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Aiffe — What do your elf eyes see?
Published: 2013-12-17 16:06:09 +0000 UTC; Views: 4651; Favourites: 80; Downloads: 10
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So I wrote up a post on my theory that Thranduil may actually have been blind. There's quite a bit of things in canon that can be read that way. Check it out in the tumblr link![link ]
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Comments: 33
Dang. That theory just blow my mind. And now that I think about it... You're right!
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Ok, that is an amazing theory, and regardless of what happened in the book(s), that just became my movie-verse headcanon -- mostly because it *does* rather make sense of his incredible Other-ness (even for being an Elf, Thranduil is very Other and distanced from reality) and of the admittedly odd way he moves. And just because it's amazing to think of the story possibilities.
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I... I didn't want to believe it, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. After all Celeborn doesn't behave that way, through is is himself both Sindarine and of royalty so I can't find any other reason for his strange behavior movie-verse...
Not only am I a bit tired of how every characters viewed as jerks end up hiding huge secrets making them secret victims in fan-works, but also, as a Moriquendi fan, I don't think that the Elvenking Thranduil will ever need that kind of background cheat to explain his actions, since thoses already made sense as far as I was concerned.
...Book-verse at least.
Darn. Now the weight of this Blind King theory is getting obvious and obviouser by the minute. X/
PS (to Aiffe ) : You're a somewhat-annoying-definetly-amazing-clever-headcanon-breaker of a fan, you!
... Ah, lemme give you a hug~
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oh my gosh, this is super interesting and I'm glad you thought all this out.
Can't wait to see how close to home this theory is.
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My absolute favourite theory. Can I adopt it as a head canon?
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You can and I'd be delighted if you did!
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Holy crap. The next based on that pic is just.. wow. I never thought it that way, but I noticed that Thranduil acts wery strange. If he is really blind, a lot of things would make sense. But what would happen with him in the last movie when he is supposed to go into battle? I can't wait to know!
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He is supposed to see the Arkenstone, however. And in the extended edition of AUJ he also sees the treasures ahead him, reaching for them for a moment.
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Maybe he can will his eyes into healing just enough for a limited span of time when he has enough energy...and just use his hearing or something a form of elvish thelepathy (osanwë-quenta?) to fight during battles.
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I have seen the movies but that doesn't mean that I fully agree with them, since I consider the book lore as the true and only one. In the books he never had the injury, it's Jackson's add. His movies were more loyal to Lotr than the Hobbit.
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Yes, but it's still a nice thought. Maybe he just needs some glasses
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*nod* He does act strangely, and when I realized it could be this I also had that moment of suddenly it making sense.
I added some edits to the post regarding the next movie, but I'm excited for it too! I certainly think he can fight while blind, if his bit with the orc is anything to go by.
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I'm not on tumblr, so I can't answer you there. Your theory is very interesting, but you have me wondering: where do you get from Thranduil and Thror being friends? And what do you mean about a glamour? I never read or heard anything in the Tolkienverse that might make that possible.
Still, I agree, Lee Pace's Thranduil can be interpreted very well in that way. Perhaps some fanfic author will take this under her or his wing, that would be awesome.
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Well basically this is a movieverse theory. I love the books, but they're clearly different canons, so I don't worry about trying to reconcile it with the books. Though sometimes I cherry-pick the parts I like from both. Prerogative of being a fan.
The movie established that he'd been at least on peaceful terms with Thror and visited Erebor, and there's a lot of stuff in the 'verse in general about how elves and dwarves used to be closer, like the password to get into Moria being the Elvish word for "friend." It would also add a certain symmetry to Legolas and Gimli eventually becoming close friends. But I'm not claiming it was canon they were bros or anything. I just like the idea of Thranduil having had some affection towards him, it makes the whole thing more tragic.
The glamor bit is just a word used for illusions of the fae in folklore and a lot of fantasy canons. I can't recall it being explicitly used in the Tolkienverse, but we do see him either creating or dispelling an illusion in the movie--that's canon, no matter what word you use for it--and even in the books, there seemed to be a lot of magic involving illusion or concealment: runes that could only be read by moonlight, or doors only visible when you said the password or at a certain time of year, that kind of thing. I know some book fans are mad, but I don't think the idea of Thranduil concealing a scar deviates all that much from the worldbuilding set forth in Tolkien's canon, where magic concealed all sorts of things all the time.
