LotR - Rise to War {LegoRomance}

LXXXIV: I emel -o a adar

Happy Father's Day to all! My mother surely gave me drive, but my father gave me dreams and encouraged me to follow them. To that one soul who is no longer among us, I would remind him that immortality is left behind, and it is certainly found only in the love that we leave behind. Have a blessing day my friends!

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~ A father's heart ~

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"But those unhappy ones [elves] who were ensnared were put in prison and by slow acts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did he [Morgoth] breed the hideous race of the Orcs." -The Silmarillion

Caras Galadhon, 3019 TA, April 15th

After his conversation with his son came to a close, he felt a greater burden on his shoulders. He traversed wooden platforms and suspended staircases to access the available rooms. His long robes trailed and fluttered behind him as he walked quickly and loudly, making his anguish so intense. His father always saw death as a natural part of the cycle of life. Even for eternal creatures like them, who were expected to spend millennia in the darkness. As soon as he was crowned king and his father died, he came to cross paths with the truth and the darkness.

Oropher nurtured him to be a King; he was born and bred in such an environment. He had matured with tough truths. Wars were necessary to ensure the safety of their kingdom, elves died and that could not be altered, there was always a price to pay, but a king must maintain his composure and not betray his sadness or despair. Oropher would never discuss his feelings with him or his kin. His father's visage was always placid and expressionless. His father was an elder Eldar, one of the First, who understood how to maintain a connection with nature, breathe deeply, and relax. He was the legitimate King but lacked feelings.

There was no fear, anger, or love present.

Thranduil did not know for certain whether his father loved him; he assumed, based on his father's deeds, that he did. Oropher felt that a king should be imbued with self-assurance and fortunate sentiments. And Thranduil believed his father and tried to follow his advice. Thranduil had little difficulty concealing his emotions since he had been trained from an early age to suppress his fury and terror. And he was able to look him in the eyes without any emotion or sign of life.

Thranduil did have his moments, though. He would get enraged if someone or something upset him, he would experience fear if he believed a loved one was in danger, and he was familiar with sadness and grief. He lacked an understanding of diplomacy and politics and had not yet been prepared to become the king that his father required. But as he grew up, he was instructed in the most difficult manner on how to become a king. A ruler whom his kin would support and trust.

Consequently, he became king. He learned emotional control and was able to manifest himself as the King of Stone and Wood. He radiated power and might, and Thranduil was renowned as an unapproachable ruler. He felt confident in himself and pleased to be able to maintain that aspect of his reputation. He seemed heartless, like a king without heart.

Eleyewn had often informed him that she felt he had lost his heart and that she had given him hers so that he may experience love and caring in this world. However, she discovered that Thranduil possessed a secret heart. He had compassion for his people and understood what it meant to love. If necessary, he could be a cruel king; he would consider politics and war with his head and not his emotions. However, this did not imply that he lacked feelings; he recognised right from wrong. And the concept of the heartless, icy monarch that Oropher desired for his son was never conceived.