3. The Genealogy of the Teleri Elves
The Teleri were the last and greatest group to follow Oromë across Middle-Earth to Aman. They were a people apart from the Vanyar and Noldor, for they had an abiding love of water; they would later become the great sailors of the Sea that separated Arda from Aman. When the Elves came to a river for the first time, the Teleri wished to remain, and so they abided a little while longer than their brethren, but when Oromë led the Vanyar and Noldor onward without them, there were those among the Teleri that feared the onward journey into the mountains so greatly that they refused to travel onward. These Teleri were called the Nandor, for they loved rivers and streams like their kin but lived in the trees; they went no further, and thus the first of the Elves fell away from the Great Journey (Silmarillion, Coming of the Elves).
Of the Nandor not much more can be said. In The Silmarillion, they are said to have "greater knowledge of living things, tree and herb, bird and beast, than all other Elves." Later, they would be better known as the secretive and mischievous Silvan Elves, or Wood Elves, who lived east of the great mountain range, the Misty Mountains, and mostly populated the large forests of Greenwood and Lórien (Unfinished Tales, History of Galadriel and Celeborn).
Now the remaining Teleri tarried no longer but continued on the long journey to the West, and they were led by Olwë and his brother Elwë Singollo, who was also called Elu Thingol. By this time Melkor had been driven back by the Valar, and 'demigods' (for lack of a better comparison), called Maiar, roamed the earth. These demigods could be considered a step below the Valar. The most prominent of these Maiar on Middle-Earth was Melian; "there were none more beautiful than Melian, nor more wise, nor more skilled in songs of enchantment" (Silmarillion, Of Thingol and Melian).
Some time after passing over the Misty Mountains, Elwë, walking alone, chanced upon a glade, and in this glade stood Melian. Immediately he was filled with love for her, and he fell under her enchantment, and she fell for him, and for a long time they but stood together under the eternal twilight. Elwë's people searched for him but did not find him, and when it came time for the Elves to move onwards again, some chose to remain behind with Elwë, wherever he may have been. So Olwë became the king of the Teleri, and those who so chose continued onwards with him to Aman. But when Elwë returned to his senses and thus to his people, they did not again take up the Great Journey; rather, he wedded Melian, and he and his people set up a kingdom in the twilight of Arda. They were called the Sindarin Elves, which means Twilight Elves, or Grey Elves, and they lived under the protection of Melian and the kingship of Thingol blissfully for many years, calling their land Doriath.
The rest of the Elves continued and completed their journey onwards to Aman.
Of the Nandor not much more can be said. In The Silmarillion, they are said to have "greater knowledge of living things, tree and herb, bird and beast, than all other Elves." Later, they would be better known as the secretive and mischievous Silvan Elves, or Wood Elves, who lived east of the great mountain range, the Misty Mountains, and mostly populated the large forests of Greenwood and Lórien (Unfinished Tales, History of Galadriel and Celeborn).
Now the remaining Teleri tarried no longer but continued on the long journey to the West, and they were led by Olwë and his brother Elwë Singollo, who was also called Elu Thingol. By this time Melkor had been driven back by the Valar, and 'demigods' (for lack of a better comparison), called Maiar, roamed the earth. These demigods could be considered a step below the Valar. The most prominent of these Maiar on Middle-Earth was Melian; "there were none more beautiful than Melian, nor more wise, nor more skilled in songs of enchantment" (Silmarillion, Of Thingol and Melian).
Some time after passing over the Misty Mountains, Elwë, walking alone, chanced upon a glade, and in this glade stood Melian. Immediately he was filled with love for her, and he fell under her enchantment, and she fell for him, and for a long time they but stood together under the eternal twilight. Elwë's people searched for him but did not find him, and when it came time for the Elves to move onwards again, some chose to remain behind with Elwë, wherever he may have been. So Olwë became the king of the Teleri, and those who so chose continued onwards with him to Aman. But when Elwë returned to his senses and thus to his people, they did not again take up the Great Journey; rather, he wedded Melian, and he and his people set up a kingdom in the twilight of Arda. They were called the Sindarin Elves, which means Twilight Elves, or Grey Elves, and they lived under the protection of Melian and the kingship of Thingol blissfully for many years, calling their land Doriath.
The rest of the Elves continued and completed their journey onwards to Aman.
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