#legolas sea longing

[rosie-love98]

Legolas's Sea-Longing Probably Got Him Like-

Think of when Legolas and Gimli went to Mirkwood aftr Aragorn's death. With not much to make him stay in Middle Earth. He loved his father and his two friends, Gimli and Tauriel. But, Legolas's Sea-Longing must've worsened. So much so that, when he'd be resting, the prince would be entranced in his dreams of the Undying Lands. Yet, his body would sleep-walk out of the chambers, out of the village and into the Mirkwood forest. Legolas, in his trance, would've fallen into the Enchanted River for he thought it was the Bay Of Belfalas. However, fall he did not for Thranduil, Gimli and Tauriel had caught the dreaming, almost hysterical, prince in a nick of time.

Bonus Song:

#tauriel #thranduil #gimli #gimli son of gloin #legolas #legolas greenleaf #mirkwood #mirkwood enchanted river #lotr #sea longing #legolas sea longing #wayfarers on #wind in the willows #Youtube

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

*In valinor, post Legolas and Gimli having sailed to valinor*

Legolas, surrounded by valar worshiping fanatics: i have made a mistake.

Gandalf: What are you talking about Legolas? You love it here!

Legolas: I'm not sure I do, I think I've just developed Stockholm syndrome.

#legolas x gandalf #gandalf x legolas #legolas is having regret now that his sea longing is no longer clouding his judgement #lord of the rings #lotr #lotr elves #the hobbit #legolas #gandalf #incorrect tolkien quotes #incorrect lotr quotes #incorrect hobbit quotes

[tathrin]

Oh my gods, suddenly going feral over—

Legolas Greenleaf long under tree In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.

Which, yes, obviously refers to the Sea-longing that came upon him at Pelargir, and of which he later said:

To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying, The wind is blowing and the white foam is flying. West, west away, the round sun is falling. Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling, The voice of my people that have gone before me? I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me; For our days are ending and our years are failing. I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing. Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling, Sweet are the voices of the Lost Isle calling, In Eressea, in Elvenhome that no man can discover, Where the leaves fall not: land of my people forever!

But of course, we know that he did not pass the wide waters "lonely sailing," for he brought Gimli with him...

Because his heart was in Gimli's keeping by then. After the War of the Ring his heart dwelt in glittering caves under the stones of Rohan; his heart rested in the strong and gentle hands of a dwarf. The very same dwarf who then sailed that Sea with him, and after dwelt beside him in Elvenhome ever-more. It was no longer the forest that held his heart: it was the solid dwarven stone of Gimli's soul.

Fuck.

#legolas never did demonstrate foresight after all; of course he couldn't predict his future...while galadriel could #she doesn't even outright say you'll be unhappy; she just says ''no longer the forest for you boyo'' #pairs it right up with ''hands shall flow with gold'' doesn't it #and yes for the record i DID in fact tear-up when I was copying-over legolas's lament because i always do when i read that THANK YOU #i will NEVER be normal over that passage; never ever be normal over the sea-longing #gimleaf #gigolas #this ship sails itself all the way to valinior #legolas #gimli #galadriel #sea longing #lotr #lord of the rings #lotr meta

[anghraine]

I doubt I'll live to see it, but I was just thinking of how interesting it would be to have an adaptation of LOTR with largely diegetic music. Not ironically, either! There's so much music in LOTR, and Middle-earth's world-building is so deeply interwoven with literal music—and it's not that I don't really enjoy a lot of the non-diegetic Middle-earth music that exists, but a version in which you really feel how deeply musical the world is for the characters would be so cool.

#remember that bit in the silm about some people hearing the echoes of the ainulindalë in the water? #imagine if we can literally hear the sea-longing as music #/and so can legolas/ #and even in places/scenes where tolkien doesn't supply much musically #it'd be interesting to see what diegetic music people could come up with #like when the people of minas tirith burst into all the city's ways of singing (which we haven't really heard in the book) #but in adaptation we could hear the different genres and languages of song as pippin navigates the social hierarchies #and then hear them come together when victory is announced :') #obviously that kind of detail is better suited to a series than a film but lotr is better suited to something episodic anyway imo #but yes. i'd really like something that leaned into the in-story music without going full musical #don't think it'll ever happen but well. still fun to think about! #anghraine babbles #legendarium blogging #legendarium fanwank #my little piano: music is magic

[polutrope]

I sincerely love how sea-longing in Tolkien is presented as a legitimate and sufficient motive for sailing away and never coming back.

