Everything you ever wanted to know about Elves

From Library of the Randirim

... but were probably afraid to ask.

Playing an elf can be a little intimidating given the utterly massive amount of lore that can go with it. The purpose of this guide is not to dictate or restrict anybody's character but rather to try and make it easier for players by pulling all this myriad of information into one spot so it can be easier to get to. Where possible I'll provide links to further reading but the hope is that this page will give enough of an overview so that the lore won't seem so daunting.

Origins/History

There's more history available on the elves (aka Eldar or Quendi) in Tolkien's world than any other race, possibly in any setting. That seems incredibly daunting (and rightly so) so let me break it into some key events:

Awakening

The Awakening of the Elves occurred back long before the Years of the Sun began. Long, long ago. There's some differing details depending on which version of the story you read, but basically a bunch of elves woke up beside a lake called Cuiviénen. At this point there were three kins of the Eldar: Vanyar, Noldor, and Teleri.

Great Journey/Sundering

Eventually they get found by Oromë and he manages to convince them to come with him to Valinor (there was lots of debate about this on both sides). Well different kins had different ideas about the Great Journey. The Vanyar thought it was great and shot on off. The Noldor thought it was pretty cool and weren't too far behind the Vanyar. The Teleri thought it was alright and they kinda dragged their feet. As they went the Silvan broke off from the Journey at various points when they decided they liked the woods better. The Teleri that kept going were then called the Sindar and they wound up missing the boat and staying in Beleriand. This was called the Sundering and is how we wound up with the aforely mentioned confusing and complex chart.

War of the Jewels

The vast majority of the Silmarillion has to do with this war. The Silmarils were these awesome gems crafted by Fëanor and when Morgoth (the first Dark Lord) stole them (and killed Finwë in the process) the Noldor got all tiffy about it and went storming off after him, against the word of the Valar. This resulted in the Doom of Mandos and essentially set the stage for the whole First Age. In a round-about fashion the theft also gave us the Sun and Moon.

The events of this War are far too long to go into here but I will provide nifty links to all the pertinent battles:

War of Wrath

The long and short of it is that Eärendil sails off to Valinor and pleads the case of the Eldar to the Valar. He manages to convince them to help out and the Valar send Eönwë and the Vanyar to Beleriand. There's a war more epic than imagining (especially notable is the battle between Eärendil and Ancalagon) and in the end, Angband is broken open and Morgoth is cast out into the Void. In the process, almost all of Beleriand is broken and ruined and ends up sinking into the sea. That's why it's not on any of your maps and all those cool things from the First Age aren't quite so easy to trip over.

Battle of Last Alliance

There was a helluva lot of stuff that leads up to the Last Alliance but mostly it comes down to the elves and men vs Sauron. This was yet another epic battle and marked the end of the Second Age. It is most famously known for the deaths of Elendil and Gil-galad and the utter (but not permanent) defeat of Sauron.

Kins

Anyone who doesn't think that this is a complex issue should take a look at this chart on Wikipedia. It's a pretty complex issue and it often takes multiple readings of the Silmarillion to really get a firm mental grasp of who winds up being what. There is good news though because it winds up getting vastly simpler by the time of the end of the Third Age.

Silvan

The Silvan (aka Nandor, Wood elves, or Green elves) are by far the most common kin of elves in Arda and only more so at the end of the Third Age. They're best known for their affinity for the woods and their somewhat secretive inclinations. Like the Sindar they also come from the Teleri so they share a love for song (though probably not as much as the Sindar).

Sindar

The Sindar (aka Grey elves) are the other side of the Teleri kin. They're credited as being the greatest singers in Middle-earth (even besting the Vanyar) and also created the Certh runes and the Sindarin language. Up until the end of the First Age they were all over the place but after the events at the end of that age they were somewhat less populace (though by no means uncommon). They can usually be found residing with their Silvan brethren.

Noldor

The Noldor (aka Deep Elves) are probably on the rarer side of the elven race at this point. They're fantastic crafters and thinkers but the First Age saw their numbers dramatically reduced. The Noldor did give us the Tengwar alphabet and at one point spoke Quenya until it was outlawed in Doriath (long story).

Avari and Vanyar

These are getting grouped together because of the extreme unlikelyhood of running across either one at this point in time. The Vanyar were the first kin of the elves and sit pretty happily in Valinor. The Avari are any of the elves that didn't participate in the Great Journey.

Writing/Languages

Confused about all these different languages and runes? You aren't the only one! The elves have a habit of living in seperate places and developing different dialects/languages over time. Hopefully this'll clear it up a little:

Cirth Runes

These runes are often attributed to the dwarves but the Cirth alphabet (sometimes spelled Certh) was originally invented by a Sindarin Loremaster named Daeron. The dwarves picked it up and loved it when they helped build Menegroth.
Example:

Fonts available here.

Tengwar Runes

The Tengwar alphabet was invented by none other than Fëanor himself. It's what most people think of when they think of elvish writing. Example:

Fonts available here.

