Flame Policy: If you have nothing better to do than flame me, you really are pathetic.

Pre-notes:  This story takes place sometime in the middle of the Third Age – let’s say Legolas is about 1,000 years old.  This is about 800 years before the Witch-king (King of the Nazgûl) takes over Carn Dûm and sets up a second Angmar.

There is no slash, pairings, or any sort of romance intended by this story.  It is merely a tale of my own devising for fun.  If you really wanna know what inspired it, it’s this question:  How come Legolas recognizes the Balrog in Moria? (He’s the first one to do so in the book.)  And why does it terrify him so?  This is my explanation: a long, complicated tale, because it’s so much more interesting than your average one-shot.

        Ere the last days of the Third Age, there was uneasy peace throughout Middle-earth.  For the great evil of the Second Age, Sauron lay dormant again in the south of the land, and his Ring, Isildur’s Bane, was lost from the histories of Men and Elves alike.  Yet it was a watchful peace, for the Elves of Rivendell remembered the words of Elrond, and ever did they keep a vigil for the return of the servant of Melkor.  And there was yet war on Middle-earth; for the evil servants of Sauron were not banished from the land, and still the taint of Melkor, who was called Morgoth by the Noldor, lay upon the lands of the North, and evils forgotten hid in the deep places.
        In Greenwood the Great, which in the latter days of the Third Age was called Mirkwood, was the realm of the Sindar, who are in the common speech the Grey Elves.  Thranduil Greenleaf was their king, and long did he reign in the woods of the North until he and many of his people passed into the Grey Havens, to the Sea and the lands West of the Sea.
        And the son of Thranduil was Legolas Greenleaf, who in the last days of the Third Age was the Elven part of the Fellowship of the Ring, and he accompanied Frodo the Ringbearer to the falls of Rauros, and he aided Aragorn son of Arathorn, the Elfstone who is called Elasser, the King of Gondor, in all he did in those dark days.  He was born ere a century had passed of the Third Age, and brought great joy to all his people, for he was the first son of the Elvenking.  And Legolas prospered in all his endeavors, and all his people called him a Blessed One of Elendil.
        But in his youth he tired of seeing only the trees of the North, though he loved them well, and he longed to venture to Imladris and the lands beyond.  Thranduil, who could deny his son nothing, bid him safe journey, and sent him on his way, sending with him only Glirhuin, who was dear to Legolas’ heart.
        Here follows the account of Legolas and his companion Glirhuin as they traveled widely across Middle-earth and encountered many things, and brushed against an evil that was both terrifying and great, though it was not allied with Sauron.  It is a tale not widely told, and it remained a legend among the Sindar alone, and thus has passed from all knowledge, though it emerged from the time before the Witch-king did his evil deeds.  This is the legend of Carn Dûm, the last of the evil places in the North.

Glirhuin is a name to be found in The Silmarillion; he is a minstrel of Brethil.  However, he is entirely my own creation in this story, just to give Legolas someone to talk to and eventually angst over.  I hope everyone finds him agreeable. I generally find all Elves to be so.  ^^x

Short Reference (that which is not mentioned in LoTR):

Melkor (Morgoth) – the original Evil Guy.  He taught Sauron everything he knows, drew forth the Balrogs, and made the Orcs from the first Elves.

Noldor – the wisest Elves, given over to the crafting of gems.  Melkor took their most precious gems, so they called him Morgoth, ‘Black Foe of the World’.

Elendil – one of the goddesses of Middle-earth (after a fashion).  She loved the woods and the Elves most of all.

Imladris – Rivendell