Elves in Middle-earth

{{short description|Humanoid race from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth}} {{good article}} {{Use British English|date=May 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s writings, '''Elves''' are the first fictional race to appear in [[Middle-earth]]. Unlike [[Men in Middle-earth|Men]] and [[Dwarves in Middle-earth|Dwarves]], Elves [[Death and immortality in Middle-earth|do not die]] of disease or old age. Should they die in battle or of grief, their souls go to the [[Halls of Mandos]] in [[Aman (J. R. R. Tolkien)|Aman]]. After a long life in Middle-earth, Elves yearn for the [[Earthly Paradise]] of [[Valinor]], and can sail there from the Grey Havens. They are prominent in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', and their history is described in detail in ''[[The Silmarillion]]''.

Tolkien derived Elves from mentions in the ancient poetry and languages of Northern Europe, especially [[Old English]]. These suggested to him that Elves were large, dangerous, beautiful, lived in wild natural places, and practised archery. He invented languages for the Elves, including [[Sindarin]] and [[Quenya]].

Tolkien-style Elves have become a [[Elves_in_fiction|staple of fantasy literature]]. They have appeared, too, in film and role-playing game adaptations of Tolkien's works.

== Origins ==

=== Icelandic folklore ===

The framework for [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s conception of his Elves, and many points of detail in his portrayal of them, is thought by Haukur Þorgeirsson to have come from the survey of folklore and early modern scholarship about elves (''álfar'') in Icelandic tradition in [[Jón Árnason (author)|Jón Árnason]]'s introduction to his ''[https://is.m.wikisource.org/wiki/%C3%8Dslenzkar_%C3%BEj%C3%B3%C3%B0s%C3%B6gur_og_%C3%A6fint%C3%BDri Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri]'' ('Icelandic legends and fairy tales'). It covered stories from the 17th century onwards, noting that elves are the firstborn race;{{efn|In its case, the other two races are the sea elves (mermen) and the ljúflings (of rocks and hills).<ref name="Þorgeirsson 2023"/>}} that they could marry humans; and that they lack an immortal soul.<ref name="Þorgeirsson 2023">{{cite journal |last=Þorgeirsson |first=Haukur |title=J. R. R. Tolkien and the Ethnography of the Elves |journal=[[Notes and Queries]] |volume =70 |issue =1 |date=March 2023 |pages=6–7 |doi=10.1093/notesj/gjad007 }}</ref>

=== Germanic word ===

The modern English word ''[[Elf]]'' derives from the [[Old English]] word ''[[Elf#Old English|ælf]]'' (with cognates in all other [[Germanic languages]]).<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology">{{harvnb|Shippey|2005|pp=66–74}}</ref> Numerous types of elves appear in [[Germanic mythology]]; the West Germanic concept appears to have come to differ from the Scandinavian notion in the early Middle Ages, and the [[Anglo-Saxon]] concept diverged even further, possibly under [[Celtic mythology|Celtic]] influence.<ref name="Simek 1972">{{cite book |last1=Simek |first1=Rudolf |author-link=Rudolf Simek |year=2007 |last2=Hall |first2=Angela (trans.) |title=Dictionary of Northern Mythology |pages=7–8, 73–74 |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer|D.S. Brewer]] |isbn=978-0-85991-513-7}}</ref> [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] made it clear in a letter that his Elves differed from those "of the better known lore"<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#25, to the editor of ''[[The Observer]]'', printed 20 February 1938 }}</ref> of [[Scandinavian mythology]].<ref>{{ME-ref|Solopova|p. 26}}</ref>

=== Halfway beings ===

The Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] notes that one [[Middle English]] source which he presumes Tolkien must have read, the ''[[South English Legendary]]'' from c. 1250, describes elves much as Tolkien does:<ref name="Shippey 2005 Legendary"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;" |- ! ''[[South English Legendary]]'' "St Michael" 253-258 !! Modern English |- | ''And ofte in fourme of wommane : In many derne weye grete compaygnie mon i-seoth of heom : boþe hoppie and pleiƺe, Þat Eluene beoth i-cleopede : and ofte heo comiez to toune, And bi daye muche in wodes heo beoth : and bi niƺte ope heiƺe dounes. Þat beoth þe wrechche gostes : Þat out of heuene weren i-nome, And manie of heom a-domesday : Ʒeot schullen to reste come.''<ref name="Horstmann 1887">{{cite book |editor1-last=Horstmann |editor1-first=C. |chapter=St Michael |title=The Early South English Legendary |date=1887 |publisher=Trubner/Early English Text Society |page=307 |location=lines 253-258 |isbn=9780527000844 |url=https://archive.org/details/earlysouthengli00librgoog/page/n360/mode/2up}}</ref> | And often shaped like women: On many secret paths men see great numbers of them: dancing and sporting. These are called Elves: and often they come to town and by day they are much in the woods: by night up on the high [[Downland|downs]]. Those are the wretched spirits: that were taken out of [[Heaven]], And at [[Last Judgment|Doomsday]] many of them shall come to rest. |}

