InJ. R. R. Tolkien'slegendarium, theElves or Quendi are a sundered (divided) people. They awoke atCuiviénen on the continent ofMiddle-earth, where they were divided into three tribes: Minyar (the Firsts), Tatyar (the Seconds) and Nelyar (the Thirds). After some time, they were summoned byOromë to live with theValar inValinor, on Aman. That summoning and the Great Journey that followed split the Elves into two main groups (and many minor ones), which were never fully reunited.
Tolkien stated that the stories were made to create a world for hiselvish languages, not the reverse. The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey writes thatThe Silmarillion derived from the linguistic relationship between the two languages,Quenya andSindarin, of the divided Elves. The Tolkien scholarVerlyn Flieger states that Tolkien used theIndo-European type ofproto-language as his model. In her view, the sundering of the Elves reflects the progressivedecline and fall in Middle-earth from its initial perfection; the highest Elves are those who deviated least from that state, meaning that in Tolkien's scheme,ancestry is a guide to character.
J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) is best known as the author of thehigh fantasy worksThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings. He was a professionalphilologist, an expert in the changes in words between languages.[1] He created a family ofinvented languages forElves, carefully designing the differences between them to reflect their distance from their imaginary common origin. He stated that his languages led him to create theinvented mythology ofThe Silmarillion, to provide a world in which his languages could have existed. In that world, the splintering of the Elvish peoples mirrored the fragmentation of their languages.[2][3]
InTolkien's legendarium, theElves awoke atCuiviénen, a bay on the eastern side of the Sea of Helcar, on the continent ofMiddle-earth, where they were divided into three tribes: Minyar (the Firsts), Tatyar (the Seconds) and Nelyar (the Thirds). After some time, they were summoned by theValaOromë, the huntsman, to live with him and the other Valar inValinor, on Aman. The Eldar are those who accepted the summons. Their name, literallyStar People, was given to them by Oromë, in their own language,Primitive Quendian.[4][5] The Avari are those who refused the summons.[5] Half of the Avari (the "refusers")[6] came from the largest tribe, the Nelyar, but most of the Nelyar went on the journey.[a][T 1]
The Eldar migrated westwards across the north of Middle-earth in their three groups. The Minyar became known as the Vanyar, meaning theFair Elves, with golden-blond hair.[5] The Tatyar who migrated west became known as theNoldor orDeep Elves, with deep knowledge of crafts and skills. The Nelyar who went west were known as the Teleri (Those who come last) or, as they called themselves, the Lindar orSingers. They stayed on the east of Aman, in Tol Eressëa.[5]
Those of the Teleri who reachedBeleriand by theGreat Sea but chose not to cross to Valinor were later called the Sindar (Grey Elves); their language wasSindarin. They stayed in the west of Middle-earth and were ruled byThingol (Elwë).[5] Many of the Sindar chose to remain behind to look for their lord Thingol, who disappeared near the end of the journey. These later inhabitedDoriath, and were named the Iathrim orPeople of the Girdle, for the magical 'Girdle ofMelian' that surrounded and protected the kingdom.[T 2]
Those who came to the shores of the Great Sea ofBelegaer but decided to stay there, or who arrived too late to be ferried, were called theFalathrim (People of theShore). They were ruled by Cirdan the Shipwright.[5]
Those who chose to remain behind and populated the lands to the north-west of Beleriand were called the Mithrim orGrey People, giving their name to the region and the great lake there. Most of them later merged with the Noldor who returned to Middle-earth, especially those ofGondolin.[T 3] Those who reached Aman were calledAmanyar Teleri; they were also called the Falmari, thePeople of the Waves, expert with ships and the sea.[T 4]
Those of the Teleri who refused to cross theMisty Mountains and stayed in the valley ofAnduin were called the Nandor (Those [Elves] who turn back).[5] Those of the Nandor who later entered Beleriand were called the Laiquendi (Green Elves orGreen People, so named because their attire was often green.)[7] "Laiquendi" was the term in Quenya, while the Sindarin version was "Laegrim". They settled in Ossiriand, an eastern region of Beleriand, and were famous for their singing. Hearing of the peaceful territories of King Thingol, Denethor, son of Lenwë, collected as many of his scattered people as he could and finally ventured westward over the Ered Luin into Ossiriand. Although in some instances the Green-elves of Ossiriand did participate in the battles and strife concerning Morgoth (theFirst Battle of Beleriand for example), they were for the most part a simple, peaceful, and reclusive people.[T 1] The Nandor who stayed around Anduin became known as the Tawarwaith, living inLothlórien andMirkwood; they were also called Silvan or Wood Elves. They were joined there by those Avari who eventually decided to move to the West.[T 5]
