Rúmil brought them through the Northern Fences, the northern border of Lórien with the Outside. Rúmil and his men were quiet and secretive, and their behaviour rubbed off on the usually enthusiastic hobbits, who now had fallen silent. The Elves would converse only briefly amongst each other, in a language closely related to Sindarin but alien to any of the Company, including Gandalf. These were Elves of the folk of the Nandor, Teleri Elves who had started the Great Journey to Valinor but had halted at the sight of the Misty Mountains. Many of the folk of the Teleri had then become frightened at the sight of the high mountain range and while on their journey West they had fallen in love with the streams and rivers and forests of western Rhovanion. A large part of those who would become the Nandor forsook the Great Journey then and remained in Rhovanion, living in spread out communities, spanning from the Vale of Anduin all the way to Greenwood the Great – Mirkwood of old. Countless years later a group of the Nandor, led by an Elf lord named Denethor, journeyed across the Misty Mountains all the way to Beleriand where they became known as the Laiquendi, or Green Elves, of Ossiriand. There they performed great deeds in the fight against Morgoth and would eventually return east after the destruction of Thangorodrim and Beleriand during the War of Wrath.
The Nandor were a much simpler folk than their cousins, the Sindar, in Beleriand, even more simple than the Laiquendi who eventually came to Beleriand. When that part of Middle-Earth sunk beneath the waves many of the Sindar and Ñoldor ventured east in search of new realms. One of these Sindar was Amdir, first king of Lórien. Oropher was also one of the Sindar who ventured into Rhovanion and established the Kingdom of Greenwood the Great. Both Sindar ruled over a mainly Nandor and Silvan (those who stayed behind after Denethor's departure) population. These Elves had no great leaders nor strong realms, they merely lived in peace, happy to ignore the tidings of the world. The Sindar Princes longing to rule their own kingdoms once more took these people under their wing and governed them as they willed. These Wood-Elves learned much from their Grey-Elf masters and in kind the Sindar adopted the Nador and Silvan culture, meshing the two Teleri branches together. Long these kingdoms prospered until the shadow returned to the north.
After Amdir, who fell in the Battle of Dagorlad during the Last Alliance, came Amroth, Amdir's son. He ruled for a while before he and his lover Nimrodel went south to sail into the West from the haven of Edhellond, in Belfalas, southern Gondor. Amroth met a tragic death at sea and Nimrodel's fate remains unknown, but forever Amroth's name was carried in remembrance by the Princes of Dol Amroth who were said to share blood with Amroth and Nimrodel's folk. With Amroth gone, Lórien was without a king. This is when Celeborn and Galadriel came to be the Lord and Lady of Lothlórien.
Celeborn too was a Sinda and kinsman to Elu “Thingol” Singollo, the oldest of the Teleri. For a wife he had taken Galadriel, daughter of Finarfin. She was not of the Grey-Elves but of the Ñoldor and a woman of great beauty and power, born in the Blessed Realm of Aman, in the latter days of the Light of the Two Trees. Together they had lived in Doriath for many years where they were married and content to stay at the court of Thingol and Melian. After the fall of Beleriand they went to live in Lindon, where most of the Eldar gathered who wished to stay in Middle-Earth, led by their last High-King, Gil-Galad. For many years they wandered the lands of Eriador until at last they came to Eregion, where Celebrimbor dwelled, the maker of the Rings of Power. Before the War of the Elves and Sauron, Galadriel and her daughter Celebrían relocated to Lórien, where Amdir ruled, while Celeborn remained in Eregion. When Sauron came to the land of Hollin he demanded Celebrimbor to give up the Rings, staking his claim because it had been his knowledge that had made Celebrimbor and the Ñoldor able to create the Rings in the first place. Celebrimbor refused, now aware of Sauron's deceit, and Sauron laid waste to Eriador and brought fire and death to Eregion. Celebrimbor was killed and his lifeless body paraded around Eriador, and the Nine and Seven Rings, safe the one of Durin III, whom had been a close friend to the Ñoldor of Eregion and was said to have received his Ring from Celebrimbor himself and not from Sauron, were taken by Sauron. Celeborn was among those that escaped the sacking of Ost-in-Edhil, the capital of Eregion, and together with Elrond Half-Elven, the Herald of Gil-Galad, he went north to the founding place of Rivendell and stayed there for a while, helping build up this secret refuge of the Eldar, and was later joined there by his wife and daughter who returned from Lórien in search of him. When Sauron was defeated at the Battle of the Last Alliance, the lands of Middle-Earth became easier to traverse and for a great number of years Celeborn, Galadriel and Celebrían explored Middle-Earth east of the Misty Mountains, as far as the borders of Mordor before returning back to Rivendell where Celebrían and Elrond wedded. Afterwards Celeborn and Galadriel returned to Lórien where they lived at the court of King Amroth. When he perished and left no children, Celeborn and Galadriel took up the mantle of Lord and Lady of Lórien, leaving behind the royal name. Together they ruled Lothlórien and Galadriel planted the great mallorn trees, a gift from Gil-Galad, for which Lórien is famous and by the power of Nenya, the Ring of Water, Lórien was a blessed place. But when a Shadow returned to Dol Guldur and began to loom over the Golden Wood once more, the Galadhrim's leaders began to look to fortify Lórien. As the counter of Dol Guldur on the eastern bank, the Lord and Lady built Caras Galadhon – City of Trees – on its opposite bank, and there they dwell still, ever at war with Sauron and his servants.