Some of Tolkien's Elves are in the "undying lands" of [[Valinor]], home of the godlike [[Valar]], while others are in Middle-earth. The Elf-queen [[Galadriel]] indeed has been expelled from Valinor, much like the fallen [[Melkor]], though she is clearly good, and much like an angel. Similarly, some of the ''Legendary''{{'}}s ''Eluene'' are on Earth, others in the "[[Earthly Paradise]]". So, did they have souls, Shippey asks? Since they could not leave the world, the answer was no; but given that they didn't disappear completely on death, the answer had to have been yes. In Shippey's view, the ''Silmarillion'' resolved the Middle English puzzle, letting Elves go not to Heaven but to the halfway house of the [[Halls of Mandos]] on Valinor.<ref name="Shippey 2005 Legendary"/>

=== Elf or fairy ===

[[File:Edwin Landseer - Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania and Bottom - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[[Victorian era]] [[Fairy painting]]: [[Edwin Landseer]], ''[[Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream|Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania and Bottom]]'', 1851]]

By the late 19th century, the term 'fairy' had been taken up as a [[utopia]]n theme, and was used to critique social and religious values, a tradition which Tolkien and [[T. H. White]] continued.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zipes |first=Jack |title=Victorian fairy tales : the revolt of the fairies and elves |year=1989 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-90140-6 |page=xxiv |edition=Paperback}}</ref> One of the last of the [[Fairy painting#Victorian fairy painting|Victorian Fairy-painting]]s, ''The Piper of Dreams'' by [[Estella Canziani]], sold 250,000 copies and was well known within the trenches of World War I where Tolkien saw active service. Illustrated posters of [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s poem ''Land of Nod'' had been sent out by a philanthropist to brighten servicemen's quarters, and Faery was used in other contexts as an image of "[[Merry England|Old England]]" to inspire patriotism.<ref>{{ME-ref|Garth|p. 78}}</ref> By 1915, when Tolkien was writing his first elven poems, the words'' elf'', ''fairy'' and ''gnome'' had many divergent and contradictory associations. Tolkien had been gently warned against the term 'fairy', which [[John Garth (author)|John Garth]] supposes may have been due to its growing association with [[homosexuality]], but Tolkien continued to use it.<ref>{{ME-ref|Garth|p. 76}}</ref> According to [[Marjorie Burns]], Tolkien eventually but hesitantly chose the term ''elf'' over ''fairy''. In his 1939 essay ''[[On Fairy-Stories]]'', Tolkien wrote that "English words such as ''elf'' have long been influenced by French (from which ''fay'' and ''faërie'', ''fairy'' are derived); but in later times, through their use in translation, ''fairy'' and ''elf'' have acquired much of the atmosphere of German, Scandinavian, and Celtic tales, and many characteristics of the ''[[Huldufólk|huldu-fólk]]'', the ''[[Aos Sí|daoine-sithe]]'', and the ''[[Tylwyth Teg|tylwyth-teg]]''."<ref>{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=Perilous realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |title-link=Perilous Realms |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-8020-3806-9 |pages=22–23}}</ref>

=== Reconciling multiple traditions ===

[[File:Beowulf eotenas ylfe orcneas.jpg|thumb|upright=2|''[[Beowulf]]''{{'}}s ''eotenas [ond] ylfe [ond] orcneas'', "ogres [and] elves [and] devil-corpses", inspiring Tolkien to create [[orc]]s, elves, and other races]]

Tolkien, a [[philologist]], knew of the many seemingly contradictory traditions about elves. The Old English ''[[Beowulf]]''-poet spoke of the strange ''[[Jötunn|eotenas]] ond ylfe ond [[orc]]néas'', "[[Ent|ettens]] [giants] and elves and demon-corpses",<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/> a grouping which Shippey calls "a very stern view of all non-human and un-Christian species".<ref name="Shippey 2005 Legendary">{{harvnb|Shippey|2005|pp=270–273}}</ref> The Middle English ''[[Sir Gawain]]'' meets a green axe-wielding giant, an ''aluisch mon'' ("elvish man", translated by Shippey as "uncanny creature").<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/> Christian sources from Iceland knew and disapproved of the tradition of offering [[sacrifice]]s to the elves, [[álfablót|''álfa-blót'']].<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/>

[[File:Elf-Arrows.JPG|thumb|upright|left|[[Elf-shot]], associated with "[[elf arrow]]s", [[Neolithic]] flint arrowheads sometimes used as [[amulet]]s,<ref>Electric Scotland. "Scottish Charms and Amulets" [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/charms6.htm Elf-Arrows]</ref> was one of the hints Tolkien used to create his Elves.<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/>]]

