Does Legolas carry out the ritual of the seed in The Lord of the Rings?
Does The Lord of the Rings‘ alfirin seed ritual occur anyplace else, or is it a creation of the Amazons? The solution is not nearly so simple. Before riding into battle against the Southlanders in The Rings of Power episode 6, Adar buries seeds in the ground and murmurs a traditional prayer about new life emerging from death. Later, as Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) informs Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), “Elves have a tradition of doing it. Plant one before the fight starts.” Even though Arondir and Adar uphold this tradition, many Elves have participated in combat in The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Rings of Power. Did they also sow alfirin seeds earlier?
Alfirin, a gorgeous, vibrant, bell-shaped flower, is not a recent addition to Middle-collection earth’s flora and is frequently described in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings. However, it appears that The Rings of Power were responsible for creating the Elven custom of sowing alfirin seeds before a conflict. It serves as a plot device to hint at Adar’s eventual revelation that he was once an elf in episode 6 and highlight the villain’s continued affinity for it.
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Does Every Elf Sow Alfirin Seeds Before Battle? Did Legolas In LOTR?
In canonical terms, no. However, is the alfirin seed pre-battle ritual prevalent among Elves in the other reality of The Rings of Power? Does Galadriel perform it before advancing into Tirharad? Will Legolas tend to his garden before the Battle of Helm’s Deep in the future? On the one hand, it’s conceivable that most Elves still practise this age-old custom, but the incident isn’t depicted on film or print. The ritual is very liberal regarding how far in advance the alfirin must be planted into the dirt, as Adar and Arondir sow their seeds before the Battle of Tirharad commences. This indicates that before the primary battle in The Rings of Power episode 6, Galadriel, for instance, had numerous opportunities to carry out the ritual.
According to the Rings of Power, the alfirin seed pre-battle rite is a vanishing tradition. Even by Elf standards, Adar is quite old, so it stands to reason that he would adhere to the Moriondor race’s traditional practices. In the first episode of The Rings of Power, Arondir said, “I haven’t seen this flower since I was a child,” in response to Bronwyn’s gift of alfirin seeds. Alfirin, which was previously widely available but is now becoming scarce in Middle-earth, is strongly implied to disappear along with the Elves’ ceremony if the plant itself becomes scarce. It may have disappeared entirely from Elf society by the time The Lord of the Rings starts, more than 3000 years later.
Why the Alfirin Ritual in The Rings of Power Makes Sense
Even while the alfirin seed tradition in The Rings of Power isn’t directly taken from the original text, the idea does blend well with Tolkien’s botanical mythology. The Elves’ word for the flower, “alfirin,” means “immortal,” It is well known for blossoming on the tombs of departed monarchs like Elendil. Since Tolkien previously made the association between alfirin and death, it shouldn’t be surprising that The Rings of Power depicts a rite employing alfirin seeds to defy death before a conflict.
In The Lord of the Rings, Legolas may not be seen planting anything before he begins shooting Orcs with arrows, but in Tolkien’s The Return of the King, in Minas Tirith, he sings of the flower alfirin. The inclusion of alfirin in Legolas’ Third Age song demonstrates how the flower’s significance endures many years after The Rings of Power, despite the considerable debate over whether he was referring to the same flower.
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