A big thank-you to Dragonfly for serving as beta reader for this tale!
Joee asked for a story in which Legolas first encounters a Troll. This is that story, although, as you will see, it proceeds in a roundabout fashion.
Now I will accept story requests from the following people, each of whom caught me committing a major error: Arwen Undomiel, who pointed out that at one point I typed Glorfindel when it should have been Gandalf; Tinwiest, who found the same error that Arwen Undomiel did; Sekhet, who caught me making Elros the contemporary of Estel, which would make no sense whatsoever; Farflung, who found the same error that Sekhet did; Kelly Kragen, who caught the fact that in one chapter Estel has no hair but in the next Edwen Nana washes and combs it; and Silver badger, who caught the same error as Kelly Kragen. Your story ideas cannot exceed PG-13, can't require slash, and must not involve non-canonical character deaths (I won't kill off Elrond, etc.).
Glorfindel had once said that by the time Estel reached the age of twelve, he would be steady, mature, and reliable. The balrog-slayer had been largely correct. By that age Estel had become thoughtful, hard-working, and practical, and as he neared his twenties, he gave every sign of having developed a temperament that would stand him in good stead as a leader of Men and other Free Folk (although Elrond had not yet revealed to him that this was to be his destiny). Still, Elves in the second half of their first millennium backslide on occasion into elven adolescence; so, too, do young Men. Thus it was that from time to time Estel would erupt into behavior that could be at best called juvenile, at worst childish.
One day when this had happened, Legolas was visiting from Mirkwood and took it upon himself to scold his friend over some matter. What it was, no one remembers in these latter days, so Estel's behavior could not have been too very dreadful.
Now at that time, Legolas and Estel could almost have been considered to be age mates, for, in elven years, Legolas had very little advantage over Estel. In fact, in only a little while, Estel would be considered 'older' than Legolas, a prospect that did not please the Elf at all.
Perhaps Estel was thinking of this when, stung by his friend's admonishments, he wandered into the garden looking for a likely place to sulk. Certainly he had a most indignant expression upon his face, a fact that did not escape Glorfindel's notice as he sat enjoying the warm autumn sun.
"Estel! You look as if you were put off by your own odor. Is the wind blowing the wrong direction?"
"That joke is a well-worn one, Glorfindel. Are you incapable of being original?'
Glorfindel shrugged.
"It has made you laugh in the past."
"True, but it is no longer apropos. When I am home in Rivendell, I bathe as often as any Elf, and if I do not do so in the Wild, it is because it is sometimes dangerous to do so. Would you want Orcs to come upon as I splash naked in a pool?"
"I will concede the point, but you must admit that between baths you seem to attract dirt, whereas Elves repel it. Legolas is a case in point."
Estel threw himself upon the grass.
"Oh, do not speak to me of Legolas!"
Glorfindel looked surprised. The Mirkwood Elf and the young Man were very close, and he had never heard one speak ill of the other.
"What troubles you, Estel?"
"Legolas," said Estel, a trifle bitterly, "is perfect. He is never dirty, he is acknowledged to be the best archer in all the Elven realms, he has exceptional eyesight and hearing, and he never transgresses."
"You are by far the better swordsman," Glorfindel pointed out, "and I believe you are the better horseman as well."
"Surely not the latter!"
"Aye," said Glorfindel thoughtfully. "There is a bond between you and your horse that not even an Elf could match. Odd, isn't it, for we can converse with the minds of our horses, and you cannot. You commune with your horse's spirit, I think."
"Still, I am forever being rebuked by Elrond for one failing or another, and Legolas never is."
"You are forgetting that you are not yet of age whilst Legolas has been of age for several decades. Elrond takes his responsibilities as your foster-father quite seriously, else he would not reprimand you so. In the case of Legolas, if necessary Elrond could chastise him because he is Legolas' elder, but the Lord of Imladris is inclined to defer to Thranduil in the matter of his son's discipline. It was not always so! Time was when Legolas would get himself into dreadful predicaments, and Elrond as well as any other elders on hand would rebuke him thoroughly."
"I can't think of a single occasion," said Estel sullenly.
"That is because you are not thinking very hard!"
"Tell me of one time," challenged Estel.
Glorfindel smiled. Estel had as good as said 'Tell me a story'.
"Once upon a time," the balrog-slayer began.
"Glorfindel!"
"Very well," said Glorfindel, resuming the tale with a little less levity. "Once, when Legolas was still an elfling and but newly arrived at Imladris, he hid himself behind a tapestry. I don't think he did so in order to eavesdrop—no, not consciously, anyway. Mithrandir had returned from some journey or another, and Legolas wanted to spend every possible moment with him, or at least nearby, if he could not be in his company outright. So, even though he had been told to go to bed, he crawled behind one of the wall hangings in Elrond's chamber and sat quietly, reveling in the rumble of Mithrandir's deep voice and imbibing his laughter and good spirits."
