Overview of the Elves in the Legendarium
Elves were the first Children of Iluvatar that were also called Quendi which means in Quenya “people who speak” or Eldar in Quenya the People of the Stars because the Sun and the Moon wasn’t created when the elves first awaken.
Elves were immune to any kind of diseases and they were immortal while they would only age until they reach their best.
Once elves died, their souls would be sent to the Halls of Mandos and remain until a certain time.
The elves haven’t awaken all at once and depending on when they’ve awaken, whether they’ve journied to Aman or Valinor or remained at Middle Earth or whether they’ve witnessed the Two Trees of Valinor, the elves were classified into different types of elves and called different names.
Types of Elves
Classification of Elves - Calaquendi & Moriquendi – Witnessed the Two Trees of Valinor or not
The classification of the Calaquendi and the Moriquendi depends on whether the elves have witnessed the Two Trees of Valinor or not. Calaquendi refers to the elves who have witnessed the light of the Two Trees of Valinor while the MorqiQuendi refer to the elves that have not witnessed the Two Trees of Valinor.
The Calaquendi thus literally includes the elves that have traveled to Aman where Valinor exists including the Vanyar, Noldor and Falmari elves. Calaquendi thus is almost equivalent as the Amanyar elves as the Amanyar elves are elves who have been to Aman or Valinor.
Morqiquendi include the elves who have never reached Valinor or Aman thus the Sindar, Nandor, Laiquendi and the Avari elves were the Moriquendi.
The Moriquendi were also called the Elves of Darkness or the Dark Elves(This isn’t a reference to evil elf) as they haven’t seen the Two Trees of Valinor while the Calaquendi were called the Light Elves or the High Elves as they’ve seen the light of Two Trees of Valinor and they’ve met the Valars and reached Aman, Valinor, the land of immortality.
Classification of Elves - Amanyar, Umanyar, Avamanyar – Journey to Aman, Valinor
The classification of the Amanyar, Umanyar and the Avamanyar depended on whether the elves voyaged to Aman, Valinor or not and whether the elves willingly refused to voyage to Aman, Valinor.
The Amanyar were elves that reached Aman thus Valinor and these elves were also those who have saw the Two Trees of Valinor, the Calaquendi.
Avamanyar were the elves who hasn’t headed to Aman, Valinor at the first place and remained on Middle-Earth by their own will. Umanyar are the elves who headed to Aman, Valinor, but weren’t able to reach Aman or Valinor, thus Umanyar elves have never been to Aman or Valinor that include the Sindar, Nandor and the Laiquendi.
Classification of Elves – Eldar and the Avari – ‘The Great Journey’ from Cuivienen
Cuiviénen was the place at the far east of Arda and Middle Earth where all the elves have first awaken. Eldar elves refer to all the elves that have took the ‘Great Journey’ from Cuivienen and traveled west towards Aman, Valinor.
Most of the elves that appear in Silmarillion, Lord of the Rings were all thus Eldar elves and the term ‘Eldar’ became an equivalent as the Avari elves weren’t involved much in the events of the Legendarium. Avari refer to the elves who didn’t travel to the west towards Valinor. The Avari elves are thus the Avamanyar elves as well.
Classification of Elves – Vanyar, Noldor, Teleri, Avari - Order of when they’ve awakened
The first elves that have awaken were the Vanyar led by the elf king Ingwe. The Vanyar elves have took the Great Journey and arrived and lived in Aman, Valinor. The second elves that have awaken were the Noldor led by the elf king Finwe.
While the Vanyar elves have remained in Aman, Valinor, the Noldors successfully reached Aman, Valinor, however after the murder of the elf king Finwe and theft of the Three Silmarils by Melkor, Feanor becomes the second Noldor King in Valinor and declares the Oath of Feanor and would lead the Noldors back to Middle Earth.
Thus, Noldor elves were elves who have been to Valinor but returned to Middle Earth for their conquest against Melkor. Feanor was the one who gave Melkor the name Morgoth that means “Dark Enemy” in Sindarin.
The third elves that have awaken were the Teleri and the Teleri also take the great journey to Aman, Valinor, however not all of them were successful and were divided to groups the Falmari who were successful to reach Valinor, the Sindar, the elves that remained in Beleriand and those who gave up the journey at the Misty Mountains. The elves that awaken later all gave up the Great journey and became the Avari.
Classification of Elves – Falmari, Sindar, Nandor, Laiquendi – Groups among the Teleri
The Falmari elves were the Teleri elves (the elf group that has awaken third in order) that successfully reached Valinor, Aman. The Falmari elves have stayed at Valinor, however they were involved with the first kinslaying by Feanor and the Noldor elves as the Noldors demanded boats from the Falmari(Teleri) elves while the Falmari refused to resist the will of the Valars.
The Sindar elves were the elves that never reached Aman, Valinor and stayed at Beleriand. The Sindar elves have become the most noble class of elves among the Moriquendi, the dark elves who haven’t seen the light of the Two Trees of Valinor.
Most elf lords who weren’t Noldor were mostly Sindar elves and their language the Sindarin became the common language for elves. Nandor elves were also called wood elves and the Liaquendi were called the green elves where both the Nandor and the Laiquendi gave up the Great Journey to Valinor at the Misty Mountains.
Elf language – Quenya and Sindarin
Quenya was the language also known as ‘high-elvish’ as it was the language spoken by elves that have reached Aman, thus Valinor. The Vanyar and the Noldor would speak Quenya.
The Falmari, a group of Teleri elves that reached Valinor later spoke a similar language similar to Quenya. However, for the elves that remained in Middle Earth, the most common language became Sindarin which was spoken by the Sindar elves.
The Sindar elves were the noble and high ranking among the elves that never reached Valinor and when the Noldors arrived at Middle Earth as they first stepped down on Beleriand from the sea, they’ve learned Sindarin faster than the Sindar elves could speak Quneya.
Quenya became a more high-class and noble language while Sindarin became the common elf language, thus became elvish. As J.R.R. Tolkien first made Quenya, Quenya became a functional language as it was based on the academic knowledge by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Gift of Iluvatar to Humans, Death
The Gift of Iluvatar was given to the humans and simply it is known as death. Per the Legendarium, death was considered a ‘gift’ only given to humans by the All Mighty Iluvatar.
After death, the human souls were able to travel the unknown that even the Valar didn’t know of. The Gift of Ilúvatar marked the difference of the children of EIluvatar the humans and the elves.
The elves were the first-born children of Iluvatar and were immortal while men, humans, the second born children of Iluvatar were mortal as they received the Gift of Iluvatar, in other words death.
Iluvatar gave humans death as Iluvatar wished humans to have the freedom and the will to alter the courses of their destiny by themselves. In other words, Iluvatar presented death as a gift so humans would resist any given destiny by their own will.
Morgoth, Sauron and many other dark figures would deceive the humans that death was a curse. The Nazguls, which were once human kings, were partially immortal as their souls were bound to the rings of power forged by Sauron.
The Kingdom of Numenor has rebelled against the Valar in desire of immortality as the Numenorians were deceived by Sauron. As a result, Numenor has sunk and perished while only a few Numenorians who were still loyal to the Valars were able to flee to Middle Earth.
Ilúvatar was aware that some humans wouldn’t appreciate death as a gift but Iluvatar believed that the soul of humans could dwell the world beyond Iluvatar’s comprehension after death and enrich them during life.