Elves were directly dangerous, too: the medical condition "[[elf-shot]]", described in the spell ''Gif hors ofscoten sie'', "if a horse is elf-shot", meaning some kind of internal injury,<ref name="Hall 2005">{{cite journal |last=Hall |first=Alaric |author-link=Alaric Hall |year=2005 |title=Calling the shots: the Old English remedy ''gif hors ofscoten sie'' and Anglo-Saxon 'elf-shot' |journal=Neuphilologische Mitteilungen: Bulletin of the Modern Language Society |volume=106 |issue=2 |pages=195–209 |jstor=43344130}}</ref> was associated both with [[Neolithic]] flint arrowheads and the temptations of the devil. Tolkien takes "elf-shot" as a hint to make his elves skilful in archery.<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/> Another danger was ''wæterælfádl'', "[[For Water-Elf Disease|water-elf disease]]", perhaps meaning [[dropsy]],<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/> while a third condition was ''ælfsogoða'', "elf-pain",<ref name="Hall 2005"/> glossed by Shippey as "lunacy".<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/> All the same, an Icelandic woman could be ''frið sem álfkona'', "fair as an elf-woman", while the Anglo-Saxons might call a very fair woman ''ælfscýne'', "elf-beautiful".<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/> Some aspects can readily be reconciled, Shippey writes, since "Beauty is itself dangerous".<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/> But there is more: Tolkien brought in the Old English usage of descriptions like ''wuduælfen'' "wood-elf, [[dryad]]", ''wæterælfen'' "water-elf", and ''sǣælfen'' "sea-elf, [[naiad]]", giving his elves strong links with wild nature.<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/><ref name="Clark Hall 2002">{{cite book |last=Clark Hall |first=J. R. |author-link=John Richard Clark Hall |title=A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary |date=2002 |orig-year=1894 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |edition=4th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufdQAQAAMAAJ |pages=286, 395, 423}}</ref> Yet another strand of legend holds that [[Elfland]], as in ''[[Elvehøj]]'' ("Elf Hill") and other traditional stories, is dangerous to mortals because [[Time in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction|time there is distorted]], as in Tolkien's [[Lothlórien]]. Shippey comments that it is a strength of Tolkien's "re-creations", his imagined worlds, that they incorporate all the available evidence to create a [[Impression of depth in The Lord of the Rings|many-layered impression of depth]], making use of "both good and bad sides of popular story; the sense of inquiry, prejudice, hearsay and conflicting opinion".<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/>

Shippey suggests that the "fusion or kindling-point" of Tolkien's thinking about elves came from the Middle English [[Breton lai|lay]] ''[[Sir Orfeo]]'', [[Tolkien and the classical world|which transposes the classical myth]] of [[Orpheus and Eurydice]] into a wild and wooded Elfland, and makes the quest successful. In Tolkien's translation the elves appear and disappear: "the king of Faerie with his rout / came hunting in the woods about / with blowing far and crying dim, and barking hounds that were with him; yet never a beast they took nor slew, and where they went he never knew". Shippey comments that Tolkien took many suggestions from this passage, including the horns and the hunt of the Elves in [[Mirkwood]]; the proud but honourable Elf-king; and the placing of his elves in wild nature. Tolkien might only have had broken fragments to work on, but, Shippey writes, the more one explores how Tolkien used the ancient texts, the more one sees "how easy it was for him to feel that a consistency and a sense lay beneath the chaotic ruin of the old poetry of the North".<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/>

Tolkien's [[Sundering of the Elves]] allowed him to explain the existence of [[Norse mythology]]'s Light Elves, who live in ''Alfheim'' ("Elfhome") and correspond to his Calaquendi, and Dark Elves, who live underground in ''Svartalfheim'' ("Black Elfhome") and whom he "rehabilitates" as his Moriquendi, the Elves who never went to see the light of the [[Two Trees of Valinor]].<ref name="Shippey 2005 Light and Dark">{{harvnb|Shippey|2005|pp=282–284}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;" |+ Tolkien's multiple medieval sources for Elves<ref name="Shippey 2005 etymology"/> |- ! Medieval source !! Term !! Idea |- | ''[[Beowulf]]'' || ''[[Jötunn|eotenas]] ond ylfe ond [[orc]]néas'': "ettens, elves, and devil-corpses" || Elves are strong and dangerous. |- | ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'' || The Green Knight is an ''aluisch mon'': "elvish man, uncanny creature" || Elves have strange powers. |- | ''[[Sir Orfeo]]'' || "the king of Faerie with his rout / came hunting in the woods about" || Elves live in the wildwood. |- | [[Incantation|Magical spell]] || ''ofscoten'': "[[Elfshot|elf-shot]]" || Elves are [[Archery|archer]]s. |- | [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] and [[Old English]] usage || ''frið sem álfkona'': "fair as an elf-woman"; ''ælfscýne'': "elf-beautiful" || Elves are beautiful. |- | Old English usage || ''wuduælfen'', ''wæterælfen'', ''sǣælfen'': "[[dryad]]s, water-elves, [[naiad]]s" || Elves are strongly connected to nature. |- | Scandinavian ballad ''[[Elvehøj]]'' || Mortal visitors to Elfland are in danger, as time seems different there. || [[Time in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction|Time is distorted in Elfland]]. |- | [[Norse mythology]] || [[Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar|''Dökkálfar'', ''Ljósálfar'']]: "dark elves, light elves" || [[Sundering of the Elves|Elves are sundered]] into multiple groups.<ref name="Shippey 2005 Light and Dark"/> |}

== Development ==

Tolkien developed his conception of elves over the years, from his earliest writings through to ''The Hobbit'', ''The Silmarillion'', and ''The Lord of the Rings''.<ref name="Eden 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Eden |first=Bradford Lee |author-link=Bradford Lee Eden |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Elves |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=150–152}}</ref>

