Thranduil – Elven King

Thranduil, also known as the Elvenking, was a Sindarin elf, King of the Woodland Realm, and father of Legolas. Because of Bilbo’s exploits and tales, Thranduil is perhaps the most well-known of the Elvenkings among non-elves. He was the leader of the wood-elves ofNorthern Mirkwood for more than three thousand years in Middle-earth, seeing his realm through attacks by the great spiders and the orcs. Thranduil was known for disliking the dwarves, a trait common among many of his kind.

First and Second Ages

Thranduil was the only son of Oropher. He was born sometime during the end of the First Age and lived in Doriath with Thingol and Melian. At the beginning of the Second Age, Thranduil lived in Lindon with Gil-galad while his father lived in Greenwood. After Oropher died in the war of Last Alliance, Thranduil went east to claim his inheritance and sometime before TA 1000 he established a kingdom in Greenwood the Great.

Third Age

 When Thorin Oakenshield and his party of Dwarvesentered northernMirkwood, they were captured by Thranduil’s guards and locked up when they refused to divulge their intentions. It was revealed that Thranduil had a quarrel with Dwarves over some jewels, possibly referring to the First Age murder in Doriath of the Elf kingThingol and the theft of his Silmaril.

After the death of the dragon Smaug, Thranduil supported Bard the Bowman’s claim of a share of the treasure the Dwarves recovered from the Lonely Mountain (Erebor), since Bard was a descendent of LordGirion of Dale, and the treasure of that town had been taken by Smaug to Erebor.

Thranduil led the elven forces in the Battle of the Five Armies, and during the War of the Ring he repulsed an attack from Dol Guldur. His actions were in concert with the Dwarves and the Men of Dale against the Easterlingswho attacked from the East.

Thranduil sent his son Legolas in Rivendell, along with other Elves to report Gollum’s escape in Mirkwood. The gradually-established friendship between the Dwarf Gimli and Legolas later helped to reconcile Thranduil’s people with the Dwarves.

Fourth Age

After the fall of Sauron, Thranduil fixed the southern boundary of his realm as theMountains of Mirkwood, and the Woodland Realm flourished well into the Fourth Age. He may have stayed on as the king of the Great Forest or left Middle-earth.

Who is Necromancer featured in “The Hobbit” movie??

In the Third Age, Sauron arose again in TA 1000, at first in a stronghold called Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery, in southern Mirkwood TA 1050. There, he was disguised as a dark sorcerer known as the Necromancer, and the Elves did not realize at first that he was actually Sauron returned. The wizard Gandalf went to Dol Guldur in TA 2063in secret to see who it was that ran Dol Guldur but Sauron, sensing that his secret identity was about to be unveiled, had fled before him and gone into the East to hide; thus began the Watchful Peace. Sauron returned in TA 2460. Gandalf the Grey stole into Dol Guldur in TA 2850 and discovered the truth. Eventually, the White Council put forth their might and drove Sauron out in TA 2941. Without the Ring in his possession, Sauron could draw on only the smallest fraction of its strength, so that his enemies were able to drive him from Dol Guldur with relative ease. The Dark Lord, having had ample time to prepare, simply returned to Mordor and rebuilt Barad-dûr. Here, Sauron prepared for the final war against the free people of Middle-earth.

Sauron bred immense armies of Orcs and allied with and enslaved Men from the east and south. He gathered his most terrifying servants, the Nazgûl (airi in Quenyan), or Ringwraiths, each wearing one of the nine rings designed for mortal men. He adopted the symbol of a lidless eye, and was able to exert his will over Middle-earth, so that the Eye of Sauron became a symbol of power and fear. While Sauron did have a physical form, he remained much weakened without the One Ring and remained hidden in the shadows, directing his armies from afar.

Over The Misty Mountains Cold by J.R.R. Tolkien

That is full version of Thorin Oakenshield’s Song.

Far over the Misty Mountains cold,
To dungeons deep and caverns old,
We must away, ere break of day,
To seek our pale enchanted gold.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells,
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught,
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.

On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, on twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.

Far over the Misty Mountains cold,
To dungeons deep and caverns old,
We must away, ere break of day,
To claim our long-forgotten gold.

Goblets they carved there for themselves,
And harps of gold, where no man delves
There lay they long, and many a song
Was sung unheard by men or elves.

The pines were roaring on the heights,
The wind was moaning in the night,
The fire was red, it flaming spread,
The trees like torches blazed with light.

The bells were ringing in the dale,
And men looked up with faces pale.
The dragon’s ire, more fierce than fire,
Laid low their towers and houses frail.

The mountain smoked beneath the moon.
The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled the hall to dying fall
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.

Far over the Misty Mountains grim,
To dungeons deep and caverns dim,
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!

The wind was on the withered heath,
But in the forest stirred no leaf:
There shadows lay be night or day,
And dark things silent crept beneath.

The wind came down from mountains cold,
And like a tide it roared and rolled.
The branches groaned, the forest moaned,
And leaves were laid upon the mould.

The wind went on from West to East;
All movement in the forest ceased.
But shrill and harsh across the marsh,
Its whistling voices were released.

The grasses hissed, their tassels bent,
The reeds were rattling—on it went.
O’er shaken pool under heavens cool,
Where racing clouds were torn and rent.

It passed the Lonely Mountain bare,
And swept above the dragon’s lair:
There black and dark lay boulders stark,
And flying smoke was in the air.

It left the world and took its flight
Over the wide seas of the night.
The moon set sale upon the gale,
And stars were fanned to leaping light.

Under the Mountain dark and tall,
The King has come unto his hall!
His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread,
And ever so his foes shall fall!

The sword is sharp, the spear is long,
The arrow swift, the Gate is strong.
The heart is bold that looks on gold;
The dwarves no more shall suffer wrong.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

On silver necklaces they strung
The light of stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, from twisted wire
The melody of harps they wrung.

The mountain throne once more is freed!
O! Wandering folk, the summons heed!
Come haste! Come haste! Across the waste!
The king of friend and kin has need.

Now call we over the mountains cold,
‘Come back unto the caverns old!’
Here at the gates the king awaits,
His hands are rich with gems and gold.

The king has come unto his hall
Under the Mountain dark and tall.
The Worm of Dread is slain and dead,
And ever so our foes shall fall!

Farewell we call to hearth and hall!
Though wind may blow and rain may fall,
We must away, ere break of day
Far over the wood and mountain tall.

To Rivendell, where Elves yet dwell
In glades beneath the misty fell.
Through moor and waste we ride in haste,
And whither then we cannot tell.

With foes ahead, behind us dread,
Beneath the sky shall be our bed,
Until at last our toil be passed,
Our journey done, our errand sped.

We must away! We must away!
We ride before the break of day!