"That does not seem so terrible a thing to do," observed Estel.
"No, but what happened in the end was very bad. Mithrandir was telling Elrond that he had come across several Trolls rather near to the western borders of Imladris—three, I think. Legolas was delighted to learn of these beings, for, though he encountered many creatures during his trek from Mirkwood to Rivendell, Trolls were not numbered amongst them. 'I had to go far out of my way', Mithrandir was complaining, 'for these Trolls were directly along the route to Rivendell. Added a day to my journey', he grumbled."
"Now, the next several days, Legolas gave no further thought to the Trolls, for Mithrandir was there and spent much time with him. But as you know, Mithrandir never stays long in any one place, and after a fortnight, he departed to resume his journeyings throughout Middle Earth. Once he was gone, Legolas thought again of the Trolls. 'I should very much like to see a Troll', he thought to himself. Of course, he knew perfectly well that neither Elrond nor I was likely to take him on an excursion to see a Troll. You know the proverb, don't you?"
"Aye, I do," Estel assured balrog-slayer. "'Let sleeping Trolls lie'."
"Exactly. We do not meddle with Trolls unless we must. Unlike Orcs, they do not come after us, so, to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, we simply avoid the dull-witted creatures. It is usually easy enough to elude them!"
Estel nodded. He had had some experience with Trolls and knew well just how dim-witted they could be.
"Knowing as he did that no elder would take him to see the Trolls, he resolved to go on his own. First, however, he had to convince himself that he was not doing anything particularly wrong—most who behave wrongfully are only able to do so because they convince themselves that their actions are right. No matter how bad their behavior, there are few who will concede that they are wicked."
Glorfindel had given Estel a hard look as he made the latter statement, and Estel blushed. If Glorfindel had pressed him, he would have had to admit that several—nay, numerous!—were the times when he had persuaded himself that willfulness on his part served some greater purpose in the great scheme of things.
"The way he went about justifying himself," Glorfindel continued, "was by reminding himself that Mithrandir had said he had been delayed at least a day by having to leave the path in order to detour around the Trolls. So he convinced himself that he should hunt up the Trolls in order to drive them away from the path, thus hastening Mithrandir's journey when he should seek to return to Rivendell. Of course, to this day he has never been able to explain how he, elfling that he was, would perform this feat. Ask him about it sometime, Estel, and you will see him turn a fetching shade of crimson to the very tips of his pointed ears."
"I will," grinned Estel, "but pray continue the tale."
"Another fact that Legolas disregarded is that the loss of a day is of no moment when one is immortal. Neither he, an Elf, nor Mithrandir, a Maia, were likely to suffer if Mithrandir came on one day rather than another, for both enjoy the gift of the Valar. However, I myself believe that Legolas wanted to secure more than the one extra day with Mithrandir. I think he unconsciously hoped that he would catch up with his wizard. Legolas has ever regarded Mithrandir as his mentor and protector, and in the early days, he was always quite disconsolate when Mithrandir visited and then went away again."
Estel nodded sympathetically. He could well understand that feeling. What would either of them have done without their beloved wizard?
"At any event, off Legolas went, nimbly escaping down the trellis—the one that collapsed one night when you yourself were performing that selfsame maneuver."
It was Estel who in fact blushed to the tip of his ears (although, of course, they were not pointed ones). He well remembered the night that the trellis had fallen down as he was climbing upon it.
"Legolas was quite familiar with the path to the west, for he had ridden upon it in my company as I supervised his riding lessons. He arrived at the border and hastened onward, keeping to the same path. Of course, from that point on he was unfamiliar with the territory, for you must know that he had arrived in Imladris from the east, coming as he did from Mirkwood."
Again Estel nodded. He was familiar with the story of Legolas' trek from Mirkwood. Indeed, it had been entered into the chronicles, and no doubt even centuries hence Free Folk would still be reading of the elfling's adventures.
"He was also unfamiliar with the ways of Trolls, for, as I have said, he had never encountered one. Nor had Erestor yet covered the subject in the lessons he was giving Legolas in Natural History. When Legolas ran off, often he would hide during the day and travel during the night. Of course, that is the very worst thing to do if one is journeying through Troll country. For all his excellent eyesight and hearing, Legolas was still after all only an inexperienced elfling, and he had no sooner drawn near the Troll's cave than he was caught."
Estel shuddered. How dreadful!
"You may be sure that Legolas received a very bad fright, for the Trolls had just finished dining upon a suckling pig, which had been nowhere near large enough to satisfy the appetite of three such enormous creatures. Legolas, they thought, would make an excellent second course. One of the Trolls trussed Legolas up. The second began to build up the fire, which had been banked. The third began to suspend Legolas upon a stick so that they might hold him over the fire."
"Here now," objected the first Troll. "Shouldn't we dress 'im first?"
"Undress him, don't you mean?" said the second Troll.