=== Early writings ===

Traditional [[Fairy painting|Victorian dancing fairies and elves]] appear in much of Tolkien's early poetry,<ref name="bolt1" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984}}</ref> and have influence upon his later works,<ref>[[Dimitra Fimi|Fimi, Dimitra]]. [http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/working_with_english/Fimi_31_05_06.pdf "Come sing ye light fairy things tripping so gay: Victorian Fairies and the Early Work of J. R. R. Tolkien"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731102254/http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/working_with_english/Fimi_31_05_06.pdf |date=31 July 2009}}. ''Working With English: Medieval and Modern Language, Literature and Drama''. Retrieved 11/01/08</ref> in part due to the influence of a production of [[J. M. Barrie]]'s ''[[Peter Pan (play and novel)|Peter Pan]]'' in [[Birmingham]] in 1910,<ref name="Carpenter">{{ME-ref|Biography}}</ref> and his familiarity with the work of the [[Catholic]] mystic poet, [[Francis Thompson]]<ref name="Carpenter"/> which Tolkien had acquired in 1914.<ref name="bolt1" group=T/>

{{quote| O! I hear the tiny horns Of enchanted [[leprechaun]]s And the padded feet of many [[gnome]]s a-coming! |J. R. R. Tolkien, ''[[Goblin Feet]]'', 1915 }}

=== ''The Book of Lost Tales'' (c. 1917–1927) ===

In his ''[[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"<ref name="bolt1" group=T/><ref group=T>{{ME-ref|bolt2}}</ref><ref name="Fimi">{{cite journal |last=Fimi |first=Dimitra |author-link=Dimitra Fimi |s2cid=162292626 |title="Mad" Elves and "elusive beauty": some Celtic strands of Tolkien's mythology |journal=Folklore |volume=117 | issue=2 |date=August 2006 |pages= 156–170 |doi=10.1080/00155870600707847}}</ref> themselves. This theme is shared especially by the god-like and human-sized ''[[Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar|Ljósálfar]]'' of [[Norse mythology]], and medieval works such as ''Sir Orfeo'', the Welsh ''[[Mabinogion]]'', Arthurian romances and the legends of the ''[[Tuatha Dé Danann]]''.<ref name="Anderson1" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|p=120}}</ref>

The name ''Inwe'' or ''Ingwë'' (in the first draft ''[[Yngvi|Ing]]''), given by Tolkien to the eldest of the elves and his clan,<ref name="Lost Road" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987|p=171, ''[[The Lhammas]]''}}</ref> is similar to the name of the god [[Freyr|Ingwi-Freyr]] in Norse mythology, a god who is gifted the elf-world [[Álfheimr]]. Terry Gunnell finds the relationship between beautiful ships and the Elves reminiscent of the god [[Njörðr]] and the god Freyr's ship [[Skíðblaðnir]].<ref name="Articles">{{cite web |last=Gunnell |first=Terry |title=Tivar in a Timeless Land: Tolkien's Elves |year=2011 |url=https://de-vagaesemhybrazil.blogspot.com/2011/02/tivar-in-timeless-land-tolkiens-elves.html |publisher=University of Iceland}}</ref> He also retains the usage of the French derived term "fairy" for the same creatures.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |year=2005 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=978-0-8020-3806-7 |page=23}}</ref>

The larger Elves are inspired by [[Christianity in Middle-earth|Tolkien's personal Catholic theology]], representing the state of Men in [[Garden of Eden|Eden]] who have not yet [[Fall of man|fallen]], like humans but fairer and wiser, with greater spiritual powers, keener senses, and a closer empathy with nature. Tolkien wrote of them: "They are made by man in his own image and likeness; but freed from those limitations which he feels most to press upon him. They are immortal, and their will is directly effective for the achievement of imagination and desire."<ref name="Carpenter"/>

In ''The Book of Lost Tales'', Tolkien includes both more serious "medieval" elves such as [[Fëanor]] and Turgon alongside frivolous, [[Jacobean era|Jacobean]] elves such as the [[Solosimpi]] and [[Lúthien|Tinúviel]].<ref name="Anderson1" group=T/> Alongside the idea of the greater Elves, Tolkien toyed with 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 was abandoned in Tolkien's later writing.<ref name="BoLT" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|p=31, ''The Cottage of Lost Play''}}</ref>

=== ''The Hobbit'' (c. 1930–1937) ===

[[Douglas A. Anderson|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, [[Thranduil]], and frivolous elves, such as the elvish guards at [[Rivendell]].<ref name="Anderson1" group=T/>

=== ''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 languages|Celtic]] names" that Tolkien had given his Elves, Tolkien denied the names had a Celtic origin:<ref name="Letter 26" group=T/>

{{quote|Needless to say they are not Celtic! Neither are the tales. I do know Celtic things (many in their original languages Irish and Welsh), and feel for them a certain distaste: largely for their fundamental unreason. They have bright colour, but are like a broken stained glass window reassembled without design. They are in fact "mad" as your reader says – but I don't believe I am.<ref name="Letter 26" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#26 to [[Stanley Unwin (publisher)|Stanley Unwin]], 4 March 1938 }}</ref>}}

