The War of the Jewels (69 page)

But the form Golodh seems to have been phonetically unpleasing to the Noldor. The name was, moreover, chiefly used by those who wished to mark the difference between the Noldor and the Sindar, and to ignore the dwelling of the Noldor in Aman which might give them a claim to superiority. This was especially the case in Doriath, where King Thingol was hostile to the Noldorin chieftains, Feanor and his sons, and Fingolfin, because of their assault upon the Teleri in Aman, the people of his brother Olwe. The Noldor, therefore, when using Sindarin, never applied this name (Golodh) to themselves, and it fell out of use among those friendly to them.

4. Eglan, pl. Eglain, Egladrim. This name, 'the Forsaken', was, as has been said, given by the Sindar to themselves. But it was not in Beleriand a name for all the Elves who remained there, as were the related names, Hekeldi, Hecelloi, in Aman. It applied only to those who wished to depart, and waited long in vain for the return of Ulmo, taking up their abode on or near the coasts. There they became skilled in the building and management of ships. Cirdan was their lord.

Cirdan's folk were made up both of numbers of the following of Olwe, who straying or lingering came to the shores too late, and also of many of the following of Elwe, who abandoned the search for him and did not wish to be separated for ever from their kin and friends. This folk remained in the desire of Aman for long years, and they were among the most friendly to the Exiles.

They continued to call themselves the Eglain, and the regions where they dwelt Eglamar and Eglador. The latter name fell out of general use. It had originally been applied to all western Beleriand between Mount Taras and the Bay of Balar, its eastern boundary being roughly along the River Narog. Eglamar, however, remained the name of the 'Home of the Eglain': the sea-board from Cape Andras to the headland of Bar-in-Myl ('Home of the Gulls'),(8) which included the ship-havens of Cirdan at Brithonbar (9) and at the head of the firth of Eglarest.

The Eglain became a people somewhat apart from the inland Elves, and at the time of the coming of the Exiles their language was in many ways different. (Note 12, p. 411) But they acknowledged the high-kingship of Thingol, and Cirdan never took the title of king.(10)

*Abari.

This name, evidently made by the Eldar at the time of the Separation, is found in histories in the Quenya form Avari, and the Telerin form Abari. It was still used by the historians of the Exiled Noldor, though it hardly differed from Moriquendi, which (see above) was no longer used by the Exiles to include Elves of Eldarin origin. The plural Evair was known to Sindarin loremasters, but was no longer in use. Such Avari as came into Beleriand were, as has been said, called Morben, or Mornedhel.

C. The Clan-names,

with notes on other names for divisions of the Eldar.

In Quenya form the names of the three great Clans were Vanyar, Noldor, and Lindar. The oldest of these names was Lindar, which certainly goes back to days before the Separation. The other two probably arose in the same period, if somewhat later: their original forms may thus be given in PQ as

*wanja, *ngolodo, and linda /glinda. (Note 13, p. 411) According to the legend, preserved in almost identical form among both the Elves of Aman and the Sindar, the Three Clans were in the beginning derived from the three Elf-fathers: Imin, Tata, and Enel (sc. One, Two, Three), and those whom each chose to join his following. So they had at first simply the names Minyar 'Firsts', Tatyar 'Seconds', and Nelyar 'Thirds'. These numbered, out of the original 144 Elves that first awoke, 14, 56, and 74; and these proportions were approximately maintained until the Separation.(11)

It is said that of the small clan of the Minyar none became Avari. The Tatyar were evenly divided. The Nelyar were most reluctant to leave their lakeside homes; but they were very cohesive, and very conscious of the separate unity of their Clan (as they continued to be), so that when it became clear that their chieftains Elwe and Olwe were resolved to depart and would have a large following, many of those among them who had at first joined the Avari went over to the Eldar rather than be separated from their kin. The Noldor indeed asserted that most of the 'Teleri' were at heart Avari, and that only the Eglain really regretted being left in Beleriand.