Celebrimbor being paraded by Sauron's host
They entered Caras Galadhon during the night and the city shone bright like radiant starlight captured in stainless glass. It was beauty like no mortal could ever imagine and both Eldarion and the hobbits looked in amazement at the huge trees in which the Galadhrim, the Tree-Folk, lived. In the centre of the city stood an enormous mallorn in which the Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel lived, along with their household. Eldarion thought he had stepped into a magnificent dream of light and music, such was the magic of Galadriel. The city was abuzz and filled with song and laughter for Elves do not rest like mortals do. They wander into dreams fully awake and their bodies rest with meditation and song. So they were brought to the Lord and Lady of Lórien and they were welcomed heartily. Radiant they were, the Lord in silver and the Lady in gold. This was how Eldarion met his distant kin, for he was born of Arwen Undómiel, daughter of Celebrían who in turn was the daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel, and he was humbled in their presence. The Lord and Lady granted them quarters to live in and gave them permission to explore the city. Eldarion spent much time with his hobbit friends, a spring in his step like a second youth had been awoken in him. The Prince felt young and joyful, all his cares, fears and doubts washed away by childlike curiosity and enthusiasm. Together they searched every corner of the city and they were often seen resting in the sun after a long day of exploration or singing under the starlit heavens when night had fallen. They did not spend much time with the Elves of Lórien for not many spoke the Common Tongue or wished to speak in it, though they would look at the five friends with gladness in their hearts. Meanwhile Gandalf spent much time with Celeborn and Galadriel, discussing important matters. The growing power of Sauron, the darkening of southern Mirkwood and the Company's quest. Elrond had sent messengers to Lórien to announce the Company's coming and of their important errand.
One day Gandalf came to see Eldarion and the hobbits, and said he was going away for a couple of days, White Council business. More on his quest he did not say and Eldarion, his mind still in dreams, did not bother to ask. The rest of the Company continued their blissful time in Lothlórien but soon after Gandalf's departure a feeling began to grow in Eldarion, a feeling that the time soon would come to leave this place and return to the real world and their quest. Days passed and Gandalf did not return. For this reason the Prince went to Galadriel to ask where he had gone and when he would return. The Lord said that he was getting worried for the wizard and that he should've returned yesterday but the Lady remained calm and confident that whatever kept Gandalf it must be important yet none divulged of the wizard's supposed whereabouts. Three more days passed slowly and still Gandalf did not return. Again Eldarion went to see the Lord and Lady of Lórien. They too now seemed tense. “I will speak plainly to you kinsman” said Celeborn, “Gandalf was on his way to the fortress of Dol Guldur in hopes to uncover what the source of the evil is that has re-entered that dark place. Our scouts lost his trail a couple of kilometres across the Anduin.” Eldarion's hopes were shattered. Galadriel diverted the conversion to the Company's quest. She told him all she knew, what Gandalf had told her, that he carried the Ring and what the Council of Elrond had decided what should be done with it. “The time has come for you to choose, son of Arwen.” said Galadriel. Eldarion knew of what she spoke and he dreaded it. “For a while now I have, I will not say wasted but rather spent my time in the wonderful land of Lórien and it has been like a dream,” said Eldarion. “but I know I can't stay here forever though my heart desires it, having seen but a sliver of its wonder and a certainty that I will never return here. With Gandalf gone and no hope of him returning soon I know what I must do.” Eldarion's head sank to his chest. In a second a vision of the horror that was to come had been revealed to him and without Gandalf he felt alone and vulnerable. For a moment his heart was filled with anguish. Galadriel took his chin between her slim fingers and raised his head so their eyes met. A light shone in them and she smiled, instantly lifting his spirits. “You carry the power of the Elves in you, Son of the Eldar.” said Galadriel. Confidence rose again in Eldarion's heart as it banished the despair that had filled it. He then thought of the hobbits. He could not take them any further knowing what lay ahead. He would have to tell them though. It was decided then, he would continue his journey alone. It was as it should be, as it always should have been. He would go to Mordor alone.
