n Sir Peter Jackson's the film trilogy, Legolas son of Thranduil is a master of archery, killing many foes (usually Goblins, Ores, or Uruk-hai) with his impressive archery Legolas fires two arrows at once at the Cave Troll in the Mines of Moria; in the , we find him firing three arrows at once to bring down an Oliphantat the battle of Pelennor Fields. Many have marvelled at his feats on screen, others have pointed out that this is fantasy and how unlikely they are, especially firing more than one arrow at once (although, like Robin Hood splitting the arrow, the feat has been repeated by modern archers). There was, however, a much older precedent. According to the sixth century historian Zosimus, one of the emperor Constantius M's commanders was capable of the feat of firing three arrows at once indeed it was his signature move. At the battle of Mursa Major in September 351, against the army of the usurper Magnentius, Menelaus was the commander of the Armenian Mounted Archers and he "used to fit three arrows at once to his bow, and with one shot, hit not one but three men. With this method of shooting, he killed a great number of the enemy and was virtually the cause of their flight." This feat has been labelled as romantic rhetoric and dismissed as nonsense by commentators on Zosimus but it is, nonetheless, a precedent in real life of Legolas on screen.
