featherloom:So much of Thranduil’s kingdom seems to be based on First Age elf-king Thingol’s wooded
featherloom:So much of Thranduil’s kingdom seems to be based on First Age elf-king Thingol’s wooded kingdom Doriath from The Silmarillion: underground palace, horde of treasure, reclusive and magically sealed-off territory - all check. Tolkien even says that Thranduil wants yet more treasure because he doesn’t have as much as the ancient elf kings did (Thranduil has an unfortunate streak of greed, much like Smaug.). It’s a bit sweet - because Thranduil so looks up to his ancestors - but a bit sad and desperate as well. Thranduil seems much like a child trying on an absent father’s shoes. They’re too big for him and maybe aren’t quite his style, but he likes to pretend anyway, if only because it keeps the memory of the previous Elvenking alive. Somewhere in all these posts there’s an essay on darkness, tunnels, and evil in The Hobbit. Maybe I’ll get to that eventually. Pictures are “Beleg Departs Menegroth” by Alan Lee and “The Elvenking’s Gate” by J.R.R. Tolkien. -- source link
#thranduil#menegroth#eryn lasgalen#mirkwood#doriah