The Green Book of the White Downs: Migrations and monuments: Part 3

Migrations and monuments: the story of the First Age in Eriador and Rhovanion

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📗 Part 3] Of starlight and the wide spaces of Middle-earth: The Unwilling Elves and those lost or turned aside on the long road

The first sundering of the Elves

“Thus it was that the Valar found at last, as it were by chance, those whom they had so long awaited. And Oromë looking upon the Elves was filled with wonder, as though they were beings sudden and marvellous and unforeseen; for so it shall ever be with the Valar.”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion (Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter 3: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor)

It was Oromë on his steed Nahar that first encountered the Elves (Quendi) in Cuiviénen after their awakening (Y.T. 1050). Melkor or his servants lurked in the shadows, whispering fearful things into the ears of the elves so Oromë sought the council of the rest of the Valar. They waged war on Melkor then defeated and imprisoned him. Then the Valar sent Oromë to bring the Elves to Aman. This summons was not accepted by all and led to the first sundering of the Elves.

The Elves that followed Oromë became the Eldar, those that refused were known as the Avari (“The Unwilling”). Three Hosts formed the Eldar (in order of departure):

🧝 Vanyar (Fair Elves) led by Ingwë – smallest of the hosts
🧝 Noldor (Deep Elves) led by Finwë
🧝 Teleri (Sea Elves) led by Elwë Singollo (Greymantle) and Olwë – largest of the hosts

Those that made it to Aman are called Calaquendi (“Elves of the Light”). Not all of these were to make it to Aman. Some lost their way on the road west or changed their minds. Some lingered on the western shores of Middle-earth. These were called Úmanyar (“Those not of Aman”). Both the Úmanyar and Avari were called Moriquendi (“Elves of the Darkness”).

“Then befell the first sundering of the Elves. For the kindred of Ingwë, and the most part of the kindreds of Finwë and Elwë, were swayed by the words of their lords, and were willing to depart and follow Oromë: and these were known ever after as the Eldar, by the name that Oromë gave to the Elves in the beginning, in their own tongue. But many refused the summons, preferring the starlight and the wide spaces of Middle-earth to the rumour of the Trees; and these are the Avari, the Unwilling, and they were sundered in that time from the Eldar, and met never again until many ages were past.”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion (Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter 3: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor)

So the Elves’ sundering can be divided between:

(1) those who travelled to the Aman, the Blessed Realm and saw the Light of the Trees of Valinor
(2) those who began the journey but never made it across the sea
(3) those who refused the journey completely

It is the second and third groups of the Elves that populated Eriador and Rhovanion in the First Age after the departure of the first group. If you wish to look for information about these in Tolkien’s works, then The Silmarillion is the best place to start:

The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion (J.R.R. Tolkien)
📜 Chapter 3: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor
📜 Chapter 10: Of the Sindar

The development of these stories and more can be found in The History of Middle-earth volumes edited by Christopher Tolkien. In all these stories we see where and when the Elves stopped in the march west and where the populated the lands.

Of these the Avari remained for the most part in Rhovanion and some moved west into Eriador. There is mention a few travelled into Beleriand. It is written that some Avari were corrupted by Melkor and became the progenitors of orcs. Of the Elves that marched at the bequest of the Valar on the Great Journey, it was the parts of the largest host called the Teleri that remained in Rhovanion and Eriador, often when the hit natural barriers. The Teleri were the last host to travel.

Led by the brothers Elwë and Olwë, the Teleri were to split along the Great Journey:

🧝 Falmari – arrived in Beleriand and reached Valinor. During the Flight of the Noldor, many Falmari were slaughtered during the Kinslaying at Alqualondë.
🧝 Sindar – arrived in Beleriand but their king, Elwë, disappeared (he was spellbound by the Maiar Melian) and they refused to leave him. They did not reach Valinor and became the Sindar.
🧝 Nandor – having reached the Hithaeglir (the Towers of Mist also known later as the Misty Mountains), Lenwë chose not to cross the high peaks and decided to stay in forests of the Vales of Anduin. These peoples became the Nador.

“And it came to pass after many years of journeying in this manner that the Eldar took their course through a forest, and they came to a great river, wider than any they had yet seen; and beyond it were mountains whose sharp horns seemed to pierce the realm of the stars. This river, it is said, was even the river which was after called Anduin the Great, and was ever the frontier of the west-lands of Middle-earth. But the mountains were the Hithaeglir, the Towers of Mist upon the borders of Eriador; yet they were taller and more terrible in those days, and were reared by Melkor to hinder the riding of Oromë.”