#sea longing #tuor #earendil #legolas #and others #not that I sail #but proximity to the sea is non-optional #to prevent spiritual withering #there's no arguing with Ulmo

[idiotsplayingvideogames]

“Alas! for the gulls. No peace shall I have again under beech or under elm.” - Legolas

I can’t decide if I like this, but I’m done with it for now

#sea longing #legolas #legolas greenleaf #lotr #lord of the rings #I just have a lot of feelings about this #fanart #my artcrap

[galadrielspeaks]

thinking about the circumstances that led to legolas bringing gimli with him to the undying lands… was the decision a result of wanting to have one last spectacular joyous trip with his best friend or was legolas so ill from sea-longing and mortal grief that he could not bear to stay but he could not bear to leave either or was it both of those things at the same time or was it a secret third thing? as they built their ship were they joyous and light-hearted or was there a tense air as they prepared for a hail-mary journey that would either end both of them or bring unparalleled joy? what made them decide to take the gamble that a dwarf would be let into the undying lands? was it a risk legolas was willing to take or one he had to take because while gimli still drew breath he couldn’t bear leave him? or was it both of those things at the same time or was it a secret third thing? the answer is all of this at the same time i think

#thinking about them… what do you guys think? #currently reading a fic about legolas’ sea longing that is absolutely emotionally brutal and now i’m truly wondering how his #longing affected him later in life when his mortal companions began to tether off around him #anyways galadriel’s an absolute G for talking up gimli so he could possibly to the undying lands w legolas she’s the number one gimleaf #shipper fr 🫶 #queen 😻 #gimleaf

[roselightfairy]

Oooh trick or treat!

Ooh! Okay, for you... I think it's gotta be a little snippet from a fic I SWEAR I haven't given up on, even thought it's dormant for now, in which Legolas and Gimli finally leave Middle-earth.

(There's some Mirkwood stuff that I think I might be ready to let go of for @goodintentionswipfest this year, so I won't use that here.)

Dol Amroth smells like the sea. Salt and sand, the tang of dried-up seaweed in its tangled drifts on the shore, left wrung out and abandoned like all things too long tossed by the waves. Many were the times Legolas has wondered if his soul is a similar husk, if his own body will one day be found in just such a limp heap on the shore, his soul fled westward with the punishing tide. And yet here he is. “You look as young as ever I remember you,” Gimli told him once, teasing, tracing the bones beside his eyes with a finger delicate despite the gnarl of age. But even then his eyes were soft with concern, worry hiding behind a reassuring laugh. For Legolas too is old beyond measure – old in soul even if his body remains as hale as ever. This last century of his life has worn at him as an age’s worth of years could not. He needs no cane to stand upright; he can see into the distance and hear sounds miles away – but still something in him has dulled. His wit is sluggish, his smile far away, a distant dream of memory – except when he looks down on Gimli’s sleeping face. His husband lies in the bed they have been given, curled around a pillow instead of around Legolas – for Legolas’s body itches with restlessness and he cannot make himself lie still. The night lies soft and gentle over Dol Amroth, moonbeams streaming in over the flat stones of their chambers – and yet the bones of this place throb still with the age-old loss of their namesake, and the smell of the sea that took his life swirls up from every pocket of air. The restless itch claws at Legolas’s gut, forcing him up from the chair in which he perches; he paces the room in tight, agitated circles. He is a gull with clipped wings, constrained to a cage; he is a wood-elf whose forest has been driven from his heart. He is a husband who has forgotten how to treasure each moment of gazing on his lover’s face, for the knowledge that they are running between his fingers like water. Gimli told him he looked young, but he knew he was lying. Why else would he have insisted that they come here?

#legolas x gimli #my fic #my wips #sea longing #i SWEAR i am going to finish this story someday i just have to do some other stuff first #thank you for asking and i hope this is a treat for you!

[drunkdumbfucker]

"These modern AU fics" where Legolas's elfish sleeping habit is translated by some deep-rooted insomnia and he's so obsessed with the stars and constellations and beautiful blankets that night puts over his head, he can't sleep he can't ever miss any dark-ink sky every purple waves as the sun goes to sleep and every peach dunes as the moon gives her farewells, disappearing for a nap with a last caress to her diligent guardian's cheek. Legolas will fight leagues of exhaustion, enamoured with his eery moon and beautiful sketches etched in bright and as they say about the night sky in True Detective "once there was only dark, if you ask me the light is winning." and the light will always win as long as Legolas is around to keep watch and it's truly terrible because somehow Legolas feels like if he sleeps stars will die alone and the single thought of it makes his heart burn oh! they have to be grieved! he wears the stars on his shoulders they are as light as his love for Gimli but as heavy as his eyelids when it gets too much, weighting tons of eons of empty graves his little stars have all died. And indeed finally, at one point, it's all too much for the Moon's lonely warrior, the shield has cracked, coffee can drip again and again it's not enough now, he has to sleep, because the moon and stars and Legolas have all encountered their deadliest and greatest ennemy.

