Elves in Middle-earth

Celeborn (portrayed by Marton Csokas), an Elf in Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, an Elf is an individual member of 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 full only 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.

Template:Spoiler-about Elves were sometimes called the Firstborn or the Elder Kindred (as opposed to Men, the second born) as they were "awakened" before Men by the creator of the universe, Eru Ilúvatar. The Elves named themselves Quendi ("the Speakers"), in honour of the fact that, when they were created, they were the only living beings able to speak.

History

Awakening

The Elves awoke during the Years of the Trees in the First Age on the shores of Lake Cuiviénen under the starlit sky, as Middle-earth lay in darkness by then. There they were discovered by the Vala Oromë, who brought the tidings of their awakening to Valinor. Before this Melkor, the Dark Lord, had already captured some wandering Elves, and twisted them into Orcs. The Valar however, made war upon Melkor, captured him, and imprisoned him in the Halls of Mandos in Valinor.

Sundering

The Valar decided to summon the Elves in Valinor rather than leaving them dwelling in Middle-earth. They sent Oromë, who took Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë as ambassador to Valinor.

Returning to Middle-earth, Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë convinced a great host for the journey to Valinor. Not all Elves accepted the summons though, and they became known as the Avari, The Unwilling.

The others were called Eldar, Starpeople 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.

After years, Ulmo returned to Beleriand to pick up the remaining Teleri. As Elwë had not yet been found, great part of the Teleri took his brother Olwë as their leader. Some 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. All Teleri who stayed in Beleriand became known as the Sindar.

Exile

In Valinor, Fëanor, son of Finwë, and the greatest of the Noldor, created the Silmarils in which he stored the light of the Two Trees. After three ages in the Halls of Mandos, Melkor was released. He spread his evil, and eventually killed Finwë and stole the Silmarils. Fëanor then named him Morgoth. Fëanor and his seven sons then swore to take the Silmarils back, and led a large army of the Noldor to Beleriand.

Wars of Beleriand

In Beleriand, Elwë was eventually found, and married Melian the Maia. He became the overlord of Beleriand. After the First Battle of Beleriand, during the first rising of the Moon, the Noldor arrived in Beleriand. They laid a siege around Angband, but were eventually defeated.

Then Eärendil the Mariner, a half-elf from the House of Finwë, sailed to Valinor to ask the Valar for help. Then the Ban of the Noldor was lifted, and the Valar started the War of Wrath, in which Morgoth was finally overcome.

Second and Third Age

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, Eregion and Mirkwood. Sauron, Morgoth’s former servant made war upon them, but with the aid of the Númenóreans they defeated him.

During the Second and Third Age they held some protected realms with the aid of the Rings of Power, but after the War of the Ring they waned further, and most Elves left Middle-earth for Valinor. Tolkien's published writings give somewhat contradictory hints as to what happened to the Elves of Middle-earth after the One Ring was destroyed at the end of the Third Age.

It seems clear from Tolkien's published works that with the destruction of the One Ring, the power of the Three Rings of the Elves would also end and the Age of Men would begin. Elves 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," and were greatly diminished from their ancient power and nobility. Tolkien does not explicitly state how long this "dwindling" process would take, but implies that while the power of the remaining Noldor would be immediately lessened, the "fading" of all Elvenkind was a phenomenon that would play out over hundreds and even thousands of years; until, in fact, our own times, when occasional glimpses of rustic Elves would fuel our folktales and fantasies.

What presumably happened to the Elves of Middle-earth in the years and decades immediately following the War of the Ring is less clear, however.

There are many references in The Lord of the Rings to the continued existence of Elves in Middle-earth during the early years of the Fourth Age. Elladan and Elrohir, the sons of Elrond, do not accompany their father when the White Ship bearing the Ring-bearer and the chief Noldorin leaders sails from the Grey Havens to Valinor; they are said to have remained in Rivendell for a time. Celeborn is also absent from the farewell scene at the Havens, and his words to Aragorn at their parting heavily imply that he does not expect to join Galadriel in Valinor at any point in the near future. Celeborn is said (in Appendix A) to have added most of southern Mirkwood to the realm of Lórien at the end of the Third Age, but elsewhere Tolkien wrote that Celeborn dwelled for a while in Rivendell before at last leaving Middle-earth for Valinor.