-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion (Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter 3: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor)

The Nandor later further spilt with the 🧝 Laiquendi (Green-elves) heading into Beleriand and settling Ossiriand whilst the 🧝 Silvan Elves remained east of the Misty Mountains in the Vales of Anduin and Greenwood/Mirkwood. In the cataclysmic destruction of Beleriand at the end of the First Age, Teleri/Sindar elves returned back to their Silvan relatives in the wooded realms in the Vales of Anduin.

With so much going on, let’s recap how elf populations in Valinor, Beleriand, Rhovanion and Eriador stand during the First Age. The majority of the Vanyar and Noldor both depart the Westlands of Middle-earth for Valinor. Of the Teleri, one part of that host arrives in Valinor. In Beleriand both the Sindar and Laiquendi are the biggest populations.

The sundering of the Elves left the following groups in Eriador and Rhovanion:

🧝 Avari
🧝 Nandor: Silvan Elves

The Second Age sees movement in reverse, Elves escaping from the destroyed Beleriand towards Eriador and Rhovanion and the creation of various Elf realms: Lindon, Eregion, Rivendell and Lothlórien.

It should be stated now that on all these journeys, barriers created situations where many Elves gave up on their journey which led to population settlement. These barriers were mainly natural such as water-based (rivers, lakes, seas) and mountains, and there are parallels between the journey of the Elves and later of Men in the hardships they encounter. One of the barriers was thrown up to limit the movement of the Vala known as Oromë. The barriers in Eriador and Rhovanion include:

🌊 Sea of Rhûn
🌊 The Great River (Anduin)
⛰ Hithaeglir (the Towers of Mist / The Misty Mountains)
⛰ Ered Luin (The Blue Mountains)

We also see in both Elves and Men the determination to overcome these obstacles and displayed in the boat-building skills of both the Teleri and, later, the Folk of Hador.

“Before ever they came to Beleriand the Teleri had developed a craft of boat-making; first as rafts, and soon as light boats with paddles made in imitation of the water-birds upon the lakes near their first homes, and later on the Great Journey in crossing rivers, or especially during their long tarrying on the shores of the ‘Sea of Rhûn’, where their ships became larger and stronger. But in all this work Círdan had ever been the foremost and most inventive and skilful.”
-- Christopher Tolkien, The History of Middle-earth, Book 12: The Peoples of Middle-earth (Part Two: Late Writings – XII. The Problem of Ros, Footnote 29)

We’ll see later how the Men also developed similar skills whilst by the Sea of Rhûn. There was also danger on the routes from the servants of Melkor, though the Elves were protected by Ossë. The Men faced these dangers alone.

We’ve looked at the regions where the Elves populated on their way towards Beleriand and Valinor, but we’ve not yet talked about their dwellings. At least during the First Age, the Avari were considered wild and lived in rugged dwellings:

“…but the Avari in general remained secretive, hostile to the Eldar, and untrustworthy; and they dwelt in hidden places in the deeper woods, or in caves.”
-- Christopher Tolkien, The History of Middle-earth, Book 11: War of the Jewels (Part Four: Quendi and Eldar)

There is one source for what habitations the Sindar made, the recent “The Nature of Middle-earth” book of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works edited by Carl Hostetter.

“Before the coming of the Exiles from Eldamar a large part of the Sindar lived in primitive conditions, mostly in groves or forest-land; permanent built dwellings were rare, especially those of smaller kind corresponding more or less to our “a house”.”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Nature of Middle-earth (Part Three: The World, its Lands, and its Inhabitants – VI. Dwellings in Middle-earth)

Their lives were following a “nomadic mobile life” at this stage, but it is noted later they began to build:

“Thus the earliest essays of the Sindar in masonry were on the West Coasts in the realm of Círdan the Shipbuilder: harbour-works, quays, and towers. After the return of Morgoth to Thangorodrim their building remained undomestic, being mainly devoted to defensive works. Their skill developed rapidly during their association with the Dwarves of the Ered Luin, and later was still more enhanced by the great arts of the exiled Noldor.”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Nature of Middle-earth (Part Three: The World, its Lands, and its Inhabitants – VI. Dwellings in Middle-earth)

So the Elves in Eriador and Rhovanion, at least in the First Age, were not creating lasting monuments or settlements yet. This came later once the Elves who had crossed over the sea to Valinor returned with knowledge and skills learned from the Valar. There was something the Elves did help awaken in the Westlands of Middle-earth which lasted into the Third Age: the Ents.

Next:
📜 Part 4] Awakening the Shepherds of the Forests

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“Migrations and monuments” quick links:

Saturday 8 July 2023

Migrations and monuments: Part 3 - Elves

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