 Dark Elves Those numbered among the Dark Elves were all the Elven-folk who never beheld the ennobling Light of the Trees of the Valar. These were the Avari- the Silvan Elves of the East and those of Mirkwood and Lothlorien -and the Eldar who never completed the Great Journey to the Undying Lands - the Nandor, the Laiquendi (Green-elves), the Falathrim and also the Sindar (Grey-elves) - who inhabited Beleriand until the end of the First Age of Sun, when all the Elf-realms of that place were lost in the sea. The Dark Elves, or "Moriquendi" in the Elven tongue, were counted a lesser people than the High Elves of Eldamar, who were the Vanyar, Noldor and Teleri. Yet by the reckoning of Men these Dark Elves were magical and brilliant beings. For they were immune to pestilence and aged not with the passage of time. They were wiser, stronger and fairer than Men and their eyes always shone with the light of the Stars. In the first years of the Sun, it was these Elves who taught all Men speech and many others arts and skills, that they might live in Middle-earth and raise themselves above the station of beasts. The Nandor and the Laiquendi both were said to have learned powers of woodlore greater than any other living creatures. The Falathrim were the first shipbuilders of Middle-earth and the finest mariners. The Sindar, who were ruled by a High Eldar King and a Maiar queen, built the fairest kingdom on Middle-earth and performed noble deeds counted great even by the measure of the High Elves. In the Second Age of Sun, after the sinking of Beleriand new Elf-realms were created by the High Elves of Middle-earth and many Silvan Elves came to them out of the East and the North. Of these new realms, those of Lindon, Rivendell, Mirkwood and Lothlorien survived until the Forth Age. But as the "Red Book of Westmarch" tells, the High Elves in the Forth Age took the white Elven-ships to the Undying Lands. And though Dark Elves long remained in Middle-earth, all their realms faded and they became a wandering folk of ever diminishing power. Deep Elves Of all the Elves the most famous in the songs of Men are the Noldor, who are called Deep Elves because of their great knowledge of the crafts taught to them in the Undying Lands by Aule, the Smith of the Valar and Maker of Mountains. In Eldarmar, these Elves greatly loved to build with stones and the delved deep into the mountains for it. They were the first to find the bright Earth-gems and they were first to devise the Elf-gems that were brighter still. The Deep Elves were well known to Men, for alone of the Calaquendi they returned to Middle-earth after the coming of Men and performed great deeds, for both good and evil. These Elves wrought the Great Jewels - the Silmarils - and also made the Rings of Power. The greatest wars that ever were known to Men were fought over these works. East Elves At the time of the Rekindling of the Stars, all Elves lived in the East of Middle-earth, under the shadow of the Orocarni, the Mountains of the East, beside the shore of the Great Inland Sea of Helcar. But in the time of the Lord of Forests, the huntsmen Orome of the Valarian race, came to the Elves, and brought the summons to leave that land of starlight and crystal water and come to a land beyond many mountains and across the great sea which promised to be of eternal light and great joy. Many heeded his call and traveled to the West and were variously called West Elves, the People of the Great Journey and Eldar. Those who remained were named East Elves or the Avari, the “unwilling�?who feared the Great Journey. Later still, they were called the Silvan Elves or Wood Elves. They loved starlight and the sounds of the waters of Cuivienen and, though many evil things might lurk in the shadows of the forest, they cared greatly for the Kelvar and Olvar of the lands and did not wish to leave them for a brilliant vision. So they remained and dwindled, or so it seemed to the eyes of Men who came later, for they seldom saw these Elves, and what power they had remained closely linked to the power of growing things. They hid themselves, for as long as the power of Melkor in the East remained unchecked the only chance for these people lay in living secretly on the land. Grey Elves Of all the Umanyar, the Elves of the Journey who never saw the Light of the Trees, the mightiest were the Sindar, "Grey-elves". These people were ruled by one who had seen the Light and they were protected by one who was handmaid to the Powers that made the Trees. The king of the Grey-elves was Elwe Singollo, which in the tongue of the Grey-elves was Elu Thingol, King Greymantle. Thingol was tallest of all Elves and his hair was silver. His queen was Melian the Maia, and Ages before the coming of the Sun these two made a kingdom in the Wood of Doriath, and therein built a great city named Menegroth. So long as Melian was queen and Thingol lived, the Sindar were a prosperous and happy people. But when Thingol was drawn into the War of the Jewels and lost his life and his queen went away, the enchantment was broken, as were the people. High Elves Of all the Elves, the mightiest were those of the Eldar who first reached the shores of Aman, the Undying Lands, in the days of the Trees of the Valar. These were called the High Elves, and they were those Elves who arrived in that place names "Elvenhome" and were granted great wisdom and many skills by the Valar and Maiar. In large part they dwell there still, though the Trees have been destroyed and the Undying Lands have been taken from the Cirlces of the World and cannot now be reached by any device of Man Continue to Elve Knowledge  Click to return to home page 
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