their greatest king.”--Chapter VII: Flies and Spiders, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Throughout the hobbit, he is the Elvenking. Not Thranduil--not the father of Legolas (in fact, where’d Legolas come from by this logic?) By date, Thranduil first shows up as Legolas’ father in The Lord of the Rings by name. The Silmarillion (1977) was released after the first two books.

“Now of old the name of that forest was Greenwood the Great, and its wide halls and aisles were the haunt of many beasts and of birds of bright song; and there was the realm of King Thranduil under the oak and the beech. But after many years, when well nigh a third of that age of the world had past, a darkness crept slowly through the wood from the southward, and fear walks there in shadowy glades; fell beasts came hunting, and cruel and evil creatures laid there their snares. Then came the name of the forest was changed and Mirkwood it was called, for the nightshade lay deep there, and few dared to pass through, save only in the north where Thranduil’s people still held evil at bay.”--Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.

So, that is the history of Thranduil in a nutshell in all three of the most “important” novels about this adventure--but wait, there is more. A great deal more. Enter The Kingdom of the Woodland Realm Trilogy. The metamorphosis from nameless king, to father to toad to drop-dead gorgeous live action vision of perfection wouldn’t be complete without a fictitious fiction written about a fictitious character in a fictitious world by a fan of fiction writer J.R.R. Tolkien with a realistic slant based on reading 21 volumes of the histories of Middle Earth, his letters, his inspirations, his essays and any other thing he wrote in order to find the real fictitious Thranduil inside of the greatest high fantasy tale ever written.

You will find it as complex a story ever written--because the original complexity of J.R.R. Tolkien had to be maintained at all cost. (Translation: I love to write and have no life--might as well do something before I die). Shall we begin?

Images: ©2001, 2002, 2003. Warner Brothers Pictures. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. All Rights Reserved.

*The Hobbit (book) original release: 21 September 1937; The Lord of the Rings (book) original release: 24 July 1954/11 November 1954/20 October 1955; The Silmarillion (book) original release: 15 September 1977.

**The Hobbit (animated): aired 27 November 1977. Its sequel was The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits (animated) that aired 11 May 1980.

***The Lord of the Rings (animated): Theatrical Release was 15 November 1978.

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tkwrtrilogyhistory · 9 years ago

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Just when you thought I had enough blogs about The Kingdom of the Woodland Realm Trilogy, I make another one. Reason 1: Thranduil and his story in Book II: The Saga of Thranduil (http://tkwrtrilogy.tumblr.com) has started getting a little more attention than expected. I was surprised myself, really because I spent four months saying I would never do such a thing (living in a state of denial) and every day of those four months, Thranduil went from the typical “Grand Master Sass” to a substantive character with a depth I never thought I would find. Reason 2: Thranduil. Reason 3: Reason 2.

I am now on Book III: To Eryn Lasgalen (http://tkwrtrilogy2.tumblr.com), the second book (but actually the final chapter) of three (four if you count the fact that it was recently decided to make “Trenarn o Legolas Lasgalen” into something resembling “The Children of Hurin” in relevance to the series (will post that on the newsfeed soon: http://tkwrtnewsfeed.tumblr.com)--in other words, it’s “book” IV, so to speak.

This blog would be more of interest to people who have yet to figure out The Kingdom of the Woodland Realm Legends (http://tkwrtlegends.tumblr.com) that will eventually try to explain the world I created out of the world J.R.R. Tolkien created (trust me, this thing went from a writing exercise to a career in under a year). It is not as easy as you think.

TRANSLATION: You could actually use this blog in class assignments if forced to read Tolkien and you wanted to know things well beyond normal expectations because this is like the “documentary” of the making of the Woodland Realm.

Most readers are reading or have read Book II and are starting Book III and are reading The Alternate End (http://alttkwrtrilogyend.tumblr.com) that brings Thranduil’s wife back to life to see what would have been had she lived to give birth to Legolas’ little sister or are hanging on for Book I: The History of Eryn Galen (http://tkwrtrilogy3.tumblr.com) that begins the story of his ancestors from Beleriand chilling out with Elu Thingol or are eagerly anticipating Legolas’ story through journal entries (http://trenarnolegolaslasgalen.tumblr.com).

[Whew...] That is a lot. But any “Tolkien” fan knows that it isn’t Middle Earth if there isn’t any complex backstories, unusual nuances or a genealogy that requires its own index and a series of graphs written in tengwar or broken Quenya or Sindarin with little or no translatable meaning for several years to make it authentic. (Sarcasm was forged in the fires of Mt. Doom).

Thing of this blog like Pre-Pottermore (because I’m not that famous yet to have a complex website to sort you into an elven kingdom or type of elf). It’s fun if you like to read indexes, footnotes or things you never wanted to know about Middle Earth but you found this blog, found it interesting and learned it anyway. It also might make for good gossip. I’m down for whatever. It’s more like “The Making of The Kingdom of the Woodland Realm”. No elves were harmed in the making of this blog. Thranduil will have none of it.

#the original tkwr trilogy #more tkwr trilogy #tkwr trilogy #the elven world of thranduil #just got bigger #sorry #not sorry #the real saga of thranduil #the kingdom of the woodland realm trilogy #thranduil #writing #writing fan fiction #tolkien fan fiction #in honor of jrr tolkien #tolkien fandoms #fandoms #welcome back to middle earth

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