[[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".<ref name="Fimi"/> Fimi proposes that some of the stories Tolkien wrote as elven history are directly influenced by [[Celts|Celtic]] mythology.<ref name="Fimi"/> For example, "Flight of The [[Noldor|Noldoli]]" she argues, is based on the ''Tuatha Dé Danann'' and ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'', and their migratory nature comes from early Irish/Celtic history.<ref name="Fimi"/> [[John Garth (author)|John Garth]] states that with the underground enslavement of the Noldoli to Melkor, Tolkien was essentially rewriting Irish myth regarding the Tuatha Dé Danann into a [[Christian eschatology]].<ref>{{ME-ref|Garth|p. 222}}</ref>

=== ''The Lord of the Rings'' (c. 1937–1949) ===

In ''The Lord of the Rings'' Tolkien [[Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings|pretends to be merely the translator]] of [[Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo]] and [[Frodo]]'s memoirs, collectively known as the ''[[Red Book of Westmarch]]''. He says that those names and terms that appear in English are meant to be his purported translations from the [[Common Speech]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix F}}</ref>

According to Shippey, the theme of diminishment from semi-divine Elf to diminutive Fairy resurfaces in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' in the dialogue of Galadriel.<ref>{{cite book |first=T. A. |last=Shippey |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] | publisher=HarperCollins |year=2000| page=211}}</ref> "Yet if you succeed, then our power is diminished, and Lothlórien will fade, and the tides of Time will sweep it away. We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}} book 2, ch. 7 "The Mirror of Galadriel"</ref>

Writing in 1954, part way through proofreading ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien claimed that the [[Elvish languages of Middle-earth|Elvish language]] [[Sindarin]] had a character very like [[Welsh language|British-Welsh]] "because it seems to fit the rather 'Celtic' type of legends and stories told of its speakers".<ref name="letter_144" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#144 to [[Naomi Mitchison]], 25 April 1954 }}</ref> In the same letter, Tolkien goes on to say that the elves had very little in common with elves or fairies of Europe, and that they really represent men with greater artistic ability, beauty and a longer life span. In his writings, an Elven bloodline was the only real claim to 'nobility' that the Men of Middle-earth could have.<ref name="letter_144" group=T/> Tolkien wrote that the elves are primarily to blame for many of the ills of Middle-earth in ''The Lord of the Rings'', having independently created the [[Three Rings]] to stop their domains in mortal-lands from '[[Decline and fall in Middle-earth|fading]]' and attempting to prevent inevitable change and new growth.<ref name="Brin 2008">{{cite book |last=Brin |first=David |title=Through Stranger Eyes: Reviews, Introductions, Tributes & Iconoclastic Essays |year=2008 |publisher=Nimble Books |isbn=978-1-934840-39-9 |page=37}}</ref>

== Fictional history ==

===Awakening=== [[File:Elvish_Migrations_and_Kindreds.svg|thumb|upright=2|[[Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda]] in the [[First Age]], with the [[sundering of the Elves]]. The Elves awoke at Cuiviénen, on the Sea of Helcar (right) in Middle-earth, and many of them migrated westwards to [[Valinor]] in Aman, though some stopped in [[Beleriand]] (top), and others returned to Beleriand later.]]

The first Elves were awakened by [[Eru Ilúvatar]] near the bay of Cuiviénen during the [[Years of the Trees]]. This event marked the beginning of the [[First Age]]. They awoke under the starlit sky, as the Sun and Moon had yet to be created. The first Elves to awaken were three pairs: Imin ("First") and his wife Iminyë, Tata ("Second") and Tatië, and Enel ("Third") and Enelyë. They walked through the forests, finding other pairs of Elves, who became their folk. They lived by the rivers, and invented poetry and music in [[Middle-earth]]. Journeying further, they came across tall and dark-haired elves, the fathers of most of the Noldor. They invented many new words. Continuing their journey, they found elves singing without language, the ancestors of most of the Teleri.<ref name="WOTJ Quendi and Eldar" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1994|loc="Quendi and Eldar"}}</ref> The elves were discovered by the [[Valar|Vala]] [[Oromë]], who brought the news of their awakening to Valinor.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"</ref>

=== Sundering ===

The [[Valar]] decided to summon the Elves to Valinor rather than leaving them 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 many of the Elves to take the Great Journey (also called the Great March) to Valinor. Those who did not accept the summons 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 (who spoke Vanyarin Quenya, Noldorin Quenya, and Telerin, respectively). 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, led by Lenwë, became the Nandor, who spoke Nandorin. 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, Tol Eressëa, that was moved by [[Ulmo]] to Valinor. After years, Ulmo returned to Beleriand to seek out the remaining Teleri. Without Elwë, many of the Teleri took his brother Olwë as their leader and were ferried to Valinor. Some Teleri stayed behind though, still looking for Elwë, and others stayed on the shores, being called by Ossë. They took '''Círdan''' as their leader and became the [[Falathrim]]. The Teleri who stayed in Beleriand later became known as the Sindar.<ref name="Dickerson 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Dickerson |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Elves: Kindreds and Migrations |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=152–154}}</ref>