And yes, there's already two lovely fics! One's added to the post, one I'm about to add and it may be there by the time you read this. Plus I'm working on one myself, though I've been struggling with writer's block.
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I've not seen the movie yet, but as a bit of a die-hard Tolkienite, I'd like to weigh in on the glamors discussion. Yes, in all three ages of Middle-Earth, there were numerous concealed and hidden things, such as the ithildin on the Doors of Moria, the Three Elven Rings on the hands of their Bearers, and probably most staggering, a sequence in the Silmarillion where about ten elves and a man sneak into the lair of Sauron -- a glorified Evil Minion, at this point, of Morgoth the First Enemy -- flawlessly disguised as orcs. Although Sauron eventually finds them out, an elf named Finrod manages to fool a ton of orcs, wargs, balrogs, etc. So what's the problem with Thrandy hiding some facial scarring? Well, pretty much consistently in the whole history of Middle-Earth, magic like this (although Tolkien never calls it 'magic') is exclusively done by the High Elves, who came over the Sea from the Undying Lands and the Valar. Thranduil is Sindarin, not Noldorin (High-Elven.) So it's pretty much blatantly impossible for him to have this kind of ability, the like of which is only ever demonstrated once, by Finrod Felagund, one of the greatest Elves ever to live. I'm not trying to start an argument here, but I thought you'd like to know.
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aha
ahahahaha
ok.
(You realize him having the ability to hide it WAS movie canon, though? As in, in the movies, it happened. This is not something you want to argue with me about. You're looking for Peter Jackson. I'm not him. I'm "a bit of a die-hard Tolkienite" myself, or at least I was about 15 years ago. But I take the movies at face value. They're their own canon. They don't diminish the books, the books are still there. Fans can cherry-pick things between the two if they like, but ultimately, book canon is not set in stone when dealing with the movieverse. And you know what? Book canon shouldn't be set in stone when dealing with the books, either. That just leads to a lot of elitism and inter-fan bullying and absolutely no fun, because no one can come up with anything, only slavishly worship what Tolkien himself put down. So. The glamoring happened. Elves--some elves, never mind which elves, since it's not like Tolkien rose from the grave and said Sindarin elves can't glamor shit--can make illusions. And. It happened. I don't think it's productive that no one can even play in the movieverse without getting dogpiled by hardcore book fans, simply for using a different official canon. It's making me resent book fans, and I AM a book fan, first and foremost. I can take it, but it's seriously making me wince for new fans.)
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*blinks* So basically, I can't explain why PJ was all wet because I'm a book nerd? I was trying to say that Thrandi being able to to lots of magic doesn't really fit with the wider cannon surrounding him. I wasn't trying to say that there being a difference between the Thrandies was somehow your fault. I don't really get your answer. I think you're responding to things I didn't say.
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Brilliant theory! My favourite thing about it is that it explains why movie-Legolas keeps stating the obvious all the time hahaha 
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Oh, I see... Jesus Man, what the heck PJ?!!!!
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So creepy yet beautiful. I have to check out that post.
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Very nice theory. I also got the impression that Thranduil only gave us a glimpse of what was under his glamor, and you did an excellent job of making it plausible. I also loved your explanation for Legolas' mannerisms. Somebody should definitely write a fanfic for this.
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I thing I will use it once or twice. (but you'll need translator to read it...)
Seriously I'm not sure that he is completly blind. remember the extended scene from Erebor? doesn't seem blind at all.
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I added a bunch of edits to the post possibly clarifying questions people had about the theory. I don't think it's canon, but I think it's plausible in canon!
And that's wonderful, I hope you have a lot of fun with it. I'd still be curious to see it, maybe I can find someone to translate it for me if that's all right.
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I tried it in english for once, I hope it isn't so dump...
morellagrysis.deviantart.com/a…
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Oooh that is fantastic of you to write it in English! It's such a sweet scene. If you like I could give it a beta for you?
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Cool! Do you have an email I should send it to when it's done?
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yure, I'l send you a note. I don't want it to be known in public.
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Some people who are legally blind still have light perception, so he could have seen the shine of the jewels. Just saying.
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Maybe, but as I thought of it (all day to be honest), i'm not sure anymore, he could be blind after all completly. Blind ones has geat hearing. I know one blinded and you hear nothing of yourself, but they still hear you clearly, felels your smell... they have very strong sences.
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