Sindarin Language

This is the language most likely to be spoken by the elves these days, at least in common-usage. As you might guess from the name, it developed from the Sindar back in the days of Beleriand.
Useful Wordlist

Common Phrases

Mae govannen - well met
Suilad mellon - greeting friend

Quenya Language

At one point this was the tongue spoken by all the Noldor and is probably the Vanya. After Thingol found about the First Kinslaying though he outlawed it in Doriath. After that it fell out of common usage and today exists as just a scholarly language (think Latin).
Nifty Wordlist for Quenya

Lifecycles

This is a very vague sort of thing for elves. To simply it, lemme give it to you in bullet form:

An elf's age is counted from conception rather than birth
Elves mentally mature faster than other races (how so is somewhat unclear)
They physically mature much slower, not reaching adulthood until about a hundred years.
After that, they don't age and they don't get sick (unless from sorrow). They're counted as being immortal since the only way they can die is either through sorrow (they just get weary of the world and wither away) or by injury.
When they die they go to the Halls of Mandos where they can, if they choose, eventually get resurrected in Arda through some process that is exceedingly vague.
There is a mention of a "Third Lifecycle" in one of Tolkien's letters that's used to explain why Cirdan has a beard. There's nothing on it other than the mention of it's existence. It might be prudent to note that Cirdan, having been one of the elves to awake by Cuiviénen, is one of the oldest creatures left in Arda. He's just unbelievably old, and that's why he's the only known elf to have facial hair.

Relations with other Races

Politics is by it's nature a complex beast so this is only a very general sort of guide at the very best.

Men

They're friendly enough, but prefer to keep their distance if given the choice.

Hobbits

Prior to the events in Lord of the Rings, it seems unlikely that elves gave hobbits any mind one way or another.

Dwarves

While they're usually able to refrain themselves from outright hostility, dwarves and elves have a hard time getting along. There's lots of reason back through history for this, from the casual hunting of Petty Dwarves to the Sack of Doriath and of course, the fact that it's practically divinely ordered

Orcs/Goblins

Most elves' reaction to the forces of the Enemy can be summed up succinctly in three words: Kill On Sight.

Ents

Ever since the Silvan helped to "wake up" the Ents and taught them how to speak the Elves and the Ents have been on friendly terms. As the Ents have grown somewhat rare by this point in time though, there's probably relatively few elves who've ever actually met one.

Mating Habits

This can be a fairly controversial/touchy topic so let me restate that this guide is not here to tell you how to play your character. It's here to let you know about the lore of the setting in a hopefully easy to access manner.

Marriage

Elves really only marry once. They can choose a mate at a younger age and be betrothed or they might just up and wait some several centuries or millenia before finding that special someone. The ceremony itself is rather simple, just an exchange of vows and tokens with at least one witness. The concept of divorce or adultery likely would never occur to an elf.

Reproduction

By all available indications, elves reproduce in the usual manner but their drive to do so is exceedingly low. This makes considerable sense for an immortal race (there are some exceptions but I'll leave it to the reader to read up on that if they wish). Children are often very few and very far between. It is noted here and there that because of their sensitivity to the intimacy of intercourse, elves would be unlikely to survive being forced to reproduce/mate (e.g. rape) as this would likely cause enough sorrow to induce death.

Inter-racial relations

One of the hotter points of lore discussion so let me sidestep it's feasibility and cut to the meat of it: If you choose to have an elf-human relationship you can expect at least a fair amount of resistance from the community.

Hybrids

The issue of hybrids is like-wise rather tricksy. There are half-elves in the canon lore (and yep Elrond is one) but the events surrounding their births are fairly major. A player that chooses to play a hybrid is likely going to encounter significant resistance on that aspect.

Names & Titles

This isn't something most RPers are probably going to touch on, but it can be fun to consider for your character. Please note that the naming conventions are specifically for the Noldor, but that it's likely the other kins have similar traditions.

A dozen names for each child

Well, maybe not quite a dozen, but they do get quite a few. I've found differences in definitions for some of these, and some places even credit a fourth name (the Chosen-name, though it's close enough to the epessë). What's listed here is basically what's more or less standard across the majority of sources.

Father-name (Essi) - Given at birth by the daddy and isn't meant to indicate any characteristics of the elf in question (except hair color given the precedents). It's generally the given name until an epessë is chosen.
Mother-name (Amilessë) - This name is also given when the elf is born but this one comes from the Mother. It's meant to be a private, intimate name and it would be considered quite rude for a stranger to call an elf by their Amilessë. The Mother-name may be of particular interest as it's supposed to yield some insight into the character's fate.
After-name (Epessë) - This name can be given by anybody (even the individual) and usually represents some achievement or honor for the individual. If you think of it as a nick-name you won't be too far off and it's usually chosen round-abouts when an elf comes to maturity. After that point it becomes their given name. It could also be noted that it's not unheard of for elves (particularly really old ones) to have multiple Epessë.

And just as a quick note, elves don't generally have surnames to indicate their lineage. If an elf wished to do so they would say they were the Son/Daughter of Parent's Name.

Elf-lords

Given it's primary meaning this is a fairly specific title. The Elf-lords are male elves who have seen the light of the two Trees. In order to do this they would have had to be alive in Valinor before the beginning of the First Age. There may also be a requirement of some noble-lineage. Because of these conditions, essentially all the Elf-lords in Arda would be of Noldorin origin.

Now this can be rather confusing because you can also have an "Elf Lord", who just happens to be an elf who is also a lord (such as Cirdan or Elrond) but never experienced the light of Valinor. Aside from the context and the hyphen there doesn't seem to be any ready way to distinguish between the two. Because of the similarity I think it would be appropriate to give a fair amount of leniency in it's usage.

Elf-maiden

You hear this bandied about a bit. An Elf-maiden is simply an unmarried female elf.

Elf-father

Not seen too often but it colloquially refers to the first three elves that awoke beside Cuiviénen. It should be noted that Tolkien only refers to these three elves (technically six if you count their wives) only once and only in the Histories of Middle-earth series. There's no mention of them at any other point or source so the concept of their existence should be treated as being somewhat flexible-ish. There is no relation to the Elf-fathers and the first three Elf-kings (Ingwë, Finwë, and Elwë).

Library of the Randirim