[[Matthew Dickerson]] notes the "very complicated changes, with shifting meanings assigned to the same names" as Tolkien worked on his conception of the elves and their divisions and migrations. He states that the sundering of the elves allowed Tolkien, a professional [[philologist]], to develop two languages, distinct but related, Quenya for the Eldar and Sindarin for the Sindar, citing Tolkien's own statement that the stories were made to create a world for the languages, not the reverse. Dickerson cites the Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]]'s suggestion that the "real root" of ''The Silmarillion'' lay in the linguistic relationship, complete with sound-changes and differences of semantics, between these two languages of the divided elves. Shippey writes, too, that the elves are separated not by colour, despite names like light and dark, but by history, including their migrations.<ref name="Dickerson 2013"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |date=2001 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0261-10401-3 |pages=228–231}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Verlyn |last=Flieger |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |title=Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World |title-link=Splintered Light |edition=revised |year=2002 |publisher=[[Kent State University Press]] |isbn=978-0873387446 |page=71}}</ref>

=== Exile ===

In Valinor, Fëanor, son of Finwë, and the greatest of the Elves, created the [[Silmaril]]s in which he stored a part of the light of the [[Two Trees]] that were lighting Valinor.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 7, "Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor"</ref> After three ages in the Halls of Mandos, Melkor was released, feigning reform. He however spread his evil and started to poison the minds of the Elves against the Valar. Eventually he killed Finwë and stole the Silmarils. Fëanor then named him ''Morgoth'' (Sindarin: ''The Black Enemy''). Fëanor and his seven [[sons of Fëanor|sons]] then [[Oath of Fëanor|swore]] to take the Silmarils back, and led a large army of the Noldor to Beleriand.<ref name="Flight of the Noldor" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 9, "Of the Flight of the Noldor"</ref>

=== Wars of Beleriand ===

In Beleriand, Elwë was eventually found, and married Melian the [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maia]]. He became the overlord of Beleriand, naming himself [[Thingol]] (Sindarin: ''Grey-cloak''). After the [[First Battle of Beleriand]], during the first rising of the Moon, the Noldor arrived in Beleriand.<ref name="Flight of the Noldor" group=T/> They laid a [[Siege of Angband|siege]] around Morgoth's fortress of [[Angband (Middle-earth)|Angband]], but were eventually defeated.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 13, "Of the Return of the Noldor"</ref> The Elves never regained the upper hand, finally losing the hidden kingdoms [[Nargothrond]], [[Doriath (Middle-earth)|Doriath]], and [[Gondolin]] near the culmination of the war.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 22, "Of the Ruin of Doriath"</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 23, "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"</ref> When the Elves had been forced to the furthest southern reaches of Beleriand, [[Eärendil the Mariner]], a [[half-elven|half-elf]] from the [[House of Finwë]], sailed to Valinor to ask the Valar for help. The Valar started the [[War of Wrath]], finally defeating Morgoth.<ref group=T>'{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 24, "Of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath"</ref>

=== Second and Third Ages ===

After the War of Wrath, the Valar tried to summon the Elves back to Valinor. Many complied, but some stayed. During the [[Second Age]] they founded the Realms of [[Lindon (Middle-earth)|Lindon]] (all that was left of Beleriand after the cataclysm), [[Eregion]], and [[Rhovanion]] (Mirkwood). [[Sauron]], Morgoth's former servant, made war upon them, but with the aid of the [[Númenóreans]] they defeated him, though both the king of the Noldorin Elves, Gil-galad, and Elendil, king of the Númenóreans, were killed. During the Second and [[Third Age]]s, they held some protected realms with the aid of the [[Three Rings|Three Rings of Power]]: Lothlorien, ruled by [[Galadriel]] and Celeborn; [[Rivendell]], ruled by [[Elrond]] and home to the Elf-lord Glorfindel; and the Grey Havens, ruled by Círdan the shipwright. Círdan and his Elves built the ships on which Elves departed for Valinor.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"</ref>

===Fourth Age===

After the [[War of the Ring|destruction of the One Ring]], the power of the Three Rings of the Elves ended and the [[Fourth Age]], the Age of Men, began. Most Elves left for Valinor; those that remained in Middle-earth were doomed to a slow decline until, in the words of [[Galadriel]], they faded and became a "rustic folk of dell and cave". The fading played out over thousands of years, until in the modern world, occasional glimpses of rustic Elves would fuel folktales and fantasies. Elladan and Elrohir, the sons of Elrond, did not accompany their father when the White Ship bearing the [[Ring-bearer]] and the chief Noldorin leaders sailed from the Grey Havens to Valinor; they remained in Lindon. [[Celeborn]] and other elves of the Grey Havens remained for a while before leaving for Valinor. [[Legolas]] founded an elf colony in [[Ithilien]] during King [[Aragorn|Elessar]]'s reign; the elves there helped to rebuild [[Gondor]], living mainly in southern Ithilien, along the shores of the Anduin. After Elessar's death, Legolas built a ship and sailed to Valinor and, eventually, all the elves in Ithilien followed him.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix B: "Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring"}}</ref>

In "[[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]" in Appendix A, most Elves have already left, barring some in Mirkwood and a few in Lindon; the garden of Elrond in Rivendell is empty. [[Arwen]] flees to an abandoned Lothlórien, where she dies.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Appendix A, 1. v. "[[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]"</ref>

