Quote:
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Originally Posted by Sharkű
The real question is, do all of those many, many interpretations of the colour green which have been mentioned here bear any significance towards Tolkien? Is green really the colour of the Quendi? And if so, does it make them seem dangerous or even evil?
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Ah, but there is my point 'in fact,' so to speak.
To reference the above paragraph written by yours truly, my opinion holds that the obvious presence of green in the different medium descriptions of Tolkein and its presence in his names outright must say something. Legolas, being Greenleaf, is inevitably good. Greenwood the Great was good until its 'greenness' started to evaporate, thus becoming Mirkwood. Dol Guldur, the citadel of evil in Mirkwood, was set upon the hill of Amon Lanc, which is described as being "bare of trees" and presumably other greenery; it is, after all, called Amon Lanc (read: Bald Hill). I would have to do more research about the Quendi themselves, but I think that there is a certain level of good and evil in most colors. Green isn't inherently evil, but, like a lot of things, can be corrupted. Forests are good, containining wise ents and beauteous trees, but also scary, referencing their ominous vastness and Old Man Willow. Similar with the 'green as a representation of dead stuff' theory. The Barrow-Wights, for all intents and purposes, are just plain bad, but the Dead Men of Dunharrow were corrupted by good (an odd statement). Both sides.
P.S. Someone refresh my memory, were the Dead Men of Dunharrow actually described as green? Or is that just another cinema-induced assumption I came to?