Editing Thranduil (section)

==Development==

[[File:Elvenking, Erebor, Esgaroth.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Sketch map of Northeast [[Mirkwood]] in the Third Age, showing the Elvenking's Halls, the [[Lonely Mountain]] of Erebor, and [[Esgaroth]] upon the Long Lake]]

Thranduil is one of the [[Sindar]] or Grey Elves who speak [[Sindarin]] as opposed to [[Quenya]], the language spoken by [[Noldor]]in Elves like [[Galadriel]].<ref name="AV">{{cite web |last=Perkins |first=Dennis |title=Even elf king Lee Pace can't stump Tolkien expert Stephen Colbert |url=https://www.avclub.com/even-elf-king-lee-pace-cant-stump-tolkien-expert-stephe-1837297150 |website=AV Club |date=16 August 2019 |access-date=19 January 2021 |archive-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129120842/https://news.avclub.com/even-elf-king-lee-pace-cant-stump-tolkien-expert-stephe-1837297150 |url-status=live }}</ref> The name "Thranduil" means "vigorous spring" in [[Sindarin]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1996}}, II": "The Appendix on Languages", Languages at the end of the Third Age</ref> Following the end of the First Age and the destruction of much of Beleriand during the [[War of Wrath]], many Sindar migrate into the east of Middle-earth. Crossing the [[Misty Mountains]], they found populations of [[Silvan Elves]] living in the woodlands that bordered the River [[Anduin]]. The Sindar were welcomed by these people, and some were made leaders and rulers over them. In Appendix B of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' Tolkien states that Thranduil was one of the Sindar who migrated eastward early in the Second Age and established kingdoms among the Silvan Elves.<ref group=T name="ROTK App B">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Appendix B</ref> Later writings in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'' make Thranduil's father Oropher the founder of the realm, which originally included the southern portions of the forest of Greenwood the Great, later known as [[Mirkwood]].<ref group=T name="UT App B Sindarin Princes"/>

Tolkien described Thranduil in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' as having "golden hair" with a crown made of red leaves and berries in the autumn, and wearing a similar crown of flowers in the spring.<ref group=T name="Flies and Spiders"/>