== Characteristics ==

=== Appearance ===

Tolkien describes elves as "tall, fair of skin and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finarfin."<ref name="Appendix F" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|at=Appendix F}}</ref> The Vanyar were called "The Fair" for their golden hair.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|at=Index, "Vanyar"}}</ref><ref name="Dickerson 2013"/> Maeglin is said to have been "tall and black-haired" and "his skin was white."<ref name = "Of Maeglin" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|at=ch. 16 "Of Maeglin"}}</ref> Túrin, a Man, was called Elf-man due to his appearance and speech, and described as "dark-haired and pale-skinned, with grey eyes."<ref name="Túrin Turambar" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|at=ch. 21 "Of Túrin Turambar"}}</ref>

=== Marriage ===

Elves, at least the Eldar, have a pregnancy that lasts about a year. By the age of 1, Elves can speak, walk and dance. [[Puberty]] and full height are attained at around their fiftieth to one hundredth year, when they stop aging physically.<ref name="laws" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|loc="Laws and Customs among the Eldar"}}</ref> Elves marry freely, monogamously, only once, and for love early in life; [[adultery]] is unthinkable.<ref name="laws" group=T/> Betrothal, with the exchange of rings, lasts at least a year, and is revocable by the return of the rings, but is rarely broken.<ref name="laws" group=T/> Marriage is by words exchanged by the bride and groom (including the speaking of the name of Eru Ilúvatar) and consummation; it is celebrated with a feast. Wedding rings are worn on the index fingers. The bride's mother gives the groom a jewel to wear.<ref name="laws" group=T/> Elves view the sexual act as special and intimate, for it leads to the birth of children. Elves are never recorded as [[raping]] another's spouse, and an early draft states that such an act would cause the victim's spirit to depart to [[Mandos]].<ref name="laws" group=T/> Elves have few children,{{efn|An exception was Fëanor, who had seven sons.<ref name="seven" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 5 "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"}}</ref>}} and there are long intervals between each child. They are soon preoccupied with other pleasures; their [[libido]] wanes and they focus their interests elsewhere, like the arts.<ref name="laws" group=T/>

=== Skill ===

Elves, particularly the Noldor, spend their time on smithwork, sculpture, music and other arts, and on preparing food. Males and females are equal, but females often specialize in the arts of healing while the males go to war. This is because they believe that taking life interferes with the ability to preserve life. However, females can defend themselves at need as well as males, and many males such as Elrond are skilled healers.<ref name="laws" group=T/> Elves are skilful horse-riders, riding without saddle or bridle, though Tolkien was inconsistent on this point.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Drout |first1=Michael D. C. |author1-link=Michael D. C. Drout |last2=Hitotsubashi |first2=Namiko |last3=Scavera |first3=Rachel |s2cid=170851865 |title=Tolkien's Creation of the Impression of Depth |journal=Tolkien Studies |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2014 |pages=167–211 |issn=1547-3163 |doi=10.1353/tks.2014.0008}}</ref>

=== Elvish languages === {{Main|Elvish languages of Middle-earth}}

Tolkien created many [[Elvish languages of Middle-earth|languages for his Elves]]. His interest was primarily [[philology|philological]], and he said his stories grew out of his languages. Indeed, the languages were the first thing Tolkien ever created for his mythos, starting with what he originally called "Elfin" or "Qenya" [sic]. This was later spelled [[Quenya]] (High-elven); it and Sindarin (Grey-elven) are the most complete of Tolkien's constructed languages. Elves are also credited with creating the [[Tengwar]] (by Fëanor) and [[Cirth]] (Daeron) scripts.<ref name="Hostetter 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Hostetter |first=Carl F. |author-link=Carl F. Hostetter |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Languages Invented by Tolkien |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=332–343}}</ref>

=== Death and immortality === {{main|Death and immortality in Middle-earth}}

Elves are immortal, and [[Time in Tolkien's fiction|remain unwearied with age]]. They can recover from wounds which would be fatal to a Man, but can be killed in battle. Spirits of dead Elves go to the Halls of Mandos in Valinor. After a certain period of time and rest that serves as "cleansing", their spirits are clothed in bodies identical to their old ones.<ref name="converse" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|loc=''The Converse of [[Manwë (Middle-earth)|Manwë]] and Eru'', pp. 361–364}}</ref> If they do not die in battle or accident,{{efn|[[Míriel]] however is so exhausted by the birth of her fiery and creative son Fëanor, that she wilfully gives up her spirit.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew T. Dickerson |title=Finwë and Míriel |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-last=Drout |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |chapter=Popular Music |pages=212–213 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA212}}</ref> }} Elves eventually grow weary of Middle-earth and desire to go to Valinor;<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 1 "Of the Beginning of Days"</ref> they often sail from the Grey Havens, where Círdan the Shipwright dwells with his folk.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 20 "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"}} "At the bidding of Turgon Círdan built seven swift ships, and they sailed out into the West"</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc="Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"}} "at the Grey Havens of Lindon there abode also a remnant of the people of Gil-galad the Elvenking. ... building and tending the elven-ships wherein those of the Firstborn who grew weary of the world set sail into the uttermost West. Círdan the Shipwright was lord of the Havens"</ref> Eventually, any Elves that remain in Middle-earth undergo a process of "fading", in which their immortal spirits overwhelm and "consume" their bodies. This renders their bodily forms invisible to mortal eyes, except to those to whom they wish to manifest themselves.<ref name="laws" group=T/><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|loc="Myths Transformed", XI}}</ref>

