The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Race
Division
Culture
Pronunciation
o'roferr ('rr' indicates that the final 'r' sound should be pronounced)
Meaning
Uncertain, but likely 'tall beech-tree'
Titles
Perhaps held the title of Elvenking2

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 21 April 2003
  • Updates planned: 1

Oropher

A Sindarin lord of the Silvan Elves

Oropher
Thranduil

According to some sources, the father of Thranduil and grandfather of Legolas, who ruled a great realm of Silvan Elves in Greenwood the Great (later to be called Mirkwood). He went to the War of the Last Alliance, where he was slain with two-thirds of his army, but his son Thranduil survived and returned to rule his father's woodland kingdom.

(This account is from Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. It does not sit easily with a statement in Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings that Thranduil was one of the Sindar who travelled eastward from Lindon to found forest realms. These two accounts aren't completely contradictory, but they are awkward to reconcile.)


Notes

1

We have no date of birth for Oropher, but he does seem to have been among the wave of Sindarin Elves who travelled eastward across Middle-earth before the year II 1000. He doesn't appear in any of the accounts of the First Age, which suggests (though does not prove) that he was born in the first millennium of the Second Age.

2

All our references to the Elvenking of Mirkwood are to Thranduil. Assuming the title to be hereditary, however, and further assuming that Oropher was indeed Thranduil's father, it is conceivable the Oropher was the original Elvenking. Following this line of reasoning, Thranduil would have inherited the title at the time of Oropher's death in the Battle of Dagorlad.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 21 April 2003
  • Updates planned: 1

For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2001, 2003. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.

Website services kindly sponsored by Discus, the DISC profiling solution.
About DISC Sub-traits: Thoughtfulness (S/I) describes profiles that are reliable, considered and focused.
The Encyclopedia of Arda
The Encyclopedia of Arda
Menu
Homepage Search Latest Entries and Updates Random Entry