Q: What Happened to the Elves Who Remained in the East?
ANSWER: As with so many questions about J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, what happened to the Avari depends on which sources of information you’ll accept as canonical. In The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings there are no Avari, only the “Wood-elves” who are also called the “Silvan Elves”. Of these Elves The Hobbit says:
…They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise. For most of them (together with their scattered relations in the hills and mountains) were descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West….
This single passage suggests that the Wood-elves (of The Hobbit) were only one branch of the “East Elves” — a term Tolkien only used in one passage as “East-elves”* (he more often writes of “the High Elves of the West” and “the Elves of the West” as opposed to the Silvan Elves or the Wood-elves). These are the basic facts of Tolkien’s general nomenclature for the major Elvish divisions. And, of course, as anyone who checks the books will see, The Silmarillion uses more detailed divisions for the Elves.
In The Silmarillion we are told that all of the Elves originated in the eastern land of Cuiviénen; from there three kindreds set out on a great journey into the western lands, hoping eventually to reach the shores of Middle-earth and pass over the Great Sea to settle in Valinor. Of these three kindreds the largest, the Teleri, became divided into several groups:
- The Nandor, who turned aside from the Great Journey when they reached the Anduin
- The Eglath, friends and relatives of Elwë Singollo who searched for him in the woods of Beleriand until they missed their chance to leave Middle-earth
- The Falathrim, led by Elwë’s kinsman Cirdan, who chose to remain in Middle-earth at the behest of Ossë, a Maia of the sea
- The Falmari, led by Elwë’s brother Olwë, who eventually reached Tol Eressëa and from there passed on to settle the eastern shore of Aman in Eldamar
The Nandor, the Falathrim, and the Eglath became further sub-divided. One of the sub-groups of the Nandor, led by Denethor, eventually settled in Beleriand and became the Laegrim (“Green-elves”), the only vegetarians among the Elves.
So, from the publication of The Hobbit in 1937 to the publication of The Silmarillion in 1977 Tolkien fans and scholars could only see the Elves as being divided into those of the West (including the Noldor and the Sindar) and those of the east (including the Wood-elves). When The Silmarillion was published, we learned that the Elves who refused the Great Journey became the Avari and that they were divided into two unnamed groups (drawn from the progenitors of the Noldor and Sindar respectively).
It would not be until The War of the Jewels was published in 1994 that we finally learned the formal names of all the groups of Elves that Tolkien established for his post-LoTR mythology. The original Elves divided themselves into three groups: the Minyar (Firsts), Tatyar (Seconds), and Nelyar (Thirds). The Minyar all undertook the Great Journey, arrived in Valinor, and became the Vanyar. The Tatyar divided into two groups and the group that undertook the Great Journey became the Noldor. The Noldor all reached Valinor but there most of them eventually rebelled against the Valar and returned to Middle-earth, becoming the Exiles. After Morgoth was defeated most of the Exiles returned to the West and settled on Tol Eressëa. So of the Three Kindreds only the Minyar/Vanyar remained more-or-less united (although they spread out across Valinor and lived in many communities).
In the Second Age the remaining Noldor-in-Exile became divided into two groups: the Exiles of Lindon and the Exiles of Eregion. The Exiles of Eregion became further sub-divided after Sauron destroyed that realm, with some fleeing north to join Elrond in Rivendell and some fleeing through Khazad-dum to Lothlorien. Over the following centuries many of these survivors or their descendants eventually sailed over Sea to Tol Eressëa.
The various divisions of the Noldor is significant to understanding what happened to the Avari. The Tatyar and Nelyar eventually migrated westward. We only learn definitively in The War of the Jewels that some of them reached Beleriand; many of them settled among the Nandor in Eriador, Rhovanion, and the southern Vales of Anduin. Some of the Tatyar apparently joined the Laegrim, of whom a sub-group eventually settled in Doriath (after the death of Denethor), where they became known as the Guest-elves. In some variations on stories about minor Elves some of the characters we know from The Silmarillion are in fact said to be of Tatyarin descent (such as Eöl, who elsewhere is said to be one of Elwë’s relatives).
What seems to be certain is that the Silvan Elves are meant to be a mingled group derived from Nandor, Tatyarin Avari, Nelyarin Avari, and (in Lothlorien) Sindar (possibly including descendants of Laegrim) and Noldor. Some Sindar also settled in Greenwood the Great.
It is almost certain that at least some of the Avari eventually reached Aman/Tol Eressëa because after the War of Wrath the Valar renewed their summons/invitation to all the Elves of Middle-earth. If any Avari of Beleriand survived the war they would have been most likely (among all the groups of Avari) to respond to that summons. After the War of the Elves and Sauron in the Second Age I am sure Tolkien meant for many Elves of all kindreds to pass over Sea to escape Sauron’s attacks.
By the end of the Third Age there were probably no longer any distinctions between Avari and Eldar — there were only High Elves and Wood-elves. The eastern-most group of Elves Tolkien mentions are the Elves living in Dorwinion (as stated in The Hobbit). Of them he only says they are the kin of the Wood-elves, which could really mean almost anything.
* You will find two uses in The Peoples of Middle-earth. He nonetheless preferred to use “Silvan Elves” instead. The implication is that (in the Third Age, at least) all “east” Elves were Wood Elves.
See also:
- Did Pauline Baynes Choose the Location of Dorwinion?
- Where Do Elves Live in Middle-earth?
- Do All Elves Leave Middle-earth?
- Was Dorwinion an Elf Kingdom?
- Elves by the Numbers
- The Wild, Wild Wood-elf West
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Interesting but what do you make of those six clans or tribes of Avari mentioned somewhere in HoMe they would rather at first spread over Rhun then mingle with Nandor, would they survive as culturally separate group in Third Age?
I know the list of tribes you mention but there is so little information about them that all speculation would be of about equal value, in my opinion. The only thing I would feel comfortable speculating on is that whatever linguistic history is implied by the names themselves (with respect to the Noldor meeting them) probably mean they were documented prior to the War of the Elves and Sauron. Maybe this was part of the Pengolod timeline that Tolkien dropped, since Pengolod lived in Eregion.
If they indeed survived they would be located in general east of Misty Mountains in Third Age and there would be none to the west of them, those eastern elves don’t appear to be eager to go across the sea anytime soon, even Wood Elves of Mirkwood were living as they did in previous times, even during Fourth Age (though maybe those who settled in Ithilien with Legolas would feel the call strongly, Galadhrim seems to be influenced by Noldor and Sindar and they already had tradition to pass over sea from elf haven of Edhellond). Avari, if relatively pure culturaly, could probably retain rebellious tendencies, they refused to go once so why not the second time the call was sent in early Second Age. Maybe those ,,scattered relations” of Wood Elves in The Hobbit could be interpreted as the Avari (I know they weren’t made up in Tolkien’s mind yet, but still this fits nicely for the sheer convenience of it 🙂 ).
The other item we can speculate on is that the kw/q to p change in Nelyarin dialects suggests that of the six tribes, the Penni were probably Nelyarin and the other five Tatyarin. That would be consistent with the more cohesive identity of the Nelyar as a whole, recorded elsewhere, but we shouldn’t of course just assume that these were the only tribes. There may have been plenty more Nelyarin Avari tribes that were just undocumented.