Uploaded July 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Elvenking has a great treasure hoard of gold and precious gems but among all the jewels of the world he desires most a necklace of white gems which he had once ordered from the dwarves of Erebor, a memory of his departed wife, whom he loved dearly. Thrór denied him of these gems out of arrogance and malice. When Thorin appears in his kingdom Thranduil designs to get back what is owed to him through Thrór’s heir.
For the White Gems of Lasgalen, “of the Greenleaves”(for Mirkwood was once called Eryn Lasgalen, the Wood of Greenleaves), Shore provides a subtle slurred variant of his theme for Mirkwood, a truncated form of his 6-note elusive motto. If possible this theme is even more eerie and chilling than the Mirkwood theme, illustrating a singular obsession of the elven king that burns cold in his mind, overriding his sense of reason when bargaining with Thorin. This small but discomforting motif appears both in The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies when Thranduil seeks to reclaim these elven jewels and is driven to harsh actions over them, the music a chilling reminder of the dangers of greed, holding grudges and obsession, made all the more disturbing when invading the usually calm and composed elven musical world.
The Elvenking has a great treasure hoard of gold and precious gems but among all the jewels of the world he desires most a necklace of white gems which he had once ordered from the dwarves of Erebor, a memory of his departed wife, whom he loved dearly. Thrór denied him of these gems out of arrogance and malice. When Thorin appears in his kingdom Thranduil designs to get back what is owed to him through Thrór’s heir.
For the White Gems of Lasgalen, “of the Greenleaves”(for Mirkwood was once called Eryn Lasgalen, the Wood of Greenleaves), Shore provides a subtle slurred variant of his theme for Mirkwood, a truncated form of his 6-note elusive motto. If possible this theme is even more eerie and chilling than the Mirkwood theme, illustrating a singular obsession of the elven king that burns cold in his mind, overriding his sense of reason when bargaining with Thorin. This small but discomforting motif appears both in The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies when Thranduil seeks to reclaim these elven jewels and is driven to harsh actions over them, the music a chilling reminder of the dangers of greed, holding grudges and obsession, made all the more disturbing when invading the usually calm and composed elven musical world.