Tolkien also wrote that Elves moved to Ithilien during King Elessar's reign, and assisted in the rebuilding of Gondor. It is also implied that Elves continued to dwell at the Grey Havens, at least for a certain period. Tolkien states that Círdan did not sail with Elrond, Galadriel, and the others at the end of The Lord of the Rings, and Sam Gamgee sailed from the Havens decades afterward, so it would seem that at least some Elves remained in Mithlond at that time. Círdan would supposedly leave on the last ship ever to leave the havens. Legolas also sailed to Valinor after Elessar's death, and although the reference to this in The Lord of the Rings states that it was Legolas himself that built the ship, it seems unlikely that any Wood-Elf from Mirkwood could have done so without the assistance of Círdan's folk, whom Tolkien elsewhere said were the only Elves remaining at the end of the Third Age with the skill to build the great ships that sailed from Middle-earth to the Blessed Realm.

Finally, the many descriptions of Lórien and the Woodland Realm in Mirkwood suggest that a significant population of Elves remained in Middle-earth for some time during the Fourth Age. In The Lord of the Rings, Caras Galadhon is called a "great city," and the impression is that the population of Silvan Elves that constituted the majority of Lórien's people numbered at least in the thousands. Descriptions of Thranduil's Woodland Realm in northern Mirkwood suggest an even larger population. Without the burning compulsion to return to Valinor that most of the Noldor and Sindar feel, it perhaps seems unlikely that the thousands of Silvan Elves remaining east of the Misty Mountains would suddenly choose to abandon Middle-earth at precisely the moment when all of Mirkwood was again open to them and the Shadow of Sauron was gone forever.

On the other hand, Tolkien made many references to a sharply depopulated Elven world in Middle-earth that are difficult to reconcile with the above. Especially in "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" that is found in Appendix A, Tolkien depicts a Middle-earth where most Elves have already left. Aragorn speaks of the empty garden of Elrond in Rivendell, and Arwen tells him that whether she would repent of her choice or not, there was no longer any ship (or presumably any Elves to build a ship) to facilitate her journey to the Blessed Realm. Most strikingly, after Elessar's voluntary death, she flees to a Lórien that is depicted as wholly abandoned, and gives up her own spirit in its sad and silent confines. Apparently, the entire remnant of its population now resided in East Lórien (southern Mirkwood). However, it is also possible that Arwen meant that the option to board a ship and go into the West was closed to her, even if there were still Elves at the Havens, because she had chosen a mortal life.

As with so many elements of Tolkien's famous creation, these contradictions must remain just that: examples of the various ideas and themes that the author explored at different times, and fodder for discussion among his legions of fans.

It is assumed those of the Quendi who never travelled to Aman, such as the Avari, succumbed to the change and mortality of the Middle-earth, their bodies being consumed by time, and simply faded away, not unlike the ring-wraiths, turning into purely spiritual creatures invisible to human eye.

Life cycle

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As told in The History of Middle-earth and in Tolkien's Letters, Elves had a different life cycle than Men. Most of the following information strictly refers only to the Eldar, as found in his essay Laws and Customs among the Eldar, found in Morgoth's Ring—but much could probably be applied to the Avari as well.

Early life

Elves are born about one year from their conception. The day of their conception is celebrated, not the actual birthday itself—since for them, life begins at conception (an idea which may have its roots in Tolkien's Catholicism.) Their minds develop quicker than their bodies; by their first year, they can speak, walk and even dance, and their quicker onset of mental maturity makes young Elves seem older than they really are. Physical puberty comes in around their fiftieth to one hundredth year (by age fifty they reach their adult height), and by their first hundred years of life outside the womb all Elves are fully grown.

Tolkien was unclear on how fast Elves actually grew. In Laws and Customs, he states that Elves' bodies develop slower than Men from the start. By the age of twenty, they might still appear physically seven years old, whereas Men at the same age are physically mature. However, he later wrote that Elves and Men develop physically at the same rate until maturity, but then Elven bodies slow down and stop aging physically, while human bodies don't.

Sexuality, marriage, and parenthood

Elves marry freely and for love early in life. Monogamy is practised and adultery is unthinkable; they only marry once (Finwë, first High King of the Noldor, was an exception, as he remarried after his first wife died).

