Legolas: speak, traitor, and enter
So, over Passover break I attended Olamot, which is a local 2-day con in Tel Aviv. We will leave aside the fact that I keep meaning to Do More at Cons and failing (I'm singed up for all the mailing lists and somehow I still manage to miss everything, it's like a curse), I did manage to attend, purely thanks to toxic_hedgehog a lecture called "Legolas: speak, traitor, and enter" which, as I'm sure is obvious from the title is about an epic conspiracy theory that Legolas (of the books) was actually a plant of Sauron all along meant to bring down the Fellowship from within.
Apparently this is a classic lecture that's been given a few times over the last 15 years and is a major thing in the local Tolkien community. It was even filmed in 2009 and distributed on DVD. Suffice it to say, they put it in the largest hall the con had and the room was packed.
It was... an amazing event that I strongly rec for all local friends.
People on twitter encouraged me to take notes but the lecture was so packed full of quotes and info, the guy talked so fast and we still didn't cover everything, writing stuff down was impossible. So, have some of what I remember.
Disclaimers:
* I read the books in Russian, the lecture was in Hebrew, this post is in English. Please prepare yourself for me using the wrong English Tolkien terminology for everything.
* Every single thing the speaker brought up relied on quotes from the text. I am going to summarize and not actually reproduce any of those quotes. If that's a dealbreaker please use the back button. (Please don't try to argue with me about whether the quotes are accurate or whatever - I don't care. Again, the back button is right there.)
So, my favorite thing about the lecture was that it of course assumed that Tolkien's writing was the bible. Not in terms of its importance (the speaker was actually great at treating Tolkien as a random esoteric hobby) but in terms of treating the text as infallible. The answers to many of the contradictions that point to Legolas being a spy for the dark lord are probably just Tolkien fucking up - but where's the fun in that? It really reminded me of Orthodox Jews who know the text AND all the million interpretations trying to interpret the bible, basically.
The lecture was also structured amazingly, it was really interactive, almost like a bit of theater, so I'm really not surprised at how popular it is. The speaker's stance throughout was like "I am not trying to convince you of anything - I'll just present evidence and you'll make up your own mind."
Again please keep in mind he brought up dozens of quotes and examples, I'll just be recounting highlights.
The starting point is Legolas lying at the Council of Elrond about how Gollum escaped, and how Elrond and Gandalf, at least, have to be aware of that lie. Legolas recounts that Gollum liked climbing up on top of the highest trees and spending hours up there, but in the Hobbit (the speaker had a whole lengthy aside on why The Hobbit should definitely count for continuity purposes here) Bilbo does the same in the same area and is blinded by the sun. Gollum, who can barely tolerate moonlight, would surely never choose to expose himself to the sun intentionally, especially for hours, and so Legolas' story can't be true.
Additionally, why does Elrond choose Legolas as the elf representative in the Fellowship? He's surrounded by elves who are more accomplished than Legolas, who Elrond trusts more, who are of his own people. So why does he appoint Legolas? Perhaps because Legolas has now attended a secret meeting and it's better to put him under Gendalf and Aragorn's supervision than letting him go home.
There's also the part where the press of evil in the mountains is so difficult that Gimli has to crawl on all fours and says it feels like the Dark Lord's kiss, but Legolas doesn't exhibit any signs of distress. There's the fact that it took a ridiculously long time for Legolas to get from Mirkwood to Elrond's (the speaker not only did the math but also accounted for all possible delays such as weather and danger on the roads). The fact that the bulk of Legolas' heroics in battle are actually only confirmed by Legolas himself (it's him stating how many people he's killed), one particular incident where it says it was too dark to draw a bow and yet Legolas still somehow manages to FOR SURE KNOW he hit people with his arrows instead of rocks (the speaker points out that the only people Legolas could have been SURE of hitting were people on his own side.)
And of course, my favorite bit of trivia - that in one of his letters Tolkien says that Legolas is the "most useless member of the Fellowship".
"Is he less useful than Gendalf? Sure. Less useful than Aragorn, the true king of Gondor? Yes. Less useful than Sam who carries Frodo? OK. But less useful than Boromir? Less useful than MERRY?! Who literally does nothing but damage over and over again? Less useful than THAT?!"
