Ithildin
Message:
27873
26 Jun 04 8:24 PM
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27866
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Interesting question, Raksha, and given the range of tree-talking abilities attributed to the Elves in various fanfics, you may get a variety of answers. I will try to answer from canon.
Quote:
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"These are the strangest trees that ever I saw", he said; "and I have seen many an oak grow from acorn to ruinous age. I wish there were leisure now to walk among them; they have voices, and in time I might come to understand their thought." (The Road to Isengard, The Two Towers)
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Now these were Huorns, but the text does not indicate that either Aragorn or Gimli had any inkling that the trees had thoughts or speech, so clearly Legolas has a higher sensitivity in this area. I think this passage signifies that Elves did not ‘talk’ to trees on a regular basis, but it might also indicate that he possibly had done so before, or at least heard of others doing it. He is very curious about these trees, but does not seem overly shocked that trees could have voices and thoughts.
Quote:
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Elves began it, of course, waking trees up and teaching them to speak and learning their tree-talk. They always wished to talk to everything, the old Elves did. (Treebeard, TTT)
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I think the ‘old Elves’ Treebeard referrers to here must have been the first Elves to awaken, so I’m guessing that the business of Elves talking to trees predates the division of the Elves by the Great Journey.
Quote:
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[Gandalf speaking]
‘I think we will rest here, not only today, but tonight as well. There is a wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.’
‘That is true,’ said Legolas. ‘But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them:
deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago.’ “The Ring Goes South,” FotR
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This passage appears to indicate enhanced perception of not only grass and trees, but stones as well. (At least stones that had been worked by Elves anyway. What would Gimli say about that?)
My feeling is that canon supports the view that Elves had heightened perception of all things in nature – weather, plants, animals, even stones (at least in some cases). So, yes, Legolas could probably tell much more about a tree and its condition than any mortal, though that might be a very limited form of communication. And though the talent would extend to all Elves, I would imagine that the Wood-elves were more skilled at interpreting the trees’ signals – whatever form they took. I think the Elves would, in a way, commune with the trees and the trees would, of course, benefit from the blessing of their care.
Hope that helps some,
Ithildin *(