On the Elven Peoples |
As you may or may not know, the Elves awoke at a lake called Cuiviénen (literally means The Water of Awakening), far in the east of Middle-Earth during the Sleep of Yavanna (this was the period before the First Age, also called the Years of the Trees yet it was only named thusly after the Eldar moved to Valinor). All Middle-Earth lay in darkness but for the stars in the heavens (the Sun and Moon had not been created yet, ushering the First Age). I'm not going to recite the entire history of the Elves, for that would be too long and irrelevant. If you wish to know all about that I suggest you to read the Silmarillion. This is merely an explanation to make it easier to understand the things I've said in this chapter, if you so wish to understand more of the lore.
The Elves were divided into three distinct peoples. The Vanyar, the Ñoldor and the Teleri. The Vanyar were the lesat numerous of them, followed by the Ñoldor, the Teleri being the largest. When the Vala Oromë came with the Valar's summons for the Elves to come to Aman all of the Vanyar and most of the Ñoldor and Teleri accepted the offer. The remainder of the Ñoldor and Teleri that refused would become known as the Avari – The Unwilling. Now the Vanyar and Ñoldor were very eager to leave Middle-Earth and reach Valinor as quickly as possible, the Teleri were more reluctant and tarried long in many places. They did not travel in one host like the other two did but were split in many groups and some forsook the Great Journey at various points for various reasons. One of these groups were those that would become the Nandor, they stayed in Rhovanion, afeared to cross the Misty Mountains (there were other groups of the Teleri like the Sindar who forsook the Journey further to the west, in the forests of Beleriand in search of their King Elwë or the Falathrim who settled near the seas and became very skilled in shipmaking).
As I said in this chapter some of the Nandor, led by Denethor, would eventually cross the Misty Mountains and became known, in Beleriand, as the Laiquendi. The Nandor that stayed in Rhovanion after Denethor's departure would become known as Silvan Elves. These Elves were the main body of the population of Lothlórien and the Woodland Realm during the Second and Third Age, though in Lórien the mixture between the refugee Sindar (from Beleriand) and Ñoldor (from Beleriand and later Eregion), and the native Silvan populace was higher during the Third Age than in Thranduil's Woodland Realm where less of the Sindar and none of the Ñoldor went. Thus it can be said that the Galadhrim of Lórien are mostly Silvan Elves mixed with some Ñoldor and Sindar.
This schematic should provide some clarification on the classification of Elves. Do not mind the numbers on top by the clans. Tolkien, in my knowledge, never provided exact numbers on how many of the Elves took the Great Journey and those that didn't. (yet Tolkien's written work is immense and sometimes contradicts itself so who knows.) The primary source I'm using, The Silmarillion, state the following:
[QUOTE;The Silmarillion, Of the Coming of the Elves]
“Then befell the first sundering of the Elves. For the kindred of Ingwë (Vanyar) and the most parts of the kindreds of Finwë and Elwë (Ñoldor and Teleri), were swayed by the words of their lords, and were willing to depart and follow Oromë; and these were ever after known as the Eldar.”
“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.”[/QUOTE]
Note: Minyar, Tatyar and Nelyar mean Firsts, Seconds and Thirds respectively and are directly linked to Vanyar, Ñoldor and Teleri. I didn't use those names previously because it would only confuse people more with so many strange names already present. |
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