According to the Noldorin historians the proportions, out of 144, that when the March began became Avari or Eldar were approximately so:

Minyar 14: Avari 0 Eldar 14

Tatyar 56: Avari 28 Eldar 28

Nelyar 74: Avari 28 Eldar 46 > Amanyar Teleri 20; Sindar and Nandor 26

In the result the Noldor were the largest clan of Elves in Aman; while the Elves that remained in Middle-earth (the Moriquendi in the Quenya of Aman) outnumbered the Amanyar in the proportion of 82 to 62.(12)

How far the descriptive Clan-names, *wanja, *ngolodo, and

*linda were preserved among the Avari is not now known; but the existence of the old clans was remembered, and a special kinship between those of the same original clan, whether they had gone away or remained, was still recognized. The first Avari that the Eldar met again in Beleriand seem to have claimed to be Tatyar, who acknowledged their kinship with the Exiles, though there is no record of their using the name Noldo in any recognizable Avarin form. They were actually unfriendly to the Noldor, and jealous of their more exalted kin, whom they accused of arrogance.

This ill-feeling descended in part from the bitterness of the Debate before the March of the Eldar began, and was no doubt later increased by the machinations of Morgoth; but it also throws some light upon the temperament of the Noldor in general, and of Feanor in particular. Indeed the Teleri on their side asserted that most of the Noldor in Aman itself were in heart Avari, and returned to Middle-earth when they discovered their mistake; they needed room to quarrel in. For in contrast the Lindarin elements in the western Avari were friendly to the Eldar, and willing to learn from them; and so close was the feeling of kinship between the remnants of the Sindar, the Nandor, and the Lindarin Avari, that later in Eriador and the Vale of Anduin they often became merged together.

Lindar (Teleri).(13)

These were, as has been seen, much the largest of the ancient clans. The name, later appearing in Quenya form as Lindar (Telerin Lindai), is already referred to in the legend of 'The Awakening of the Quendi', which says of the Nelyar that 'they sang before they could speak with words . The name *Linda is therefore clearly a derivative of the primitive stem *LIN

(showing reinforcement of the medial x and adjectival -a). This stem was possibly one of the contributions of the Nelyar to Primitive Quendian, for it reflects their predilections and associations, and produces more derivatives in Lindarin tongues than in others. Its primary reference was to melodious or pleasing sound, but it also refers (especially in Lindarin) to water, the motions of which were always by the Lindar associated with vocal (Elvish) sound. The reinforcements, either medial lind- or initial glin-, glind-, were however almost solely used of musical, especially vocal, sounds produced with intent to please. It is thus to the love of the Nelyar for song, for vocal music with or without the use of articulate words, that the name Lindar originally referred; though they also loved water, and before the Separation never moved far from the lake and waterfall (14) of Cuivienen, and those that moved into the West became enamoured of the Sea. (Note 14, p. 411) In Quenya, that is, in the language of the Vanyar and Noldor, those of this clan that joined in the March were called the Teleri.

This name was applied in particular to those that came at last and latest to Aman; but it was also later applied to the Sindar.

The name Lindar was not forgotten, but in Noldorin lore it was chiefly used to describe the whole clan, including the Avari among them. Teleri meant 'those at the end of the line, the hindmost', and was evidently a nickname arising during the March, when the Teleri, the least eager to depart, often lagged far behind. (Note 15, p. 411)

Vanyar.

This name was probably given to the First Clan by the Noldor.

They accepted it, but continued to call themselves most often by their old numerical name Minyar (since the whole of this clan had joined the Eldar and reached Aman). The name referred to the hair of the Minyar, which was in nearly all members of the clan yellow or deep golden. This was regarded as a beautiful feature by the Noldor (who loved gold), though they were themselves mostly dark-haired. Owing to intermarriage the golden hair of the Vanyar sometimes later appeared among the Noldor: notably in the case of Finarfin, and in his children Finrod and Galadriel, in whom it came from King Finwe s second wife, Indis of the Vanyar.

Vanyar thus comes from an adjectival derivative *wanja from the stem *WAN. Its primary sense seems to have been very similar to English (modern) use of 'fair' with reference to hair and complexion; though its actual development was the reverse of the English: it meant 'pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark', and its implication of beauty was secondary. In English the meaning 'beautiful' is primary. From the same stem was derived the name given in Quenya to the Valie Vana wife of Orome.

