Mirkwood Elves
 

There's a question I've been wondering for a long time, but I'm not sure if anyone has discussed it...were the Mirkwood Elves of the Nandor, Laiquendi, or Avari?

It says they were Silvan elves, and Teleri, but it also says that the Teleri are descended from the Sindar and the Nandor.

So they were Eldar?

Yeh, I suppose. The Teleri were one division of the Eldar, but the Nandor were a sub-division, so maybe the Mirkwood elves are just descendants of the Eldar, in a way.

So what's their story? Did Tolkien give them a purpose? A reason for their existence? [I really need to get the complete Tolkien collection...]

[ August 04, 2003: Message edited by: Silver Dragon ]

This is what I found under Mirkwood elves. It gives a bit of info:

In Appendix B of the The Lord of the Rings, we're told that the early Second Age saw the migration of many of the Sindar from Lindon, and that some of these travellers founded forest-realms. We're also told explicitly that 'Thranduil, king in the north of Greenwood the Great [Mirkwood], was one of these.' However, there are accounts in Unfinished Tales of an earlier king of the Elves of Mirkwood, Thranduil's father Oropher, who was lost in the War of the Last Alliance. These accounts can be reconciled if we imagine Thranduil travelling east from Lindon with Oropher, helping to found a kingdom in Greenwood the Great, but not in fact becoming its king until the death of his father more than two thousand years later.
2 The Wood-elves were limited to the northeastern parts of the forest at the end of the Second Age, but this had not always been the case. Their realm was originally founded on and around the hill of Amon Lanc, in the south of the forest. The Elves moved northward at least four times in their history, at first to move away from the influence of Khazad-dûm and Lórien. In the Third Age, Sauron came to their old home of Amon Lanc and built Dol Guldur there, and Thranduil was forced to lead his people from their then home in the Mountains of Mirkwood to the far north of the wood, where he delved an underground fortress.

That's something new...so they would have had to be Laiquendi...guess I'll have to read the Appendix again...and check out Unfinished Tales...thank you...let me know if you find anything else...

[ August 04, 2003: Message edited by: Silver Dragon ]

I found this in The Peoples of Middle-earth, The Appendix of Languages, pg 79 According to this, most of the Elves in Mirkwood (Greenwood the Great) were Avari (Eastern Elves).

conflicting stories...so we're going to have to find more quotes...wonderful... [img]smilies/redface.gif[/img]

I don't think they conflict at all. You have more than one kind of Elf living in the Mirkwood. The Sindar were more advanced, so even though there were fewer of them, they were the ones who became the leaders.

[ August 04, 2003: Message edited by: Nils ]

Now I'm just confused...the Eldar and the Avari were not the same...

[ August 04, 2003: Message edited by: Silver Dragon ]

They are the same race. The Eldar and Avari could and did live together and most probably intermarried. Not all who went on the Great Journey made it to the Blessed Land and some that did came back. After the destruction of Beleriand, the Eldar who remained in Middle-earth were forced to migrate East into the land of the Avari. The Eldar were fewer in number, but much more advanced, especially when it came to fighting wars.

I know...so the Elves of Greenwood the Great were a mix of the Avari and all three branches of the Teleri...what clasification would they be under? Calaquendi or Moriquendi?

Since both Sindar and Avari are Moriquendi, I'd say they were Moriquendi. As far as I know, the only way Mirkwood could contain Calaquendi would be if some of the Noldor came with the Sindar.

Again, I will quote: you said Weren't you talking about the Teleri? That is what I meant by "all three branches"...I think I should give this up...it's going in rings...

I was talking about both the Noldor and Teleri. All of the Teleri in Middle-earth are Moriquendi. The only group of Elves to return to Middle-earth after making it to the Blessed Lands are the Noldor. Therefore the only Calaquendi in Middle-earth are the Noldor who rebelled.

You asked Moriquendi.

[ August 04, 2003: Message edited by: Nils ]

Okay, thanks!

Check this out:
QUENDI

I believe it will help you a great deal.

Grace and paece, --mark12_30