In regard to elmerf's disposition as a father, do you think that it could be possibly related to King arthur and Mordred? If you look at it logically Tolkien has a very many references to King Arthur in his books. Avalon and Valinor so on and so forth.
The Lost Tails mentions the hatred between Elmerf and his son. Elmerf (if we are assuming that he came from a long line of hares) would have felt the stability of his nation and position as Supreme ruling Pet of Mirkwood threatened if a strange hare from a distant land came and presented evidence that he was the rightful 'hare' of Elmerf. He probably was a very downtrodden hare being the pet of Legolas, (I support the argument that Elmerf was probably a slightly ugly hare given the fact that Legolas wouldn't have wanted a prettier pet than himself.) and would have taken it to heart that this foreign hare came and presented himself as hare.
I mean Elmerf had worked so hard from keeping his domain safe from the evil hares of Dol Guldur to the south that he would have consulted his council right away. Then the council probably would've brought in a fortune teller because as we all know, hares are very superstitous. The fortune teller would've then prophesied the downfall of Elmerf. He would've been reminded of the poor unfortunate hares that lost their lives in the downfall of Numenor, to whom he was distantly related and he wouldn't have wanted to bring such a tragedy to his people. He would've therefore done what any honarable hare would've, because above all else I believe that Elmerf was an honarable hare, he challenged his son (name? I seem to have forgotten) to a duel.
Here I don't really know the specifics of hare fighting styles, dependent on whether or not they have wings, this can be discussed. But after that we all know what happens, Elmerf was taken by Yosmite to the Holy Isle to be cared for by the Valar, namely Orome as he was the creator of hares, and to return when the hares of Middle-Earth desperately needed him. Now I'm pretty sure this happened during that sticky transitional period after the ring was destroyed and maybe even into the beginning of the fourth age, but I might be mistaken. Elmerf's son then took control over his smaller band of hares and they moved into the south of Mirkwood and gained prominence over a large domain, where there ancestors are still living today.
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