One night, instead of hearing cicadas, dancing leaves, warm breezes, Legolas hears the sea. The One Sea. A sea that calls in his bones, waves that rattle in his chest, blood drenched in salt and instead of keeping watch, Legolas falls asleep. It is much worse than a siren song, not quite a lullaby, deadlier than a war horn, it holds him sharp in a warm embrace. Legolas falls asleep on his garden chair, drowned by a yawn, longing for a sea only the dead can see.

In the morning, Gimli finds him there, stumbles at the sight, his chest clenched by dread. His Legolas is asleep. It's the first time in the two decades they have known each other that Gimli falls witness to such palor on his partner's face, golden eyelashes casting unheard shadows. His Legolas's long thin stretched limbs who sleeps more and more unbeknownst to his worried moon and stars.

When he wakes, shaken by murmured sweet-nothings, it feels like he's in a glass cage, the dry sand and the seagulls and the taste of ozone is a quiet echo from his dreams but, worse than being prisoner, Legolas realizes, there's an opaque roof over his head blinding him from the milky way and planets and comets. From now on, he's stranded, will only witness moons and stars behind closed eyes!!!!!! BECAUSE HE'S GOT SEA-LONGING MOTHERFU-

Stopping right here caus-

Stopping here caus it hurts

"Gimli was still deep in slumber, but Legolas was standing, gazing northwards into the darkness, thoughtful and silent as a young tree in a windless night." (p.554)

#gimleaf #legolas greenleaf #gimli son of gloin #lotr #sea-longing #I HAVE NO explanation #except my 16hour shift which i spent reading the two towers and crying my ass off about boromir dont look at me #my shitset #you don't understand they live in the countryside gimli has a shed he does wood work he loves stones and jewelry #they have an enormous library #legolas cooks so well he spends his time outside they have a little lake beside the garden #they both spend their time in the garden #fucken hell #long post

[mischalives]

Chapter 12 of 13 is out!

The finale is right behind the corner now... 😢

Here come troubles in paradise for Gimli and Legolas! Life with Sea-longing is not easy for both of them, but Bilbo gives great advice, friends in Rohan remind both of them of what their relationship mean and Aglarond becomes a reality...

..........

"Song of Stone" is a post War of the Ring AU with Consort Bilbo, Bagginshield, Gigolas and all that's good in Middle Earth.

In the aftermath of the War of the Ring, Bilbo's kicking back in Erebor, thinking life is FINALLY gonna be all sunshine and daisies. But when Gimli comes waltzing back after a year of adventures and as love-sick as one can get, suddenly peace is just a distant memory.

Erebor gets thrown into a crazy mix of dwarf politics, love between an elf and a dwarf starts diplomatic chaos, internal fights erupt within the mountain, and, believe it or not, there are some marriage problems too for Bilbo and Thorin.

As the halls of Erebor become a hotbed of conflicts, Bilbo's stuck right in the middle of it. Leadership headaches, unconventional romance, and that pesky backache that never leaves him make for a wild ride. It's post-War mayhem, and Erebor and the whole world are rocking with the beats of change.

#gimleaf #gigolas #gimli #legolas #thorin oakenshield #bagginshield #thilbo #lord of the rings #lotr #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #ao3 writer #Sea-longing #tolkien elves #lotr elves #dwarves

[realtacuardach]

6 Sentence Sunday

Thanks for tagging me, @tathrin!

This is from a story I hope to write about Legolas' homecoming, inspired by this art by @fluentisonus.

Casting his gaze around the unfamiliar landscape of his home, the elf tightened the grip on his bow, although the enemy had long since gone, leaving destruction in their wake. A heavy weight lodged in the back of his throat, choking him as though all the ashes smothering the earth around him had in turn found their way there.

He sank or crumpled or fell to his knees in front of the broad tree trunk that had once borne the branches and leaves that had always welcomed him first whenever he'd returned to the only home he'd ever known. Trembling, he brushed his fingers across the blackened, charred stump, and closed his eyes, trying to recall the memory of the ancient murmur of the tree he'd known since he was an elfling.

Nothing.

A leaf-laden branch of another, mercifully minimally charred, Mirkwood tree brushed against his shoulder, and Legolas ached, he knew not whether the movement was that of condolence or a simple trick of the wind, as the call of his homeland's trees were as muted to him as any of the others in Arda now.

I hope to write more of it soon!

