[ Rot and decay were unfamiliar to most elves, and Legolas had only once or twice come across the corpse of an animal that had not become food for some another creature. ]

Many foul things in my land feast on the flesh of the dead. There are-- small creatures similar to these, but never have I seen them behave like this.

[ Satisfied the danger has passed, he sheaths his knife and turns from the corpses. ]

These maggots you speak of, do they feast on all dead, or only those they have killed themselves?