Tauriel

Tauriel was a female Silvian Elf (or Wood-elf) from the forest of Mirkwood, and the Captain of the Guard of the Woodland Realm ruled by the Elvenking Thranduil. She is a non-canonical character that appears only in the live-adaptation movie trilogy produced and directed by Peter Jackson based on The Hobbit. She never appeared on any of Tolkien’s books. However, there was a character in The Hobbit referred to as the Captain of the Guard.

Portrayal

In the movie trilogy, actress Evangeline Lily portrayed Tauriel in the 2nd and 3rd films. Tauriel appeared in both The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug released in 2013 and The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies in 2014.

Casting

The producers have met with Evangeline previously, and she came to mind when they started casting the various roles. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh tried to contact her while she was bedridden after just having given birth to her child. Because she had to take care of her baby, the idea of working back then wasn’t appealing to her. Fran and Philippa thought she would refuse the role and not see them. As luck would have it, The Hobbit was her most favorite novel of all time. The prospect of playing an Elf in the movie excited her, and she couldn’t say no. Evangeline Lily is also known for her work as Hope Van Dyne and the Wasp in film adaptations of the Marvel Universe. She played as the lead female character Kate Austen in the popular TV series Lost that ran from 2004-2010.

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

Tauriel was first introduced in the second film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. She, Legolas, and her guards were out patrolling in Mirkwood and captured the Dwarves who they deemed as trespassers. The patrol came in the nick of time while the Dwarves and Bilbo were battling several Giant spiders after they got lost inside the forest. After taking them back to their stronghold as captives, the Elvenking Thranduil, who was the father of Legolas, ordered them locked up in prison cells. Bilbo, however, manages to enter undetected by using the One-Ring to turn himself invisible.

While visiting the cells, Tauriel met Kili and had a conversation with him about a rune his mother gave him. Legolas witnessed their discussion from above, and he grew jealous because they seemed attracted to one another. Later Bilbo helped the Dwarves escape when he made each one ride a wine barrel dropped into the river. While they were floating in the water, they came under attack from a band of Orcs led by Bolg. Legolas and Tauriel fought and killed many of the Orcs while they were in pursuit of the Dwarves. Kili, however, got hit by a poison arrow in his leg.

The Dwarves managed to arrive in Lake-town after paying Bard, who took them to his house with his boat. Meanwhile, Tauriel and Legolas captured the Orc Narzug and brought him back to Thranduil for interrogation. After learning that Kili was poisoned, Tauriel almost kills Narzug but was dismissed by Thranduil. They manage to learn from him that they were working for Sauron and of Thorin’s plan to reclaim the kingship of Erebor. Thranduil ultimately kills Narzug. Legolas found out that Tauriel went away to find Kili and went out to follow her. He eventually catches up with her, and they both went to Lake-town. At Bard’s house, they helped drive away Bolg and slay the Orcs that were there to kill the Dwarves. Legolas pursued Bolg, and Tauriel was able to heal Kili from the poison but found herself in love with him.

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

In the morning after Bard slew Smaug, Legolas and Tauriel learned that Thranduil had banished her. Fearing that word would’ve gotten out about Smaug, Legolas and Tauriel rode away to Gundabad to investigate the area. Thranduil arrived in Dale with his forces. He wanted to retrieve the white gems of his people that were inside Erebor. Bard pleaded with him to wait until he had talked with Thorin. When he tried to reason with Thorin about his promise in their share of the hoard, the new King dismissed him. Thorin’s cousin Dáin and his forces from the Iron Hills arrived. Soon hostilities began between the Dwarves and Wood-Elves aided by the Men from Lake-wood. They suddenly found themselves under attack by Orc legions headed by Azog.

Legolas and Tauriel discovered that Bolg was on the move with reinforcements. When they returned to the battle, they found out that Thorin and his companions went after Azog. They tried to help them, but Thorin, Kili, and Fili were slain in the battle. Tauriel is devastated by Kili’s death. They emerged victorious with the help of the Eagles, and the forces of Sauron were vanquished. Dáin becomes the new King Under the Mountain, and Bilbo returns home to the Shire.

Character Concept and Design

Not Canon

The creation of Tauriel was brought about by the absence of detailed descriptions of the Woodland Elves in the book. As Richard Taylor, Creative Director of WETA, said, Tauriel adds more personality and character to the race in the film. She helps the audience appreciate and care more about the Silvan Elves. Aside from that, the producers and writers felt that the story of The Hobbit was too male-centric. As Writer/Producer Philippa Boyens noted, there was Bilbo, Gandalf, and 13 dwarves driving the plot and dominating the screen time.

It also included the stories of King Thranduil, Gollum, and Bard, and they felt it was seriously missing a bit of a feminine touch. The lack of female characters, they thought, was something that they needed to address to make the films appeal to a broader spectrum of audiences. All were aware that they were taking a considerable risk with Tauriel. There were worries, particularly on how the books’ longtime fans would react to a female Wood-elf that wasn’t in the canon. Not only that, because they also took a lot of liberties with the story to improve the screenplay.

For instance, the book never mentioned Legolas, as well as Gandalf’s experience in Dol Guldur. There was also his subsequent rescue by Galadriel, Elrond, and Saruman from Sauron and his Nazgûl. The writing team felt that it all made sense within the context and timeline of the events in the book. They looked at opportunities where they can insert a strong female character that would have her own story. There was one point back in the beginning that they toyed with the idea of a female hobbit in Hobbiton or someone in Lake-town. It was Writer/Producer Fran Walsh who thought it should be a female Elf. They wanted a character with more complexity and not be just another female warrior. To enhance her story, they came up with a love triangle between her, Legolas, and the Dwarf Kili.

Name

At first, her name in the audition scripts was “Itarille,” which meant “starlight.” However, they later wanted a more earthbound sounding name that would fit her as a female Silvan elf. They tried a bunch of descriptive phrases translated by linguist David Salo into Elvish. One of them was “Daughter of Mirkwood,” and it came back as Tauriel. After hearing it, they all agreed that it would be the perfect name for her.

Design

For her outfit, one of the first things that they tried was fine leaf chainmail created by a New Zealand artist named Yves Gilliland. It took several months to make, and it turned out elegant and beautiful. However, when they did the wardrobe test on the actress, they thought the look didn’t work for her. They abandoned the idea and started again from scratch. Costume designer Ann Maskrey came up with a fabric looking like green tree bark. Over it was a tight-fitting brown leather corset with leaf engravings. Wanting Tauriel to stand out from the rest of the male Elf guards, they gave her long red hair that went down past her calves. They made this possible with a wig blended with long hair extensions attached under it from the back of her neck. Lesley Harding designed a different traveling outfit that Tauriel would wear outside the Woodland Realm. They wanted something elegant and less warrior-like that allowed her to move freely and was somewhat similar to Arwen’s riding costume.

Elvish Dialogue

For added authenticity, they gave her and Legolas new Elvish lines. They based it on the syntax, grammar, and pronunciations that Tolkien invented for two Elven languages.
One was Sindarin from the Grey-Elves of Beleriand, which is the common everyday language. The other is Quenya, which is the more formal sounding ancient tongue of the High-Elves from the west that they applied in the movie for incantations.​