As Legolas was a contrast to Thranduil, so was the golden forest of Lothlorien to the ever-darkening expanses of Mirkwood the great. Heavily guarded as it was against a nameless threat; a shadow birthing itself in the East, Lothlorien remained a bulwark against the rest of the world, a golden oasis of a more peaceable time, and was presided over by Galadriel and Celeborn, the Lady and the Lord of the Golden Wood. Also, there was an appreciable range of Lorien Elves to stand sentry and guard Lothlorien, and one of these was Haldir.

A talented and sure archer, Haldir was beautiful and strong, with an aura of calm confidence about his person that could almost be read as arrogance, at times. His countenance was bold and noble, a strong jaw and aquiline nose giving him an unmistakable, elegant nobility and fire. Haldir's hair, a star-dappled silvery blond, was swept off from his intellectual forehead and cascaded down to his back in a graceful fall, and his eyes were dark, but bright, like those belonging to a bird of prey. With his proud jaw clenched grimly, and his granite eyes glittering like a sword-blade as he prepared to draw his bow, the Elf was unmistakable as a guard of Lothlorien, fierce and grim, a wingless spirit of vengeance and protection.

But, when the light fell the right way and a less proud mood was brought out in Haldir, he appeared with a nonetheless fierce and noble countenance, but this was a different fire, a ferocity of another sort. As Haldir could bear within him the torch of a fierce guardian so could he be charged from head to foot with a fierce love.

And it was Legolas, the king's son, whom Lorien's guardian was enamored of, and who returned his affections in full.

It was Legolas, whom Haldir loved.