Spouses can choose each other even long before they are married, thus becoming betrothed. The betrothal is subject to parental approval unless the parties are of age and intend to marry soon, at which point the betrothal is announced at a meeting of the two houses. They exchange rings and the betrothal lasts at least a year, and is revocable by the return of the rings; however, it is rarely broken. After their formal betrothal, the couple appoints a time for the wedding at least a year after the betrothal.

Marriage is celebrated at a feast of the two houses. They give back their betrothal rings and receive others worn on their index fingers. The bride’s mother gives the groom a jewel to be worn, but the marriage is achieved with its consummation. Technically, only the words exchanged by the bride and groom (including the speaking of the name of Eru) and the consummation are required for marriage.

The Elves view the sexual act as extremely special and intimate, for it leads to the conception and birth of children. Extra-marital and premarital sex are unthinkable — indeed, the Elves would regard them as contradictions in terms. Because adultery is also unheard of and fidelity between spouses is absolute, spouses can sometimes live separately for extended periods of time without fear of infidelity. Yet a sundering during pregnancy or during the early years of parenthood (caused by war, for example) is so grievous to the couple that they prefer to have children in peaceful times. In the case of rape, Elves lose the will to live.

Elves have few children, as a rule; (Fëanor and Nerdanel were an exception, conceiving seven sons), and there are relatively sizable intervals between each child. They are soon preoccupied with other pleasures; their libido wanes and they focus their interests elsewhere, like the arts. Nonetheless, they take great delight in the union of love, and they cherish the days of bearing and raising children as the happiest days of their lives.

There seems to only be one known example of extreme marital strife in Tolkien's mythology, that of Eöl and Aredhel, in which the latter actually left the former without his knowledge, resulting in Eöl ultimately killing her. However, this marriage was far from typical of the Elves.

Daily life

The Elves, particularly the Noldor, preoccupy themselves with various things, such as smithwork, sculpture, music and other arts, and of course, what to eat. Males and females can do almost everything equally; however, the females often specialize in the arts of healing while the men go to war. This is because they believe that taking life interferes with the ability to preserve life. However, Elves are not stuck in rigid roles; females can defend themselves at need as well as males, and many males are skilled healers as well, such as Elrond.

Later life

Eventually, if they do not die in battle or from some other cause, the Elves of Middle-earth grow weary of it and desire to go to Valinor, where the Valar originally sheltered their kind. Those who wish to leave for the Undying Lands go by boats provided at the Grey Havens, where Círdan the Shipwright dwells with his folk.

"The third cycle of life," aging, and facial hair

Despite Tolkien's statements in The Hobbit that Elves (and Hobbits) have no beards, Círdan in fact has a beard, which appears to be an anomaly and a simple oversight. However, Tolkien later devised at least three "cycles of life" for Elves around 1960; Círdan had a beard because he was in his third cycle of life. (Mahtan, Nerdanel's father, had a beard in his second cycle of life, a rare phenomenon.) It is unclear what these cycles exactly are, since Tolkien left no notes further explaining this. Apparently, beards were the only sign of further natural physical aging beyond maturity.

Nevertheless, Tolkien may have ultimately changed his mind about whether Elves had facial hair. As Christopher Tolkien states in Unfinished Tales, his father wrote in December 1972 or later that the Elvish strain in Men, such as Aragorn, was "observable in the beardlessness of those who were so descended", since "it was a characteristic of all Elves to be beardless". This would seemingly contradict the information above.

Elves sometimes appear to age under great stress. Círdan appeared to be aged himself, since he is described as looking old, save for the stars in his eyes; this may be due to all the sorrows he had seen and lived through since the First Age. Also, the people of Gwindor of Nargothrond had trouble recognizing him after his time as a prisoner of Morgoth.

Death

Elves are naturally immortal. In addition to their immortality, Elves are immune to all diseases, and they can recover from wounds which would normally kill a mortal Man. However, Elves can be slain, or die of grief and weariness.

