In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit the lands of Arda. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings , but their complex history is described in more fully in The Silmarillion , edited and published after Tolkien's death. More details about them are given in the author's other writings edited and published since then, such as Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth . The History of Middle-earth also reveals their textual and conceptual history, as Tolkien had been writing about Elves long before The Hobbit was published.
Development
Early writings
Traditional Victorian dancing fairies and elves appear in much of Tolkien's early poetry, and have influence upon his later works in part due to the influence of a production of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan in Birmingham in 1910 and his familiarity with the work of Catholic mystic poet, Francis Thompson which Tolkien had acquired in 1914.
As a philologist, Tolkien's interest in languages led him to invent several language of his own as a pastime. In considering the nature of who might speak these languages, and what stories they might tell, Tolkien again turned to the concept of elves.
The Book of Lost Tales (c. 1917-1927)
In the earliest forms of the stories which provide context for the Elvish languages, The Book of Lost Tales , Tolkien develops a theme that the diminutive fairy-like race of elves had once been a great and mighty people, and that as Men took over the world, these Elves had "diminished".
These greater Elves are influenced by those in Northern European mythologies, especially the god-like and human-sized Ljósálfar of the Norse, and are derived from medieval works such as Sir Orfeo , the Welsh Mabinogion, Arthurian romances and the legends of the Tuatha Dé Danann. John Garth has also referenced the Tuatha Dé Danann in suggesting Tolkien was essentially rewriting Irish fairy traditions.
Celtic Mythology had a great influence on Tolkien's writings on Elves and some of the stories Tolkien wrote as their 'legends' are directly influenced by it. For example, the "Flight of The Noldoli" is based on the Tuatha Dé Danann and Lebor Gabála Érenn, and their migratory nature comes from early Irish/Celtic history.
The name 'Inwe' (in the first draft - 'Ing'), given by Tolkien to the eldest of the elves and his clan is similar to the name found in Norse mythology as "Ingwi-Freyr" (and Ingui-Frea in Anglo-Saxon paganism), a god who is given Álfheim (the elf-world) to rule as a gift. Terry Gunnell also claims that the relationship between beautiful ships and the Elves is reminiscent of Njörðr and Skíðblaðni, Freyr's ship.
The larger Elves are also inspired by Tolkien's Catholic theology — as representing the state of Men in Eden who have not yet "fallen" — similar to humans but fairer and wiser, with greater spiritual powers, keener senses, and a closer empathy with nature. Tolkien wrote of them:
In The Book of Lost Tales Tolkien includes both the more serious 'medieval' type of elves such as Fëanor and Turgon alongside the frivolous, Jacobean type of elves such as the Solosimpi and Tinúviel . He also retains the usage of the Celtic and popular term 'fairy' for the same creatures.
Alongside the idea of the greater Elves, Tolkien also developed the idea of children visiting Valinor the island-homeland of the Elves in their sleep. Elves would also visit children at night and comfort them if they had been chided or were upset. This theme, linking elves with children's dreams and nocturnal travelling was largely abandoned.
The Hobbit (c. 1930-1937)
Along with Book of Lost Tales , Douglas Anderson shows that in The Hobbit , Tolkien again includes both the more serious 'medieval' type of elves, such as Elrond and the Wood-elf king, and frivolous elves, such as those at Rivendell .
The Quenta Silmarillion (c. 1937)
In 1937, having had his manuscript for The Silmarillion rejected by a publisher who disparaged all the "eye-splitting Celtic names" that Tolkien had given his Elves, Tolkien denied the names had a Celtic origin:
Dimitra Fimi proposes that these comments are a product of his Anglophilia rather than a commentary on the texts themselves or their actual influence on his writing, and cites evidence to this effect in her essay "Mad" Elves and "elusive beauty": some Celtic strands of Tolkien's mythology .
