Suite101 article for January 25

[Michael Martinez]

This article turned out to be the all-time most popular article for my Suite101 topic. It has been closely followed, and perhaps recently overtaken, by an article I wrote a couple of years ago called "Speaking of Legolas..." (see the excerpt below for a link to THAT article). "Legolas, you're just so darn...CUTE!" also has the distinction of being the most frequently copied (without my permission) of my Suite101 essays. I have no idea of how many people have read it. The Suite101 numbers are in the tens of thousands, and that increases every month. I suppose that 100,000 people could have read it by now.

Some of the Web sites which picked up the essay have been exceeding their monthly bandwidth quotas. Thankfully, every site I have found which did copy the essay has given me full credit, and usually a link back to Suite101. I have not, to date, asked anyone to remove the article from their site, nor threatened to have any sites shut down for copyright infringement. This article was, in fact, what I call a "fluff" piece -- because I wrote it after Suite101 cancelled the contract for all its contributing editors, and before we signed a new contract. I had no idea of just how popular "fluff" could be.

Legolas, you're just so darn...CUTE!

Last month I wrote about the movie starring Orlando Bloom. I forget who else appeared in that flick, but in case you missed it, he played an elf named Legolas. Okay, I know who else appeared in the movie. Orlando had a supporting cast and all, but it was his movie. I know this because starting somewhere around December 20, 2001, my email began to explode with anxious queries from young ladies about that gorgeous elf in the movie.

One of the oldest articles for the Suite101 Tolkien and Middle-earth topic is Speaking of Legolas.... I wrote that essay in March 2000. Almost 2 years ago. Since December 19, the most favorable reaction to that essay has been something along the lines of a lot of email saying, "Can you write anything else about Legolas?" The least favorable reaction to that essay has been something along the lines of a lot of email saying, "I LOVE LEGOLAS!"

When I first saw Orlando Bloom dressed as Legolas, I said to myself right then and there, "That is the DEFINITIVE Legolas." A lot of people complained about the blond hair. Why is he blond? Almost overnight, the Great Hair Color Debate raged across the Internet. What color should Legolas' hair be?

The book doesn't say and, quite frankly, I never really cared that much, although I always pictured him as being dark-haired myself. Why? No idea. That's just the way I saw him...until Orlando Bloom (who is himself dark-haired) stepped into the pointy shoes of nearly every Tolkien fan's favorite Elf (in the movies).

Luthien has always been my favorite Elf, but I liked Beleg, too. Of course, my favorite Tolkien story is the tale of Luthien and Beren. But Legolas is an enigma. A lot of people have devoted a great deal of time to trying to figure him out. The color of his hair isn't the only question people have asked about him. How old is he? Is he married? Does he have any brothers or sisters? Was he at the Battle of Five Armies?

The answers to all these questions are: Don't know. What do you think? and Whatever you want the answer to be.

Read the full article here