| Dates The first Elves awoke some three ages (very roughly 4,300 years) before the first rising of the Sun Origins First awoke at Cuiviénen, the place called the Water of Awakening Divisions Many subdivisions, but primarily divided into Eldar, who began the Great Journey, and Avari, who did not Other names Edhelrim, Edhil, Eldalië, Eldar, The Elder Children of Ilúvatar, The Elder Kindred, The Elder People, The Elder Race, Eledhrim, Elven-folk, Elves, Fair Folk, The Firstborn, People of the Stars, Quendi Indexes: Alphabetical: W Elves About this entry: Updated 21 August 2022 This entry is complete The Easterlings’ name for the Elves The Easterlings - or at least those of the First Age - had a fear and hatred of the Elves. Doubtless encouraged by Morgoth, these invaders had come to see the Elves as uncanny and dangerous beings, naming them 'white-fiends' and avoiding the places where they might be found. The use of the word 'white' here is not directly explained, but it presumably refers to the generally pale skin of the Elves (some of them indeed seem to have literally had white skin).1 Notes 1 This choice of name implies that the Elves (or at least those Elves encountered by the Easterlings) generally had lighter skin than Men. The descendants of Fingolfin in particular seem to have had extremely pale skin: Aredhel his daughter and Idril his granddaughter were noted for this trait (the latter was called 'Silver-foot' for this reason), and Aredhel's son Maeglin is said to have had skin that was literally white. The fact that paleness is specifically noted in these cases seems to indicate that it wasn't universal. Indexes: Alphabetical: W Elves About this entry: Updated 21 August 2022 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2012, 2022. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.Got a question for us? We are always on hand to help! Why not Tweet us with your queries about Discus or the DISC personality test? |
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