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#ELTHRUIL.   a private and selective writing blog for king thranduil of the lord of the rings franchise. this blog will focus mainly on book canon, but will feature elements of both the lord of the rings & hobbit movies, as well as personal headcanon. written by eden, they/them, 22.  INDEFINITE HIATUS,    FOUND AT @SAINTIFER.     mwah kiss kiss 

just thinking about the legend of the erlking/alderking (king of the fairies), a sinister being/elf that inhabits solely the woods, and supposedly lures children and kills them if they enter the forest, and how something like that myth would translate to middle earth.

the humans of middle earth already fear the forest before sauron infiltrates dol guldur because it’s a labryinth of trees, and they’re seemingly alive- the paths carved by elves who know the way by heart are faint with little sunlight going through the leaves. even before sauron, humans caution their children not to stray into the forest (and when the children continue to do so & get lost, they make up a monster: don’t go into the forest or he will find you. you will never come back.) even before sauron, the elves are feared, and they seem cold and distant, and untouchable in the heart of the woods, which no human can find on their own (nevermind that often, woodelves are the ones who guide the lost humans home, feed them, ensure their safety). there is a rumor of a king who resides in the forest who has endured every war the land has seen and somehow lived when his peers had not. the rumors say he is cold and cruel and if you threaten his people, he will not show mercy.

years pass and the legend is passed down- of a cruel race of elves and of being lost in the woods. a darkness settles over the trees and there are rumors of a dark being stirring up magic in the forest. lost humans find themselves wandering for days in growing darkness, and the wood elves are scarce to help. creatures begin to prowl the paths and at night (it seems to be always night there) there are noises of screams, of growling. do not go into the forest, childern are warned. there is a dark being there, a necromancer who raises the dead and protects the forest from intruders, there are elves who hide in the trees and watch as you wander, dazed, for days. you will be lost in the forest.

years pass and the darkness only grows. any who enter the woods are lost to the shadows forever. those who remember a time before darkness remember the image of a king, like starlight, cold and untouchable, and miraculously alive. perhaps he had been raised from the dead himself. perhaps it was he who spoke to those who no longer lived. perhaps the elf king had grown sick of humans, dwarves, other creatures swarming his lands. perhaps this was the final barrier, a never ending twilight as a final warning to stay out of the woods.