The Lord of the Rings (c. 1937-1949)
Terry Gunner notes that the titles of the Germanic gods Freyr and Freyja (lord and lady) are also given to Celeborn and Galadriel in the Lord of The Rings . According to Tom Shippey the diminishment theme, from Elf to "Fairy" resurfaces in The Lord of the Rings in the dialogue of Galadriel.
Writing in 1954, part way through proofing The Lord of the Rings Tolkien claimed the Elvish language Sindarin has:
In the same letter, Tolkien goes on to say that the elves had very little in common with European Elves or Fairies, and that they really represent men with greater artistic ability, beauty and a longer life span. Tolkien also says that an Elven bloodline was the only real claim to 'nobility' that the Men of Middle-earth can have.
Tolkien also wrote the elves of The Lord of the Rings as being primarily to blame for many of the ills of Middle-earth, having independently created the Three Rings in order to stop their domains in mortal-lands from 'fading' and attempting to prevent inevitable change and new growth.
History
Origins
Originally, in the 1910s and 1920s, Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë (their final names) were the eldest of the Elves. By 1959 or 1960, Tolkien wrote a detailed account of the awakening of the Elves, called Cuivienyarna , part of Quendi and Eldar . Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë now became the first ambassadors and the Kings of the Elves. This text only saw print in The War of the Jewels , part of the analytical The History of Middle-earth series, in 1994, but a similar version was included in The Silmarillion in 1977.
According to the earliest account, the first Elves are awakened by Eru Ilúvatar near the bay of Cuiviénen during the Years of the Trees in the First Age. They awake under the starlit sky, as the Sun and Moon have yet to be created. The first Elves to awake are three pairs: Imin ("First") and his wife Iminyë , Tata ("Second") and Tatië , and Enel ("Third") and Enelyë .
Imin, Tata, and Enel and their wives join up and walk through the forests. They come across six, nine, and twelve pairs of Elves, and each "patriarch" claims the pairs as his folk in order. The now sixty Elves dwell by the rivers, and they invent poetry and music in Middle-earth (the continent). Journeying further, they come across eighteen pairs of Elves watching the stars, whom Tata claims as his. These are tall and dark-haired, the fathers of most of the Noldor. The ninety-six Elves now invented many new words. Continuing their journey, they find twenty-four pairs of Elves, singing without language, and Enel adds them to his people. These are the ancestors of most of the Lindar or "singers", later called Teleri. They find no more Elves; Imin's people, the smallest group, are the ancestors of the Vanyar. All in all the Elves number 144. Because all Elves had been found in groups of twelve, twelve becomes their base number and 144 their highest number (for a long time), and none of the later Elvish languages have a common name for a greater number.
They were discovered by the Vala Oromë, who brought the tidings of their awakening to Valinor.
The Silmarillion states that Melkor, the Dark Lord, had already captured some wandering Elves, and twisted and mutilated them until they became the Orcs. However, Tolkien ultimately became uncomfortable with this Elvish origin, and devised different theories about the origin of Orcs.
Sundering
Main article: Sundering of the ElvesThe Valar decided to summon the Elves to Valinor rather than leaving them dwelling in the place where they were first awakened, near the Cuiviénen lake in the eastern extremity of Middle-earth. They sent Oromë, who took Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë as ambassadors to Valinor.
Returning to Middle-earth, Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë convinced a great host to take the journey to Valinor. Not all Elves accepted the summons though, and those who did not became known as the Avari , The Unwilling .
The others were called Eldar , the People of the Stars by Oromë, and they took Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë as their leaders, and became respectively the Vanyar, Noldor and Teleri. On their journey, some of the Teleri feared the Misty Mountains and dared not cross them. They turned back and stayed in the vales of the Anduin, and became the Nandor; these were led by Lenwë.
Oromë led the others over the Misty Mountains and Ered Lindon into Beleriand. There Elwë became lost, and the Teleri stayed behind looking for him. The Vanyar and the Noldor moved onto a floating island that was moved by Ulmo to Valinor. <
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