Attached by rawhide straps to his bow holster and quiver suspension system were two leather scabbards, each containing a long knife. These were known as White Knives, probably because of the ash wood used for the handles, and were a little under two feet in length: the handle was about eight inches long, inlaid with the iconic Elven vine scroll, and curved in the same way as Elrond's sword, Hadhafang, to resemble a living shoot; and like that famous sword, the bronze guard and pommel fitted diagonally on to the tang, matching the shape of the handgrip exactly so that no metal protruded. The sixteen-inch blade was made from the finest grade steel, heavily etched and engraved with brass in a complex pattern of scrollwork and vines. Each knife was honed only on the downward side, and the point was sharply tapered, allowing Legolas to use them in fast, slashing strokes and short stabbing motions. As he did not carry a sword (with the exception of when he rode out with Théoden and Aragorn at Helm's Deep so would have needed to be able to reach the unmounted Uruk-hai) Legolas would have relied on hand and body speed to keep him from harm as he simultaneously wielded both blades in a dual whirling attack. There is no record of him using just one so it can be reasonably be assumed that Legolas was ambidextrous. The above is an except from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: WEAPONS AND WARFARE book by Chris Smith, available from Houghton Mifflin (USA) and HarperCollins Publishers (international)