Who was the Queen of Mirkwood?

Question

I hope this has not been asked a lot, but I have been working on a costume, and I wish to try and come as close to what could have been canon since Tolkien and his universe is very dear to me.

So I was wondering if anyone knows anything about Thranduil's wife? My friend and I have been trying to put a profile together for her, but the universe is complicated and we both wish to try and get it as close to what could have been real or is real if she has been mentioned anywhere other then where we have found her.

What, if any, information do we have about Mrs. Thranduil?

Answer 1

No, she's never mentioned or hinted at. Really all we know is that she existed, because duh.

Considering that Thranduil was a Sindarin elf, with a long-standing mistrust of the Noldor, it's likely his wife was also a Sindar¹. There is, however, some extremely weak evidence that she may have been a Silvan:

• Thranduil is specifically called out as being among the Princes of the Sindar, named alongside Galadriel and Celeborn:

  [M]any of the Sindar passed eastward and established realms in the forests far away. The chief of these were Thranduil in the north of Greenwood the Great, and Celeborn in the south of the forest.

  ^{Return of the King Appendix B "The Tale of Years" (i) The Second Age}

  That Thranduil's wife is not mentioned here may imply that she was a Silvan, but it also may just mean she was a not-particularly-high-ranking Sindar.

• Also notable is that Thranduil is identified as Sindar, but Legolas is not:

  Thranduil father of Legolas of the Nine Walkers was Sindarin, and that tongue was used in his house, though not by all his folk.

  ^{Unfinished Tales Part 2 The Second Age Chapter 4: "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn" Appendix A The Silvan Elves and their Speech}

  This again might imply that Legolas isn't fully Sindar, which would suggest his mother is Silvan, but it's a pretty weak argument all things considered.

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¹ For more information about the subgroups of the Elves, and the differences between them, check out Major Stackings' question here. Dislcaimer: the top answer is mine.

Answer 2

Tolkien himself never mentions Legolas's mother within the books, only that of his father, Thranduil and his grandfather, Oropher (who are Sindarian Elves). However, The Hobbit trilogy expanded more on Legolas Greenleaf's mother, however, this is only within the movies, not the books (so it technically can be considered Peter Jackson's own work of fan fiction). But in Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies, we are given some mentions of Mrs. Thranduil.

The White Gems of Lasgalen, though only mentioned in the behind the scenes featurettes, was originally Mrs. Thranduil's jewelry, thus explaining Thranduil's motivations in retrieving the "heirlooms of his people." As apart of the backstory written for the film trilogy, the jewels and necklace were fashioned for her but she never got to wear them.

There was also a cut scene from BOTFA that included Gandalf telling Thranduil:

Gandalf: Those gems weren't all your wife left you, my friend. She left you a son. Tell me, which would she have you value more?

In another scene kept in BOTFA, Legolas explains to Tauriel that his mother was captured and brought to Gundabad where she died after enduring torture, which many people have misinterpreted to mean that she died in battle.

Legolas: My mother died there. My father does not speak of it. There is no grave, no memory. Nothing.

We do have an image of her as a statue in The Desolation of Smaug, which was confirmed to be Thranduil's wife in the behind the scenes featurette of Thranduil: The King of Wood and Stone:

It was also implied in this BOTFA scene that Legolas's mother had been captured while defending him in battle:

Thranduil: Legolas, your mother loved you...more than anyone...more than life.

Though we are offered this additional information, we still do not know if she was Sindarian or Silvan, her name, or how she met Thranduil. It is also fair to note that this was what Peter Jackson and his team came up with for Thranduil's backstory, not what Tolkien himself wrote. Tolkien never mentions Thranduil's wife ever in his written works. So it is either left entirely to the imagination or we can go by The Hobbit trilogy (though some would accuse it of being a little too flexible and carefree with Tolkien's timeline). If you wish to look at Thranduil's backstory from The Hobbit trilogy, there is a behind-the-scenes featurette that you may watch for more additional information on Thranduil's wife and the mother of Legolas Greenleaf that further discusses this topic.

Answer 3

While at Gundabad, Legolas makes a reference to his mother to Tauriel. Apparently, she had died during an ancient battle between the Elves and the Orcs, and that there was nothing to remember her by, given how there was no grave, and his father never spoke of the matter. However, before Legolas left to find Strider, Thranduil assured him that his mother loved him more than life itself. (Source)

This is all we know of her from the references coming from the movie. But this is movie universe.