Elves who die or are killed go to the Purgatory-like Halls of Mandos in Valinor. After a certain period of time and rest that serves as "cleansing", their spirits (fëar) are clothed in bodies (hröar) identical to their old ones.Template:ME-fact They almost never go back to Middle-earth, however. The only Elf known to have done so was Glorfindel. A rare and more unique example of an Elf coming back from the Halls of Mandos can be read in the tale of Beren and Lúthien, as Lúthien was the other Elf to be sent back to Middle-earth - as a mortal, however.

Eventually, their immortal spirits (fëar) will overwhelm and consume their bodies (hröar), rendering them "bodiless", whether they opt to go to Valinor or remain in Middle-earth. At the end of the world, all Elves will have become invisible to mortal eyes, except to those to whom they wish to manifest themselves.

Tolkien called the Elves of Middle-earth who had undergone this process "Lingerers", and the process may be thought of as a fourth and final cycle of Elven life.

Theoretically, if the Elves did exist, at the end of the world the youngest of them would still be visible, since for them all to become invisible would logically require that all Elves stop reproducing at some point. Incidentally, this voluntary cessation of reproduction appeared in material related to the Jackson films. In the material (not explicitly stated in the films themselves), Arwen is supposed to be the lastborn of her people, thus her being called "the Evenstar" (evening star).Template:ME-fact However, this does not appear in the books.

The lives of Elves technically only endure as the world endures; however, it is said that at the end of time the Elves will join the other Children of Ilúvatar in singing before His throne.

Naming conventions

Elves were typically given one name (essë) at birth, a name that had little to do with who they were or their personality. This name was given by the father, therefore called the father name, and reflected either the name of the father or mother. As the Elf grew older, they received a second name, given by the mother (amilessë). This name was extremely important and reflected personality, skills, or fate. This name was not used by those who did not know the Elf well; it would be considered rude to do so. In those cases, the Father-name would be used.

The epessë or the "after-name" is the third type. The after-name is given later in life, but not necessarily by their kin, as a title of admiration and honour. In some circumstances, the epessë is chosen by the Elf himself or herself. An Elf could be referred to by any of the three, but the epessë typically took preference.

A fourth type was the patronymic — the father's name with the suffix "-ion" added. Thus, Gildor Inglorion is "Gildor, son of Inglor".

Several examples include:

Maedhros, the oldest son of Fëanor, was called Russandol (copper-top) by his brothers: He had earned this epessë because of his ruddy hair. Maedhros itself was an epessë as well: his father-name had been Nelyafinwë (Finwë the third: Fëanor's own father-name had been (Curu) finwë), and his mother-name Maitimo (well-shaped one).

Gil-galad (Star of Radiance) is the mother-name of Rodnor, son of Fingon. He is given the epessë Ereinion because of his heritage: the name literally means "Son of Kings".

Círdan (Shipwright) is the epessë of a Telerin Elf who remained in Beleriand, and later Lindon, until the end of the Third Age. His original name had been forgotten, and he was referred to always as Círdan, a title which had been given to him as Lord of the Falas.

Finrod is usually referred to as Felagund (hewer of caves), a name the Dwarves had given to him (originally Felakgundu) because of his dwellings at Nargothrond. Finrod adopted the name, and made it a title of honour.

Galadriel is the Sindarin translation of Alatáriel, the latter being the Telerin epessë originally given to her by Celeborn. Galadriel means "Maiden Crowned by a Radiant Garland". The name itself is an epessë: her father-name is Artanis (noble woman) and her mother-name is Nerwen (man-maiden).

Common misconceptions

It should be noted that Tolkien's Elves differ greatly from elfs of older folklore, as well as most modern fantasy elves. Aside from their different bodies and life cycle, his Elves were very much human, if "Unfallen".

Forests and archery

The trip to Lórien furthers the perception that most Elves live in trees and carry bows, while we learn from Tolkien's other writings that his Elves were just as likely to live in caves (Menegroth,Nargothrond, and the halls of Thranduil in Mirkwood) and mountain fortresses (Gondolin), and the Noldor are known for their mighty swords, the Vanyar for their spears, and the Sindar were known to use axes (sometimes thought to be restricted to Dwarves). However, Elves were closer to nature than Men were, though not in the same way as popularized in other fantasy worlds such as that of Dungeons & Dragons.