Since the Lindar had little contact with the Vanyar either on the March or later in Aman, this name was not much used by them for the First Clan. The Amanyar Teleri had the form Vaniai (no doubt taken from the Noldor), but the name appears to have been forgotten in Beleriand, where the First Clan (in lore and history only) were called Miniel, pl. Minil.

Noldor.

This name was probably older than Vanyar, and may have been made before the March. It was given to the Second Clan by the others. It was accepted, and was used as their regular and proper name by all the Eldarin members of the clan throughout their later history.

The name meant 'the Wise', that is those who have great knowledge and understanding. The Noldor indeed early showed the greatest talents of all the Elves both for intellectual pursuits and for technical skills.

The variant forms of the name: Q Noldo, T Goldo, S Golodh (Ngolodh), indicate a PQ original *ngolodo. This is a derivative of the stem *NGOL 'knowledge, wisdom, lore'. This is seen in Q

Role 'long study (of any subject)', ingole 'lore', ingolmo

'loremaster'. In T gole, engole had the same senses as in Q but were used most often of the special 'lore' possessed by the Noldor. In S the word gul (equivalent of Q nole) had less laudatory associations, being used mostly of secret knowledge, especially such as possessed by artificers who made wonderful things; and the word became further darkened by its frequent use in the compound morgul 'black arts', applied to the delusory or perilous arts and knowledge derived from Morgoth.

Those indeed among the Sindar who were unfriendly to the Noldor attributed their supremacy in the arts and lore to their learning from Melkor-Morgoth. This was a falsehood, coming itself ultimately from Morgoth; though it was not without any foundation (as the lies of Morgoth seldom were). But the great gifts of the Noldor did not come from the teaching of Melkor.

Feanor the greatest of them all never had any dealings with Melkor in Aman, and was his greatest foe.

Sindar.

Less commonly the form Sindel, pl. Sindeldi, is also met in Exilic Quenya. This was the name given by the Exiled Noldor (see Note 11) to the second largest of the divisions of the Eldar.

(Note 16, p. 412) It was applied to all the Elves of Telerin origin that the Noldor found in Beleriand, though it later excluded the Nandor, except those who were the direct subjects of Elwe, or had become merged with his people. The name meant 'the Grey', or 'the Grey-elves', and was derived from *THIN, PQ

*thindi 'grey, pale or silvery grey', Q pinde, N dialect sinde.

On the origin of this name see Note 11. The Loremasters also supposed that reference was made to the hair of the Sindar. Elwe himself had indeed long and beautiful hair of silver hue, but this does not seem to have been a common feature of the Sindar, though it was found among them occasionally, especially in the nearer or remoter kin of Elwe (as in the case of Cirdan).(15) In general the Sindar appear to have very closely resembled the Exiles, being dark-haired, strong and tall, but lithe. Indeed they could hardly be told apart except by their eyes; for the eyes of all the Elves that had dwelt in Aman impressed those of Middle-earth by their piercing brightness. For which reason the Sindar often called them Lachend, pl. Lechind 'flame-eyed'.

Nandor.

This name must have been made at the time, in the latter days of the March, when certain groups of the Teleri gave up the March; and it was especially applied to the large following of Lenwe, (Note 17, p. 412) who refused to cross the Hithaeglir.(16) The name was often interpreted as 'Those who go back'; but in fact none of the Nandor appear to have returned, or to have rejoined the Avari. Many remained and settled in lands that they had reached, especially beside the River Anduin; some turned aside and wandered southwards. (Note 18, p. 412) There was, however, as was later seen, a slow drift westward of the Moriquendi during the captivity of Melkor, and eventually groups of the Nandor, coming through the Gap between the Hithaeglir and Eryd Nimrais, spread widely in Eriador. Some of these finally entered Beleriand, not long before the return of Morgoth.(17) These were under the leadership of Denethor, son of Denweg (see Note 17), who became an ally of Elwe in the first battles with the creatures of Morgoth. The old name Nandor was however only remembered by the Noldorin historians in Aman; and they knew nothing of the later history of this folk, recalling only that the leader of the defection before the crossing of the dread Hithaeglir was named Lenwe (i.e.