[[File:Fates of Elves and Men.svg|thumb|center|upright=3|Fates of Elves and Men in [[Tolkien's legendarium]]. Elves are immortal but can be killed in battle, in which case they go to the [[Halls of Mandos]] in Aman. They may be restored by the Will of the [[Valar in Middle-earth|Valar]], and then go to live with the Valar in Valinor, like an [[Earthly Paradise]], though just being in the place does not confer immortality, as Men supposed. Men are mortal, and when they die they go beyond the circles of the world, even the Elves not knowing where that might be.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=269-272}}]]

== Adaptations ==

The 1977 [[Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment|Rankin-Bass]] version of ''[[The Hobbit (1977 film)|The Hobbit]]'' depicts the wood-elves in what Austin Gilkeson calls a weird way, quite unlike the elves in any other adaptation, not even resembling the film's depiction of Elrond. Gilkeson describes them as "like [[Troll doll]]s that have been left out in the rain too long, and a little like [[Yzma]] from ''[[The Emperor's New Groove]]''. They have gray skin, pug faces, and blond hair. It's frankly bizarre".<ref name="Gilkeson 2018">{{cite web |last=Gilkeson |first=Austin |title=Rankin/Bass's The Hobbit Showed Us the Future of Pop Culture |url=https://www.tor.com/2018/12/21/rankin-basss-the-hobbit-showed-us-the-future-of-pop-culture/ |website=[[Tor.com]] |access-date=26 October 2023 |date=21 December 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Elf warriors.png|thumb|Elf soldiers in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' are depicted as physically superior to Men.<ref name="Bogstad Kaveny 2011"/>]]

In [[Peter Jackson]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''Lord of the Rings'' film series]] (2001–2003), Elves are shown as physically superior to Men in eyesight, balance, and aim, but their superiority in other ways is "never really made clear".<ref name="Bogstad Kaveny 2011">{{cite book |last1=Ford |first1=Judy Ann |last2=Reid |first2=Robin Anne |author2-link=Robin Anne Reid |chapter=Into the West: Far Green Country or Shadow on the Waters? |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=[[Picturing Tolkien]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA172 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |page=172}}</ref>

[[File:Riders of th Sidhe (big).jpg|thumb|Jackson's Elves resemble those of the 19th-20th century [[Celtic Revival]], as in [[John Duncan (painter)|John Duncan]]'s 1911 painting ''[[The Riders of the Sidhe]]'', rather than Tolkien's reconstruction of [[medieval]] Elves, according to [[Dimitra Fimi]].<ref name="Fimi 2011"/> ]]

Fimi compared Jackson's handling of Elves with Tolkien's. Tolkien's Elves are rooted as firmly as possible in [[Anglo-Saxon]], [[Middle English]], and Norse tradition, but influenced also by Celtic [[Fairy|fairies]] in the ''[[Tuatha Dé Danann]]''. Jackson's Elves are however "Celtic" in the romanticised sense of the [[Celtic Revival]].<ref name="Fimi 2011"/><ref name="Rosebury 2003">{{cite book |last=Rosebury |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Rosebury |title=Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon |title-link=Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon |date=2003 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] |isbn=978-1403-91263-3 |pages=204–220}}</ref> She compares Jackson's representation of Gildor Inglorion's party of Elves riding through the Shire "moving slowly and gracefully towards the West, accompanied by ethereal music" with [[John Duncan (painter)|John Duncan]]'s 1911 painting ''The Riders of the Sidhe''. She notes that Jackson's conceptual designer, the illustrator [[Alan Lee (illustrator)|Alan Lee]], had made use of the painting in the 1978 book [[Faeries (book)|''Faeries'']].<ref name="Fimi 2011">{{cite book |last=Fimi |first=Dimitra |author-link=Dimitra Fimi |chapter=Filming Folklore: Adapting Fantasy for the Big Screen through Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=[[Picturing Tolkien]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA84 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |pages=84–101}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==

Tolkien-style Elves have influenced the depiction of elves in the fantasy genre from the 1960s and afterwards. Elves speaking an elvish language similar to those in Tolkien's novels became staple non-human characters in [[high fantasy]] works and in fantasy [[role-playing game]]s like ''[[Elf (Dungeons & Dragons)|Dungeons & Dragons]]''. They are often portrayed as being mentally sharp and lovers of nature, art, and song, as well as wiser and more beautiful than humans. They usually fit the stereotype of being skilled archers and gifted in [[magic in fiction|magic]].<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Bergman |first=Jenni |title=The Significant Other: A Literary History of Elves |type=PhD |publisher=[[Cardiff University]] |year=2011 |url=http://orca.cf.ac.uk/55478/}}</ref>

== Notes ==

== References ==

=== Primary ===

=== Secondary ===

=== Sources ===

* {{ME-ref|Letters}} * {{ME-ref|ROAD}} * {{ME-ref|TH}} * {{ME-ref|FOTR}} * {{ME-ref|ROTK}} * {{ME-ref|Silm}} * {{ME-ref|BoLT}} * {{ME-ref|LROW}} * {{ME-ref|MR}} * {{ME-ref|WJ}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elf (Middle-earth)}}  [[Category:Middle-earth Elves| ]]