Q: Why Did the Sindar Leave Lindon?
ANSWER: In Appendix B “The Tale of Years” to The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote (in the introduction to the Second Age):
In the beginning of this age many of the High Elves still remained. Most of these dwelt in Lindon west of the Ered Luin; but before the building of the Barad-dûr many of the Sindar passed eastward, and some established realms in the forests far away, where their people were mostly Silvan Elves. Thranduil, king in the north of Greenwood the Great, was one of these. In Lindon north of the Lune dwelt Gil-galad, last heir of the kings of the Noldor in exile. He was acknowledged as High King of the Elves of the West. In Lindon south of the Lune dwelt for a time Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol; his wife was Galadriel, greatest of Elven women. She was sister of Finrod Felagund, Friend-of-Men, once king of Nargothrond, who gave his life to save Beren son of Barahir.
Later some of the Noldor went to Eregion, upon the west of the Misty Mountains, and near to the West-gate of Moria….
The wording of this text suggests that the Sindar in fact passed eastward before the Noldor settled Eregion in Second Age year 700. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote some experimental essays (associated with the ever-evolving history of Galadriel and Celeborn) that attempted to explain who these Sindarin princes were and why they left. For example, we find in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, in an essay titled “The Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves”:
Oropher had come among them with only a handful of Sindar, and they were soon merged with the Silvan Elves, adopting their language and taking names of Silvan form and style. This they did deliberately; for they (and other similar adventurers forgotten in the legends or only briefly named) came from Doriath after its ruin and had no desire to leave Middle-earth, nor to be merged with the other Sindar of Beleriand, dominated by the Noldorin Exiles for whom the folk of Doriath had no great love. They wished indeed to become Silvan folk and to return; as they said to the simple life natural to the Elves before the invitation of the Valar had disturbed it.
In this the only passage that provides any detailed background of these Sindarin “adventurers” Tolkien points to their estrangement from the Noldor, who dominated the Eldar of Lindon. The wording of this passage seems to imply that these survivors of Doriath may not have accompanied Elwing to the Mouths of Sirion, where her people were merged with survivors of Gondolin (whose people were Noldor, Sindar, and Eldar of mixed descent) led by Tuor and Idril Celebrindal.
There are references in some of the texts to the so-called “Guest-elves” of Arthorien, who were the descendants of the Green-elves of Ossiriand who moved to Doriath after the death of their king, Denethor, in battle with Orcs. It could be that Tolkien wanted to connect the Guest-elves of Arthorien with the Sindarin adventurers of the Second Age who founded various kingdoms among their kin in the east. At least some of the Guest-elves are even said, in one note, to be descended from Avari who had joined Denethor’s kingdom in Ossiriand. The Avari were not particularly friendly to the Noldor, according Tolkien’s notes; and they probably identified most closely with only those Sindar who lived away from the cities in the woodlands.
Hence, Cirdan’s people at Mithlond were most likely not on good terms with the Guest-elves faction. It could be the latter comprised many of the Sindar who settled in Harlindon at the beginning of the Second Age (with Celeborn as their lord). But not all of the Sindar fled Noldorin influence. Some of them settled in Eregion and throughout Eriador. These Sindar were apparently not hostile to the Noldor, and may have been (in Tolkien’s mind) connected with the Sindar who accompanied Elwing, or maybe the Sindar who fled from Hithlum and Nargothrond.
Of course, “Lindon south of the Lune” is also approximately where Denethor’s former kingdom was, so many of the Elves there may have been descendants of Green Elves of Ossiriand. These were the only vegetarians among the Sindar and they don’t appear to have left a legacy among the Wood-elves of the Third Age. So we cannot identify any precise connection between the Sindarin adventurers of the Second Age and First Age antecedents; hence, understanding their motivations (as Tolkien might have conceived them) is virtually impossible.
But what seems certain is that for a few centuries Noldor and Sindar lived relatively peacefully in Lindon on both sides of the Lune and their populations must have increased substantially. For example, the Noldor expanded their population in Beleriand considerably over the course of about 500 years of the Sun (allowing for time spent in Beleriand prior to the rising of the Sun). Gil-galad’s kingdom should therefore have been very well populated by the time Vëantur arrived from Numenor in Second Age year 600. If the Sindarin migration began around that time (say plus-or-minus 50 years) then one of the reasons for their departure may simply have been that Lindon was becoming too crowded for them.
Not all of the Sindar chose to become rustic woodland Elves. Edhellond was founded early in the Second Age. According to one experimental explanation Tolkien wrote, the city was founded by Doriathrim who learned how to build ships from Cirdan. But we cannot assume that this would have been Tolkien’s final word on the subject.
At the beginning of the Second Age there were probably still many Nandorin and Avarin Elves living across Eriador, Enedwaith, Calenardhon, Anorien and Ithilien, and in Lothlorien and southern Greenwood. Also, Dorwinion (if it was an elf-realm) could have been in existence by this time. Growth in population among these Elven peoples would have resulted in renewed contact with the Eldar of Lindon, if only because many of these Elves lived in “Wandering Companies”. Elves like Oropher and Amdir (aka Malgalad) need not necessarily have set out with the intention of establishing kingdoms. They could have been motivated by a curiosity about their ancient kin in the east, while at the same time wanting to get away from the Noldor.
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