Oropher and the Battle of Dagorlad

When the Last Alliance was formed, the two major leaders were Elendil (representing men) and Gil-galad (representing elves.) However, there were others who joined the alliance that, while separate people, ended up falling somewhere underneath the umbrella of these two great leaders. The Sindar/Silvan elves of Mirkwood and Lorien are an example of this. Their…

Anon asked: “Apparently, there are many Elvish languages and I can’t really get them straight. What languages are there, and where (and when) are they spoken?”

So, here you you! A little disclaimer: I didn’t put as much careful research into this as I might have, and it relies more heavily on secondary sources than I generally prefer. But Tolkien wrote so much on language that I could have been in the research stage of this post for weeks and still have tons of work to do. So consider this a sort of quick, casual guide to the realm of elvish linguistics. 

PS: The maps are excerpts from Karen Wynn Fonstad’s Atlas of Middle Earth

PPS: I didn’t include any of the Sindarin-speaking men in these maps. Technically, the men of Gondor spoke Sindarin, but in their own dialect. But since they aren’t elves, I decided not to include them.

“Pre-Contact” Silvan Elves

There isn’t too much information about the Silvan/Nandorin elves of the early Second Age (that is, before Galadriel and various Sindarin elves arrived and a few of them apparently volunteered themselves to become their kings and Sindarize their culture.) Probably the best description we have comes from “The History of Galadriel and Celeborn”, which says:…

Feeling Sorry for the Sindar

I feel about as bad for the Teleri/Sindar as I do for the Noldor, generally. I think we’d do them a disservice if we remembered them only as victims, because in reality the Sindar (I’m focusing on them because, after Alqualonde, we don’t hear much about the Teleri) had much more agency than that. When…

Archive Monday

Happy Archive Monday! Check below to see if your question is a “repeat”. Otherwise, enjoy this week’s list from the archives (today’s theme is the Silvan elves): What Are Silvan Elves? Dark Elves Did The Silvan Elves Need Sindarin Rulers? Legolas: Sindarin or Silvan? Elvish Cross-Cultural Relations: The Teleri and more links in this post!…

What Are Silvan Elves?

Alright, everyone ready for an elvish history lesson? In the beginning, while the elves were traveling west for Valinor, there were three Sunderings (almost everything elvish comes in threes.) The First Sundering was when the Avari refused to follow the Valar, and instead remained behind in Cuivienen. The Second Sundering was when some of the…