#lotr #legolas #my fic #I have written down Mirkwood angst with a nice healthy dash of sea-longing #because I will always work that sea-longing in when I can

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

In Valinor the last of the mortal fellowship has just been buried.

After the funeral:

Glorfindel: where’s legolas?

Elrond: let him be, he is grieving.

Meanwhile:

Legolas, already sailing away from valinor: My dad always told me to never walk into a cage without a way out.

#lord of the rings #silmarillion #lotr #thranduil #legolas #mirkwood #the hobbit #greenwood the great #lotr elves #silvans #shamelessly pushing my ‘miriel and thranduil are twins agenda’ #feral silvans au #what? did you think legolas would stay? #he staisfied the sea longing by sailing #now he’s going back home #hc that the silvans absolutely have a way back to middle earth from valinor bc they did not concent to being stuck there thank you

[tathrin]

Hey. Hey, do you ever think about the fact that if Legolas hadn't been stricken by the Sea-Longing, if he had still had "peace under beech [and] elm," he would almost surely not have gone to the Undying Lands until many, many years later, long after all his mortal friends were dead?

Do you ever think about the fact that if he hadn't heard those gulls, if he hadn't spent the whole length of Aragorn's reign plagued by the ache in his heart ever pulling him West, he wouldn't have gone until long after Gimli was dead, too? And Gimli would have surely never even thought about asking to go with him, if Legolas's heart wasn't being ever drawn away by that call; it simply wouldn't have been a thing that would have ever occurred to either of them, without the weight of the Sea-Longing hanging over them both for so many years.

Do you ever think about how the only reason they get to have their forever-ever-after happy ending on the other side of the Sundering Sea is because of the wound that the cry of those gulls lanced through his heart?

Because I do.

#yes yes i am aware that the canon on how long mortals live in the undying lands is not concrete #but in my heart it is and has always been very clear and i do think the text supports that reasoning at least as well as any other #so that's what i'm going with here when i say ''forever'' ever after #click the link up there for lengthier reasoning if you like #this is my gimleaf agenda thank you and i will push it forever #legolas #gimli #sea longing #lord of the rings #lotr #gimleaf #aman #undying lands #this ship sails itself all the way to valinor

[esculentevil]

Evil’s Greenwood Headcanons (#1): Strength of a Heartbeat

Upon their reunion—despite the late hour, the glowing moon above them and the way its rays actually pierce the forest stretched beneath it, enough to almost outshine the Elda under their boughs—the first thing Legolas does when he sees his father patiently awaiting him is hug him tightly, hold him against his person like he's afraid he'll leave or be taken from him entirely, and smile happily while sighing contentedly; and, when delicately destructive fingers caress his back in silent awe, Legolas finally explains: "I have heard the Song of the Sea, Ada, and I can now safely say: It has nothing on your heartbeat."

#thranduil #legolas #the hobbit #LOTR #fanfiction #fanfic #drabble #mywriting #spilled ink #headcanon #confession #fluff #family #heartbeat #hurt/comfort #comforting #love #sea longing #suicide #Idk if Tolkien intended it but sea longing sounds like suicide to me #And as someone who's faced that great darkness and came out of it only because of my mom (I realized she'd miss me): I need this to happen #I need Legolas to find strength in his father's love the way Thranduil's always done in him (and I in mom) and refind the JOY in being ALIVE

[xnowheregirlx]

Legolas didn’t know how long he had been in his room. He knew the sun had set and risen more than once since Gimli last visited him, but he hadn’t kept count. Someone from Aragon’s staff had knocked on the door at some point asking whether he would like to join his friends for supper. He had remained quiet until the hesitant knocks had died down. After Gimli had left him to his thoughts some few nights ago, he had moved onto the bed, preferring the way the soft material felt under him- almost like nothing at all. The stone floor was cold, especially at night, and had almost started to feel wet, as if someone had spilled water on the floor and it had started to seep through his clothes, merging with his body, making him fluid. Fluid enough to simply melt through the tiny cracks on the stone floor and disappear. Like the dirt that ran down the stony streets on Minas Tirith on rainy days, he would be washed away and eventually end up drowning in the s-

Legolas closed his eyes tightly and focused on directing his thoughts at something else. The material under him was soft yet tangible and most importantly, dry. He tried to think of the trees, brown and green, firmly planted on the ground. The harder he tried, the more the green seemed to turn into a pale blue, and the wind that gently shook the leaves carried a salty smell that was foreign to the woods of Eryn Galen. At last, the trees were starting to drown in the powerful waves invading his mind and he snapped his eyes open, rapidly blinking away the moisture that his treacherous eyes had produced in his distress.

