The History Of Legolas – Thranduil and Almwen

Author’s Note: First off, The Lord of the Rings and all associated characters belong to Tolkien and his estate. I am not making any profit off of this story, save the enjoyment I had making it.
Also, thanks so much for the great reviews! I apologize for the constant revisions for little editing mistakes - it's finals week and my beta is really busy, so I'm working without her right now. I really appreciate all the encouragement I've been getting in my reviews. Thanks guys!
And a big thanks to SpaceWeavil for helping me out with the Elvish in this chapter!




It was the year 3430 of the Second Age and life in Greenwood had been peaceful, for the most part. The forest itself had experienced no difficulties that the civilian populous knew of, but there were whispers about evil stirring in the East that circulated through the fir trees of Emyn Duir, and the announcement that those of the Noldor race and those of the race of Men were coming to meet with King Oropher about something.

During the week leading up to the council, things in Greenwood were especially stressful. The inhabitants of Greenwood did not like the Noldor elves. They sailed West, joined with men in marriage, and took council with the Valar.

For Thranduil, the thought of even sharing the same air as the Noldor elves made him uncomfortable. As he walked the halls of his father’s palace during the council of the Noldor, Sindar, and Men, he appeared as if he had a small gray rain cloud following only him around as he stared at his feet.

He walked down a hall that had an ornately carved open wall that extended for the entire right wall and looked out over the trees of Greenwood. On the opposite side was the library. There were benches that faced out to the open wall, and on one of them, Almwen sat, looking out to the trees.

When Thranduil passed through her line of sight and did not see her, she rose from her seat and followed him. When he did not notice that he was being followed, Almwen reached out with her index finger and poked the prince in the middle of the back, making him jump in surprise and turn around suddenly.

“Almwen!” He cried.

“Why is it that when I catch you walking about the palace, you are always in such a foul mood?” She asked, giggling.

“What makes you think I am in a foul mood?”

“You have the most awful scowl on your face, my lord.”

Thranduil chuckled and sighed. Almwen was an incredibly perceptive elf. She could read emotions and faces perfectly. Her intuition never ceased to amaze the prince of Greenwood the Great.

“I am afraid you are right, my lady. I am greatly troubled with the coming of these Noldor elves and their mortal allies.” He admitted.

“I am troubled as well. I have never before dealt with those who have slain their own kin.” Almwen said, looking troubled.

“Aye.” Thranduil agreed, but he averted his eyes from her. He was not concerned about the kinslaying, or anything else, but with what tidings the Noldor and the men brought with them. His father had told him that Sauron, the fallen Maiar had come to power and forged many rings of power, with which he planned to enslave all of Middle Earth.

And as always, Almwen knew he was hiding something.

“What is that look on your face?” She asked, reaching up and pulling his face to meet her dark eyes. Thranduil looked at her for a long while, breathing in her scent and looking into her pale face. Almwen always smelled of fir trees, and he could never get enough of it. He had grown the love the trees here. He had grown to love Almwen.

As much as he had tried to deny it, the prince of Greenwood had come to love this elleth so much that it made his heart sigh every time she was near. And it was his love for her that made it impossible to lie to her.

Looking around, he saw that there were other elves about them, and not wishing to alarm the general public, he took Almwen by the arm and led her away to a staircase where they could exit the palace and enter the forest to be alone.

“My lord?” she questioned him.

“I will explain when we are in the trees.”

Almwen was suddenly frightened. Thranduil had always been a very serious elf, and often exaggerated the gravity of situations, but never had he seemed so tense. Thranduil was never tense when he was overreacting – he was usually fidgety, but not tense. She could feel the tightness of his muscles in his hand. His grip was more firm than usual. As Thranduil pulled her down the stairs, Almwen could feel the uneasiness of the air surrounding him.

Quietly, they exited the palace and walked a ways into the trees until Thranduil stopped and let Almwen’s hand go. He turned to face her with a very serious look on his visage.

“Sauron, the fallen Maiar, is waging a war against all of Middle Earth. King Elendil, the Noldor King Gil-Galad, and Lord Elrond have come to ask for our aid. My father is seriously considering it.” Thranduil said gravely.

Almwen felt as though a brick had dropped into her chest cavity.

“War?” She asked. “But what need do we have to go to war? Greenwood has been unaffected thus far!”

“Nay.” Thranduil shook his head guiltily. “We have been sending more and more elves to protect the eastern borders. Orcs have been trying to enter Greenwood for many months now. Father did not want to alarm anyone, he thought it would be best to keep the subject quiet.”

Almwen looked at Thranduil with a disappointed scowl on her face. “Months?!” She asked.

