Magical Healing Elves
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Related tropes/genres | Healing, Canon Divergence AU (The Hobbit), Everyone Lives (The Hobbit) |
| See also | Elves, Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence AU |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
Magical Healing Elves is a trope from The Hobbit fandom, generally associated with the Everyone Lives trope. It usually involves Thranduil, Legolas, Tauriel, or various Mirkwood elves healing the dwarves who canonically died in the Battle of Five Armies. If Thranduil is involved, he usually has to be enticed to put in the effort, due to his disagreements with Thorin, but sometimes he does so of his own volition.
If Tauriel or Legolas heal the dwarves instead, they generally does so with little or no prompting. Tauriel often saves Kíli specifically, but sometimes she also saves Fíli or even Thorin. Even if she isn't the one to save him, Tauriel can frequently be found tending Kíli until he has completely recovered, often leading her to be present in Erebor for a considerable period.
Earlier works that follow the book plot sometimes have Elrond healing the dwarves instead.
Origins
This trope likely originated in canon, with Elrond's healing of Frodo Baggins.[1] Tauriel similarly healed Kíli in Desolation of Smaug. Other references to elvish healers occur in both Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. The trope dovetails with the tendency of elves to be healers or mages (or both) in all media types of the epic fantasy genre, but the specific phrase "magical healing elves" seems to be associated with the Hobbit movies fandom in particular.
Example Fanworks
- Heart of the Mountain, Archived version by esama (Tauriel and Thranduil's healers save all three dwarves)
- A Way Things Should Be, Archived version by LullabyKnell (Tauriel heals all three dwarves)
- And I'm Your Lionheart, Archived version by Lee_Whimsy (Thranduil heals Thorin)
- None So Blind, Archived version by Chrononatuical, which features the tag "I cannot stress enough that despite magical healing elves this is a story about grievous harm"
References
- ^ Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 1, "Many Meetings".