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Originally Posted by JeffF
(...) Yet the use of the term is still not consistent because if High Elves equates to Eldar which equates to all Elves who at least BEGAN the journey to Aman then the Silvan Elves should technically be Eldar also but Tolkien distinguishes them from High Elves (I noticed Unifinished Tales, Galadriel and Celeborn, states that the Silvan Elves remembered with pride that they were "in origin" Eldar). Does that mean the Green Elves of Ossiriand (who broke off from the Elves of Greenwood) are considered Eldar/High Elves just because they resumed their journey? It almost seems there is a geographical boundary distinguishing the Eldar, either the Mistly Mountains or the Blue Mountains.
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I would suggest that any instances in
The Lord of the Rings where High Elves might equate with Eldar, it does so with Eldar in the sense of West Elves.
As I noted above,
Eldar itself has variant references, especially considering 'unpublished' text. Again, going by what Tolkien himself published in
The Lord of the Rings at least, Eldar refers to the West Elves -- the Elves who passed Over Sea plus the Sindar only, and does not include the East-elves of Lórien or Mirkwood.
BTW, interesting again is Christopher Tolkien's entry for
Eldar in
The Children of Húrin (list of names):
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Eldar The Elves of the Great Journey out of the East to Beleriand.
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To Beleriand 'and (some) beyond' yes, but this is basically Tolkien's definition of Eldar in
The Lord of the Rings -- in other words, 'as far West as Beleriand' and thus the Sindar are West-Elves or Eldar -- while the East-elves of Mirkwood and Lórien are 'not Eldar' (Tolkien avoids the term
Avari in the published text, which means something more specific).
In general the 'problem' is, as in the Primary World, terms change or can have different applications depending on who is using them, and when. And in this circumstance, we are also trying to find a certain measure of consistency when dealing with what are essentially draft texts (or statements in letters), mixed with author-published 'final' texts.