The Vanyar were the fairest and most noble of the High Elves; their name means "the Fair", as they have golden hair.[T 6] Their small clan was founded by Imin, the first Elf to awaken at Cuiviénen, with his wife Iminyë and their twelve companions: they broadly correspond to the Minyar. Ingwë was the Vanya Elf to travel with the Vala Oromë to Valinor, and became their king. The Vanyar spoke a dialect of Quenya called Vanyarin. Since they stayed in Valinor, they played no part in the wars in Beleriand, except for theWar of Wrath that brought an end to the region.[T 3]
The Vanyar, the Noldor, and those of the Teleri who reachedValinor are called the Calaquendi (Elves of Light) because they saw the light of theTwo Trees of Valinor. InQuenya, the language of the Noldor in Valinor, all other Elves were called the Moriquendi (Elves of Darkness) in recognition of the fact that they did not see (and did not desire) the Light of Valinor, but later the Sindar were counted among neither of these groups. Instead,Moriquendi was used for all other Elves except Noldor, Vanyar, Falmari, and Sindar.[2][8] The Sundering allowed Tolkien to explain the existence ofNorse mythology'sDökkálfar andLjósálfar, Dark and Light Elves. The Dark Elves, who lived underground inSvartalfheim ("Black Elfhome"), are rehabilitated by Tolkien as his Moriquendi. The Light Elves lived inAlfheim ("Elfhome") and correspond to his Calaquendi.[2]
Most of the Noldor returned withFëanor to Beleriand in Middle-earth before the raising of the Sun. Fëanor however sailed in haste in ships stolen from the (Telerin) Falmari. The Falmari resisted, and Fëanor's Noldor fought and killed them in the First Kinslaying, a battle of Elves upon Elves. In addition, Fëanor left behind his half-brotherFingolfin's Noldor, who also wanted to return. Fingolfin, furious, was obliged to make the perilous journey on foot via the Helcaraxë, the Grinding Ice of the far north. These groups of Noldor became known as the Exiles. In Beleriand they became divided by their place of dwelling, namelyHithlum,Gondolin,Dorthonion,Nargothrond and theMarch of Maedhros.[T 7][T 8]
After the War of Wrath that ended the First Age, the greater part of the surviving Noldor and Sindar (mostly mingled into a single people) returned into the West to dwell inTol Eressëa. The rest remained in Middle-earth throughout theSecond andThird Ages, entering the realm ofMirkwood of the Wood Elves or establishing the kingdoms ofLindon,Eregion,Lothlórien andRivendell.[T 3]
After the Separation the Avari became divided even more than the Eldar, though little of their history became known to the Elves andMen of the West of Middle-earth, and they barely feature in the legendarium.[5] At least six kindreds existed, and they continued to call themselves 'Quendi',[b] considering those who went away, the Eldar, as deserters. Some of these tribes later journeyed westward, intermingling with the Nandor inRhovanion, and a few even reachedBeleriand, though usually remaining on unfriendly terms with the Sindar.[T 1]
Matthew Dickerson, writing in theJ.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, notes the "very complicated changes, with shifting meanings assigned to the same names" as Tolkien worked on his conception of the Elves and their divisions and migrations. All the same, he notes, Tolkien kept to a consistent scheme. He states that the sundering of the Elves allowed Tolkien, a professionalphilologist, to develop twoElvish languages, distinct but related,Quenya for the Eldar andSindarin for the Sindar, citing Tolkien's own statement that the stories were made to create a world for the languages, not the reverse.[5]
Shippey suggests that the "real root" ofThe Silmarillion lay in the linguistic relationship, complete with sound-changes and differences of semantics, between the two languages of the divided elves. He adds that the elves are separated not by colour, despite names like light and dark, but by their history, including their migrations.[2]
The Tolkien scholarVerlyn Flieger states that in theLhammas and "The Etymologies" Tolkien used theIndo-European type ofproto-languages with branches and sub-branches of language families while inventing his variouslanguages of Middle-earth. This picture of increasing separation is analogous to the progressivedecline and fall in Middle-earth from its initial perfection, of which the Sundering of the Elves is a major element.[9] In Tolkien's scheme, the highest Elves are those who deviated least from their initial state (complying with the will of theValar, travelling to Valinor, and continuing to speak the highest language, Quenya). Conversely, the lowest Elves, the Avari, fragmented into many kindreds with different languages as they eventually spread out across Middle-earth. Tolkien thus intendedancestry to be a guide to character; the differences between the various Elvish languages mirror both the Sundering and the events ofThe Silmarillion.[2][3]