Anyway, there were lots more things, and lots more details, but it was hilarious and amazing and I will probably choose to never unsee this interpenetration entirely.
comments on Dreamwidth
Apparently this is a classic lecture that's been given a few times over the last 15 years and is a major thing in the local Tolkien community. It was even filmed in 2009 and distributed on DVD. Suffice it to say, they put it in the largest hall the con had and the room was packed.
It was... an amazing event that I strongly rec for all local friends.
People on twitter encouraged me to take notes but the lecture was so packed full of quotes and info, the guy talked so fast and we still didn't cover everything, writing stuff down was impossible. So, have some of what I remember.
Disclaimers:
* I read the books in Russian, the lecture was in Hebrew, this post is in English. Please prepare yourself for me using the wrong English Tolkien terminology for everything.
* Every single thing the speaker brought up relied on quotes from the text. I am going to summarize and not actually reproduce any of those quotes. If that's a dealbreaker please use the back button. (Please don't try to argue with me about whether the quotes are accurate or whatever - I don't care. Again, the back button is right there.)
So, my favorite thing about the lecture was that it of course assumed that Tolkien's writing was the bible. Not in terms of its importance (the speaker was actually great at treating Tolkien as a random esoteric hobby) but in terms of treating the text as infallible. The answers to many of the contradictions that point to Legolas being a spy for the dark lord are probably just Tolkien fucking up - but where's the fun in that? It really reminded me of Orthodox Jews who know the text AND all the million interpretations trying to interpret the bible, basically.
The lecture was also structured amazingly, it was really interactive, almost like a bit of theater, so I'm really not surprised at how popular it is. The speaker's stance throughout was like "I am not trying to convince you of anything - I'll just present evidence and you'll make up your own mind."
Again please keep in mind he brought up dozens of quotes and examples, I'll just be recounting highlights.
The starting point is Legolas lying at the Council of Elrond about how Gollum escaped, and how Elrond and Gandalf, at least, have to be aware of that lie. Legolas recounts that Gollum liked climbing up on top of the highest trees and spending hours up there, but in the Hobbit (the speaker had a whole lengthy aside on why The Hobbit should definitely count for continuity purposes here) Bilbo does the same in the same area and is blinded by the sun. Gollum, who can barely tolerate moonlight, would surely never choose to expose himself to the sun intentionally, especially for hours, and so Legolas' story can't be true.
Additionally, why does Elrond choose Legolas as the elf representative in the Fellowship? He's surrounded by elves who are more accomplished than Legolas, who Elrond trusts more, who are of his own people. So why does he appoint Legolas? Perhaps because Legolas has now attended a secret meeting and it's better to put him under Gendalf and Aragorn's supervision than letting him go home.
There's also the part where the press of evil in the mountains is so difficult that Gimli has to crawl on all fours and says it feels like the Dark Lord's kiss, but Legolas doesn't exhibit any signs of distress. There's the fact that it took a ridiculously long time for Legolas to get from Mirkwood to Elrond's (the speaker not only did the math but also accounted for all possible delays such as weather and danger on the roads). The fact that the bulk of Legolas' heroics in battle are actually only confirmed by Legolas himself (it's him stating how many people he's killed), one particular incident where it says it was too dark to draw a bow and yet Legolas still somehow manages to FOR SURE KNOW he hit people with his arrows instead of rocks (the speaker points out that the only people Legolas could have been SURE of hitting were people on his own side.)
And of course, my favorite bit of trivia - that in one of his letters Tolkien says that Legolas is the "most useless member of the Fellowship".
"Is he less useful than Gendalf? Sure. Less useful than Aragorn, the true king of Gondor? Yes. Less useful than Sam who carries Frodo? OK. But less useful than Boromir? Less useful than MERRY?! Who literally does nothing but damage over and over again? Less useful than THAT?!"
Anyway, there were lots more things, and lots more details, but it was hilarious and amazing and I will probably choose to never unsee this interpenetration entirely.
comments on Dreamwidth