"Oh, no," replied the third Troll, "I like my Elves roasted in the jacket. Keeps in the juices."
"Oh, bother," declared the first Troll, "now you've gone and made him cry. That will dry him out soon enough!"
"Fortunately, however, Legolas was not to cry for long, for suddenly a mighty wind swept through the Trolls' campsite. The fire flared up, singeing the hair of the two Trolls nearest the blaze and blinding all three with sparks and ashes. Now it was the Trolls who wept as, blinded, they stumbled about and howled in pain. Meanwhile, a figure cloaked and hooded sprang from the bushes and lifted Legolas up, turning then and leaping back under cover."
"Mithrandir!" exclaimed Estel.
"No, not Mithrandir. Do you think he is the only one who appears suddenly in the nick of time when all seems lost?"
"It had seemed so," said Estel, chastened.
"Well, if you must know, it was Elrond. He had noticed how sad Legolas looked after Mithrandir's departure, and he had gone to his chamber to comfort him. Of course, Legolas wasn't there, and Elrond knew at once that he had climbed down the trellis. I was away on patrol, else no doubt Elrond would have summoned me. Instead, off he went himself. Luckily he rightly guessed that Legolas must have set out after Mithrandir."
"Now, holding Legolas, Elrond ran for a considerable distance, until he saw the first light of dawn. Only then was he willing to stop even for the brief time that it would take to unbind Legolas' wrists and ankles. After untying him, however, Elrond resumed carrying the little fellow, for, worn out with fear, he had fallen asleep in Elrond's arms. Elrond told me that he was glad that was so, for in the heat of the moment he might have scolded Legolas more harshly than needful. As it was, he waited until the morrow, when he told Legolas that the Lord of Imladris really ought not to be wielding Vilya, the Ring of Air, in order to rescue elflings from the cooking fires of Trolls. I don't think Legolas wanted much scolding, however, for the experience alone was suitably chastening! So you see, Estel, Legolas has been a scamp in his day and has been appropriately rebuked, both by words and by the sobering repercussions of his own behavior."
Estel looked thoughtful, but he did not long remain so, for the Elf under discussion had just found his way into the garden. Estel was ready to abandon his resentment and hailed him cheerfully.
"Legolas, would you like to go fishing?"
Legolas made a face. Whence had come Estel's excessive love of fishing? Elves fished, but few had Estel's enthusiasm for the sport. Nevertheless, he agreed, for he knew Estel had been angry with him and he was anxious to mend the breach.
"Yes, Estel. I shall be glad to go fishing."
"Actually," said Estel, a supremely innocent expression upon his face, "to be precise, I would like to go trolling. I believe you have had some experience in that area."
Legolas looked suspiciously at Glorfindel, but the balrog-slayer seemed to have become fascinated by the antics of the swallows that swooped overhead as evening approached. And so, with no further discussion, Estel and Legolas went off to gather their tackle and made their way to a spot in the River Bruinen where Estel had had great success within the past fortnight.
It was never known exactly what transpired that day along the shores of the Bruinen—certainly they did not bring back any fish to Elrond's kitchen! It is recorded that the two fishermen returned later that evening soaked and laughing so hard as to be out of breath. "Well, well," said Mithrandir when he was later told the tale, "they did succeed in cleansing themselves of all ill feelings."
"Yes," sighed Elrond, "but the water ruined Legolas' boots, and Estel, while he did not catch any fish, did manage to catch a cold. I had thought Legolas entirely grown-up and Estel very nearly so, only to come in from taking a turn around Rivendell to find water tracked up and down the corridors of the Hall."
"At least," Mithrandir twitted him, "their soggy footprints made it easy for you to seek them out."
Elrond looked at Mithrandir severely.
"Sometimes, my friend, I think it is your influence that causes these eruptions of silliness."
Mithrandir smiled and took an elaborate bow.
"Why, thank you, Elrond. Thank you very much indeed!"
The Lord of Imladris eyed the goblet of water that stood at his elbow. He himself was now very much tempted to indulge in an 'eruption of silliness' of his own. "How would Mithrandir like it," he wondered, "if I poured this goblet over his head and thus put the damper on his peculiar brand of levity. Oh, yes that would be a sight—water streaming down the face of Mithrandir, Maia and second only in dignity to Saruman Lord of Isengard."
Mithrandir no doubt divined Elrond's thoughts, for he hastily arose.
"Elrond, I think I shall retire to my chamber. I am very much in need of a bath, which, if you wouldn't mind, I should like to take on my terms."
And so, Reader, while the chronicles record many battles, I regret to report that there was one that never came to pass: the water fight between Eldar and Istar. You may console yourself, however, with the fact that my researches reveal that Estel and Legolas were reported to have gotten into many other scrapes. Be sure that I shall endeavor to continue to provide you with further accounts of their adventures. Stay well, my friend.