How Far Could Lord of the Rings' Legolas Really See?

By Jamie Condliffe on at

In Lord of the Rings, Legolas claims to be able to count the exact number of horsemen five leagues away. That's over 17 miles – even discerning their leader as very tall. But would that ever be possible?

In this video, Minute Physics imagines the perfect pair of eyes to establish if physics could ever actually allow Legolas to see what's claimed in the book. If he viewed the world in the visible light spectrum, then diffraction probably made his claim bogus. But if he saw in UV? Then, then we might be in business. [Minute Physics]