Posted another chapter finally! Please have a look a let me know what you think, it would mean the world!(:

#legolas #gigolas #aralas #lotr #lotr fanfic #legolas angst #sea longing #lotr elves #mirkwood elves #aragorn #legolas x gimli #lord of the rings

[takemetothegreenwood]

Legolas was sprawled on his back in the low grass, slim hands crossed over his stomach. His blue eyes were open and turned towards the sky above, but they were vacant and far away. He was so still she could almost believe he was sleeping, if not for the quickness of his breath. It came in shallow pants as though his heart was racing inside the stillness of his chest.

*Don't mind me, just slowly dying thinking about Legolas catching the Sea Longing*

"Little one," she called, but he did not move. He did not react even as she came to sit beside him, sinking onto her hip at his side. An awful, dull ache had begun in her heart as she watched his unblinking gaze, still locked on the deep blue of the sky far above.

"Legolas," she tried again.

But he did not turn to look at her, did not even flinch at the sound of his name. He only moved when she laid her hand over his forehead, and it was only to blink, slow and languid, before he turned his head slowly to the side to meet her gaze.

"Ma-neth?"

"Hello, my darling," she murmured, running her fingers along the edge of his cheek. "How long?"

He blinked once more, some of the fog clearing with the movement. "What?"

She cupped his face, her thumb tracing a slow pattern over his smooth skin. "How long have you been hearing the call?"

He flinched, jerking up into a sitting position so quickly that he swayed, catching himself with one wide palm against the grass. "Ma-neth, no. No. I'm - I'm only tired. I'm not-,"

"Little one," she reached for his hand again, the one that clutched at his shins, and kneaded his fingers softly between her own. "You're cold."

He curled his hand tightly into a fist with a sharp intake of breath. "I cannot go."

"Legolas-,"

"I cannot go," he repeated, curling tighter into himself. He pulled from her completely, fingers digging at his own scalp as he pressed his chest to his legs, his head falling between his knees. "I can't - I can't go. I can't leave him. I can't - I can't-,"

"It is our curse as much as it is our gift," she pulled him so that he rested against her chest, safely in the circle of her arms. "How long, my little leaf?"

His breath shuddered and he tucked his face into her neck. "There were gulls. In Pelargir," he shook as he spoke, and she held him tighter. "I'd never heard them before."

"You saw them during the battle?" She whispered, thanking everyone and everything that watched from above that he hadn't been hurt. She could picture it in her minds eye, see his long body going still and impossibly frozen, tight as his bow string.

"Before," he corrected. "We hadn't yet reached the boats. It was so strange - they'd come so far inland. It was like they were looking for me. Do they do that, ma-neth? Do they seek us out?"

"No, my darling, no," she hushed him, carding her fingers through his hair. "It could have happened anywhere. There is nothing that can be done to stop it."

"It's not fair," he clutched at her back, fingers right and trembling against her dress. "I - I don't want to leave. I don't want to go-,"

"This is only the beginning," she murmured, "it will fade, you will see. It will become easier to shoulder."

"But it won't stop," he whispered. "It won't ever stop."

"No," she agreed, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "It cannot be stopped, no matter how hard we wish it to be."

His sobs began anew, breaking from him like a crashing wave. She closed her eyes at the sound, pulling him closer until he was tucked fully into her lap, his arms wound around her waist.

"You can't tell him," he choked, drawing back to stare up at her. His blue eyes were rimmed in red, puffy and swollen from his tears. She thumbed them away even as they continued to fall, pressing her forehead to his.

"I will be shocked if he does not already know," she whispered. "There is no one who knows you as he does."

"No," Legolas gasped, swallowing thickly. "He hasn't said! I've been - I've been careful-,"

"We love you," she reminded him. "You cannot hide this kind of pain from those that love you, little one. Not forever."

He crumbled at the words, falling back into her embrace with another wracking sob. "I'm sorry," he told her, over and over and over again. "I'm so sorry. I don't want to go. I don't want to leave-,"

"Hush, my darling," she squeezed her eyes closed, willed her heart to be slow and calm under his ear. "It will pass, my little one. It will pass. You are so strong. Strong enough to stay with us for as long as you'd like. You are not alone in this, do you hear me? You are not alone for one single moment."

He couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but clutch at her, his breath harsh and fast, his tears never ending. She held him there, in that quiet patch of the forest where she'd found him, until the sky had long grown dark around them.

#sea longing #legolas #legolas thranduilion #lotr #my writing #i really stay breaking myself up over this #and yes: I do have the scene where she discusses it with thranduil #it is in fact just as sad lmao #legolas fic #legolas imagine