Pointed ears

In addition, there are no explicit references to pointed ears in The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion. We know that Tolkien's Elves did, in fact, have pointed ears only because of a letter Tolkien sent to illustrators for The Hobbit, which stated that Bilbo's ears should be shown as "only slightly pointed and 'elvish'", and a passage in the Etymologies (published in The Lost Road and Other Writings, corrected in Vinyar Tengwar issue 45), where Tolkien states that "the Quendian (Elvish) ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than Human." However, practical considerations, including a number of occasions where Men are mistaken for Elves (most notably Túrin Turambar), suggest that the points must have been subtle, quite different from the large ears of Elfquest or the extremely long, narrow elf-ears in some anime such as Record of Lodoss War or from the Warcraft games.

Hair colours

File:BakshiGaladriel.JPG

Screenshot of Galadriel, portrayed with golden hair in the 1978 animated film.

Despite what some illustrations and adaptations might imply, Elven hair colour is actually quite varied and more complex than many people realize. In general, the Vanyar were blond, and the other Elves (including Noldor, Sindar, and Avari) had dark or even black hair, although some of the Teleri had silver hair. Lúthien Tinúviel and her remote descendant Arwen Undómiel, both described as the fairest of all Elves, were dark haired.

This is not the full picture, however: Finarfin, the youngest son of Finwë, and his descendants (such as Galadriel) had blond hair on account of Finwë's second wife, Indis of the Vanyar. Idril, the daughter of Turgon, had golden hair inherited from her mother, Elenwë of the Vanyar. Even the sons of Fëanor, the eldest Noldorin prince, were not all dark-haired: Maedhros and the twins Amrod and Amras had auburn hair, from their grandfather Mahtan.

Additionally, a silver hair colour existed in the royal houses of the Sindar, with Thingol, Círdan, and Celeborn all described as having silver hair. As revealed in Unfinished Tales, Galadriel displayed an extremely rare hair colour nowhere else observed: "silver-golden" hair, said to be dazzlingly beautiful ("blending the light of the Two Trees, Telperion and Laurelin"), which may have been a result of her unusual mixed Noldor-Vanyar-Teleri heritage (her mother was the niece of Thingol). Thranduil, father of Legolas and a Sindarin elf, is described as having blond hair in The Hobbit. Legolas' own hair colour is actually a bone of contention. The blond Glorfindel was a Noldorin elf of Gondolin.

Eye colours

When Tolkien describes Elven eyes, they tend to be grey. The idea for the grey eyes might have come from Tolkien's wife, Edith, who had grey eyes herself. This is certainly true of Lúthien (and her descendants: Elrond, Arwen and her brothers, and Aragorn and the Númenóreans/Dúnedain). Voronwë, who guided the man Tuor to Gondolin, also had grey eyes. Perhaps the grey-eyed convention comes from the fact that in Medieval English literature, grey eyes were a sign of nobility.

Tolkien apparently describes all Elves in Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings with the statement "They were tall, fair of skin and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finrod"; however, this statement was meant to apply only to the Noldor (substituting Finarfin for Finrod, his son).

Though he was half-Noldorin, Maeglin is said to have dark eyes (possibly from his father Eöl, who was not of the Noldor), while Olwë (the brother of Lúthien's father Thingol, and a Telerin king) has blue eyes. The eye colour of most other elves is not mentioned, so it would be difficult to generalize.

Eärendil, the half-elven son of Idril and Tuor, was said to have blue eyes when he was born — as found in The Fall of Gondolin in The Book of Lost Tales. Tolkien could have changed his mind later, but in reality it is common for babies to be born with blue eyes, regardless of their final eye colour, so this statement does not really shed much light on his adult appearance.

Androgyny

Tolkien's Elves are sometimes perceived as androgynous; however, they were probably not meant to be so, since Christopher Tolkien recounts that his father wrote the following "wrathful" comment protesting against a "pretty" or "ladylike" depiction of Legolas:

"He was tall as a young tree, lithe, immensely strong, able swiftly to draw a great war-bow and shoot down a Nazgûl, endowed with the tremendous vitality of Elvish bodies, so hard and resistant to hurt that he went only in light shoes over rock or through snow, the most tireless of all the Fellowship." (The Book of Lost Tales Volume 2)

Elvish languages

Tolkien created many languages for Elves. His interest was primarily 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 "Qenya", the first primitive form of Elvish. This was later called Quenya (High-elven) and, along with Sindarin (Grey-elven), is one of the two most complete of Tolkien's languages. In addition to these two he also created several other (partially derived) languages.