“Aye. Since the beginning of the New Year.” The prince admitted.

Almwen stared at him angrily, not saying anything. Thranduil could see the anger flaming in her eyes, and he knew that she hated being kept in the dark about anything.

In truth, Almwen was as scared as she was furious. Thoughts of what war would bring to Greenwood ran through her head. If they were to go to war, would Thranduil ever return, or would he perish? She deeply cared for Thranduil, and the thought of never seeing him again tore at her heart in ways she believed he would never know.

“Almwen, we did not want to make anyone worry unnecessarily,” he tried to explain.

“It doesn’t seem unnecessary now, does it?” she spat.

“No.” Thranduil sighed. Just as another uneasy silence was creeping into their conversation, a horn blew, signaling the end of the council. Thranduil and Almwen both looked in the direction that the noise came from, and then to each other. The Silvan maiden still had a contemptuous look on her face as she looked at Thranduil. Without a word, she suddenly ran off towards the balcony of the palace on which Oropher would most likely be making a speech in a matter of minutes.

“Almwen!” Thranduil called out as he took off running after her.

He did not catch up to her until he reached the clearing of trees in front of the palace where many elves had already gathered upon hearing the horn. Almwen stood in the back of the crowd, apparently waiting for Thranduil to catch up. He approached her and tried to take her hand.

“Almwen,” he said, touching the top of her palm. She pulled away hastily and did not make eye contact with him, but did run away. Giving up, Thranduil sighed and looked towards the balcony where he could see his father, and the lords Gil-Galad, Elrond, and Elendil.

Oropher stepped to the railing of the balcony and raised his arms, silencing the murmuring crowd.

“Elves of Greenwood the Great!” He began, “Long have we kept to our forest, not troubling about the worries of the world around us, but no longer. A shadow has fallen on these lands.
The fallen Maiar, Sauron, has risen to power and threatens the lives of every creature on this Earth. If we are to protect all that we hold dear, we must join in the cause to rid the world of this evil and fight with Noldor and Men alike.
As king of the realm of Greenwood the Great, I hereby declare war on the Dark Lord, Sauron, and all in alliance with him.”

A certain feeling of doom settled over the elves gathered there, and they stirred restlessly.

Oropher turned to Elendil, Gil-Galad, and Elrond and said; “We will join with this Last Alliance of all free folk of Middle Earth!” he declared.

Thranduil, stunned, turned to Almwen, who was still staring up at King Oropher with a shocked look on her face and her hand covering her open mouth.

“Almwen?” Thranduil asked. Never before had he seen such a look of sheer horror on his friend’s face, and never before had he known her to be one to be frightened. Almwen turned and looked at him, her eyes glistening with tears. Thranduil, though taken aback by her tears, reached out to touch her shoulder.

Suddenly, Almwen let out the cry she had been holding back and darted off into the forest again. Though, this time, Thranduil was expecting her to run and she did not get far into the trees before he caught her hand and stopped her.

“Almwen, why do you despair?” He asked sympathetically as he pulled her closer to him.

Almwen did not speak; she only looked up into his eyes full of worry and began to weep. To comfort her, Thranduil pulled her close to his body and embraced her, letting her cry into his shoulder until she could cry no more.

“I do not wish to see the horrors of war, Thranduil.” She said finally. “I dread to see the day when only a fraction of our soldiers return and the forest will be filled with the cries of the elleth and elflings, for their husbands and lovers and fathers are dead!”

Knowing that there were no words to soothe her fears, Thranduil hugged her tightly and stroked her long, dark hair to comfort her. Almwen pulled away and looked up into his face.

“I dread to think that there may be time when I will never see you again.” She admitted.

Thranduil’s heart cried out in anguish and love at her words and he cupped her face in his hands and touched his forehead to hers.

“I would rather die a thousand deaths of mortal men than know that one day you would perish because I failed to protect you from this darkness.” He breathed. Almwen squeezed her eyes shut and let more tears pour over her cheeks. Thranduil kissed her forehead, daring to let her know that he truly loved her.

“Say not such things,” Almwen wept as she reached up and took his hands in her own, intertwining their fingers together.

“Melan le, Ui beriathan le.”* Thranduil whispered.

Almwen looked into Thranduil’s brightly shining eyes and saw the affection he had for her pouring out of them. She closed her eyes and gently touched her lips to his.

“Melin le,” Almwen breathed.

And all around them, the fir trees burst into song, for long had they seen the blossoming love of the two elves and were glad to see it finally come to pass.


~


* “I love you, and I will always protect you”, literally: “I love you, I will always protect you”.