'The Unwilling'; those of the Elves who refused the summons of the Valar to dwell in Valinor and remained in the dark wilds of Middle-earth.Some of the Avari,it is said,were corrupted by Melkor in ancient days to become the progenitors of the race of Orcs.
Calaquendi :
'Elves of the Light'; a name given to the Vanyar,the Noldor and that part of the Teleri who travelled to Aman in the youth of the world and saw the light of the Two Trees of Valinor; Elu Thingol of Doriath is also counted among their number.
Dark Elves :
The Moriquendi,those Elves who refused the summons of the Valar to Valinor or fell away on the Great Journey and never saw the light of the Two Trees.
Deep Elves :
A rarely-used name for the Noldor,the division of the Elves that Finw� led into Valinor.'Deep' is here used in the sense of 'profound' or 'wise';the Noldor were considered the most learned and inventive of the Eldar;the great Vala Aul� taught them much during their time in Aman.
Edhel :
A Sindarin word meaning simply 'Elves';the name of the Grey-elves for their own people.
Eldali� :
An equivalent term to Eldar,referring to the Elves of the Great Journey.This is apparently the natural Quenya form of the word.
Eldar :
The name given to the Elves by the Vala Orom� when he first found them wandering in the starlight of Cuivi�nen.At first,the name was applied to all Elves but after the summons of the Valar,it came to be used only of the peoples who followed the summons and began the Great Journey.The Three Kindreds of the Eldar were the Vanyar,the Noldor and the Teleri.All of the Vanyar and Noldor went to Aman (though many of the Noldor later returned to Middle-earth with F�anor).Many of the Teleri also journeyed to Valinor but twice a host of this people turned away from the Journey in Middle-earth;these two kindreds are called �manyar,the Eldar not of Aman.The first of these were the Nandor,who turned aside east of the Misty Mountains and travelled down the River Anduin.The second,the Sindar,tarried in Beleriand seeking their lord,Elw� Singollo.
Elves of the Light :
Those Elves known as the Calaquendi,who had looked on the light of the Two Trees of Valinor before their Darkening.These were the Vanyar,the Noldor and that part of the Teleri that had travelled West from Middle-earth.Elu Thingol was also considered an Elf of the Light because although he never completed the Great Journey,he had travelled to Valinor and back before the Eldar set out from Cuivi�nen.
Elves of the Twilight :
A name for the Sindar or Grey-elves.
Fair Elves :
A name for the Vanyar,from the fair colour of their hair.
Golodhrim :
The name of the Noldor among the Sindar;rarely used in Tolkien's work but probably the dominant form in Beleriand.
Golug :
A word from a language of the Orcs,whose only recorded use was during the later First Age,used to describe the Deep Elves or Noldor.Its origins are unknown but it may be related to the Sindarin name for this same people,Golodhrim.
Grey-Elves :
The Sindar;those of the Teleri who remained in Beleriand when their kin travelled across the Great Sea.
High Elves :
The Three Kindreds of the Elves who journeyed to Valinor;the Vanyar,the Noldor and those of the Teleri who did not remain in Beleriand.Of these,the Vanyar and Teleri remained there but many of the Noldor returned to Middle-earth at the beginning of the First Age and some of these remained at the time of the War of the Ring.
Light Elves :
A name given to the Vanyar,the kindred of the Elves who came first to Valinor and dwelt long ages in the light of the Two Trees.
Moriquendi :
Called the Dark Elves,those of the Elves who never saw the light of the Two Trees of Valinor,including the Avari,the Nandor and the Sindar.The Sindarin king Elu Thingol,however,was not accounted among the Moriquendi,as he had travelled to Valinor before returning to Middle-earth.
Nandor :
Telerin Elves who turned aside from the Great Journey east of the Misty Mountains and journeyed down the River Anduin.Some few later came into Beleriand and dwelt in Ossiriand,while those that remained founded realms of their own.The people of L�rien were of this kind,as were the Wood-elves of Mirkwood
Noldor :
The division of the Elves that followed Finw� as their lord.In the long march from Cuivi�nen to the western shores of Middle-earth,they were the second great host.When they reached Valinor,they learned much from Aul� the Smith and were accounted the greatest of the Elves in matters of lore and craft.They dwelt in Aman for many Ages but after the Darkening of Valinor many of the Noldor forsook the Undying Lands and followed Melkor to Middle-earth.Melkor had slain Finw� and stolen the Silmarils, the work of F�anor,the greatest craftsman of that people and the Noldor returned to make war on him until he gave up the Great Jewels.
Sea Elves :
A name of the Teleri and especially those of that kin who came to Aman and dwelt at Alqualond�,for their love of the sea and reverence of Ulmo its lord.
Silvan Elves :
Long before the beginning of the First Age,the Elves of the Great Journey travelled westward through the lands of Middle-earth.Coming to the Great River Anduin and the high peaks of the Misty Mountains some of the Elves of the clan of the Teleri fell away from the journey and settled in the woodlands east of the Mountains.These were the original Silvan Elves,who lived on either side of the River.At this time in their history,all of this people still lived close together,with some dwelling in the land that would later be called L�rien and the others settling around the hill of Amon Lanc in the far south of Greenwood the Great.It must have been in the time these Elves were living closely together that the Silvan Elvish language appeared.As history passed,the Elves would move away from one another and mingle with other Elvish peoples,so that the Silvan branch of Elvish would eventually become extinct.Nonetheless, relics of that ancient tongue survived in some well-known place-names and personal names,such as Caras Galadhon,Amroth and even L�rien itself.The Silvan Elves dwelt in their twin woodland realms for many centuries but in the Second Age the emerging power of Sauron began to drive them apart.Oropher was the ruler of the Elves who dwelt in the Greenwood and he began to seek safety by moving his people northwards,away from Amon Lanc and away from the Silvan Elves who lived to the west of the Great River.
Sindar :
An Elvish people of Telerin origin.Coming to the western shores of Middle-earth with the others of their kin,they did not pass across the sea but remained in Beleriand.Some had tarried there searching for their lord,Elw�,while others were persuaded to remain by Oss� the Maia.Before the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth,the Sindar were found in most parts of Beleriand;all claimed Elw� (known as Thingol in the Sindarin tongue) as their high king.There were two main countries of the Sindar,however;in Doriath under the rule of Thingol and Melian and in the Falas,under the lordship of C�rdan the Shipwright.
Teleri :
The third and greatest of the three Elf-kindreds of the Great Journey,from whom the Nandor and the Sindar were descended.The Teleri came last to Aman and dwelt in Alqualond� on the western shores of the Great Sea.
Third Clan :
A name for the Teleri,the third of the three clans of the Elves that made the Great Journey from Cuivi�nen.
Three Kindreds :
The Vanyar,the Noldor and the Teleri;the three hosts of Elves who followed the summons of the Valar and began the Great Journey to Aman.
�manyar :
The Elves who never came to Aman;a general term including not only the Avari but also the Elves of the Great Journey who remained in Middle-earth,the Sindar and the Nandor.
Vanyar :
The first of the Elves to make the great march westwards from Cuivi�nen to Valinor and accounted the highest of the High Elves.Their leader,Ingw�,bears the title High King of the Elves and dwells on Taniquetil beneath the halls of Manw�.All of the Vanyar journeyed to Valinor long before the beginning of the First Age and remained there.For this reason,they are not mentioned often in the histories of Middle-Earth.