In Tolkien's mythology, these languages originated as follows:

Primitive Quendian (language of the Elves in Cuiviénen)
- Avarin
  - Various Avarin languages (some later merged with Nandorin)
- Common Eldarin (the early language of all the Eldar)
  - Quenya (the language of the Noldor and the Vanyar)
    - Quendya (also Vanyarin Quenya) (daily tongue of the Vanyar: closest to archaic Quenya)
    - Noldorin Quenya (also Exilic Quenya) (the "Elven Latin" of Middle-earth)
  - Common Telerin (the early language of all the Lindar)
    - Telerin (the language of the Teleri who reached the Undying Lands)
    - Nandorin (languages of the Nandor — some were influenced by Avarin)
      - Original language of Greenwood the Great
      - Original language of Lórinand
    - Sindarin (language of the Sindar)
      - Doriathrin (dialect of Doriath)
      - Falathrin (dialect of the Falas and Nargothrond)
      - North Sindarin (dialects of Dorthonion and Hithlum)

Tolkien also created the Tengwar and Cirth scripts for his languages.

Notable Elves

Imin - The first Elf to awake near the bay of Cuiviénen, first of the Vanyar
Tata - The second Elf to awake, first of the Noldor
Enel - The third Elf to awake, first of the Teleri
Ingwë - High King of the Vanyar and High King of all the Elves
Elwë - called Elu Thingol, King of Doriath and King of the Sindar
Lúthien - daughter of Thingol, wife of the Man Beren, fairest of all the Children of Ilúvatar
Olwë - Brother of Thingol, King of Alqualondë and King of the Teleri in Valinor (Falmari)
Finwë - First High King of the Noldor, had two wives, Míriel and Indis (remarries after Míriel dies)
Fëanor - First son of Finwë by Míriel, craftsman of the Silmarils, second High King of the Noldor, and greatest of all the Elves
The seven Sons of Fëanor - Elven princes who followed their father on his quest to reclaim the Silmarils from Morgoth
Fingolfin - Son of Finwë and Indis, half-brother to Fëanor, full brother to Finarfin, and father of Fingon, Turgon and Aredhel (and Argon in the final version of the tales), third High King of the Noldor
Fingon - Fourth High King of the Noldor, slain by Gothmog the Balrog
Turgon - Fifth High King of the Noldor, King of Gondolin, father of Idril
Idril - Daughter of Turgon, princess of Gondolin, wife of Tuor, and mother of Ëarendil
Maeglin - son of Aredhel, nephew to Turgon, and cousin to Idril, whom he loved illicitly; betrayed Gondolin to Morgoth
Eöl - father of Maeglin, husband of Aredhel; a great smith
Glorfindel - Only Elf who returns to Middle-earth after re-embodiment in Valinor; lends Frodo his horse Asfaloth
Finarfin - Son of Finwë and Indis, half-brother to Fëanor, full brother to Fingolfin, and father of Finrod, Galadriel, Angrod and Aegnor
Finrod Felagund - King of Nargothrond, elder brother of Galadriel, Angrod, and Aegnor
Orodreth - son of Angrod and thus nephew of Finrod Felagund, 2nd King of Nargothrond
Galadriel - Lady of Lothlórien, greatest Lady of the Noldor
Celeborn - Lord of Lothlórien, Galadriel's husband, kinsman to Thingol
Celebrían - daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn; Elrond's wife
Celebrimbor - forger of the Rings of Power, grandson of Fëanor
Gil-galad - Sixth High King of the Noldor, who ruled during the Last Alliance of Elves and Men; last to claim the title of 'High King' in Middle-earth
Legolas - also called Greenleaf, one of the Nine Walkers
Thranduil - King of the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood and father of Legolas

Half-elven:

Dior Eluchíl - son of Beren and Lúthien, Thingol's heir
Elwing - wife of Ëarendil, and mother of Elrond and Elros
Elros - first High King of Númenor
Elrond - Master of Rivendell
Arwen - Queen to King Elessar
Elladan and Elrohir - The sons of Elrond and brothers of Arwen