: : I am quoting this from memory so it may not be exact.
: : "This is written to be a survivng Elvish fairytale or children's tale
: : combined with counting lore."

: "Quendi and Eldar" contains the following passage:

:

:   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.
: 

: The fairy-tale is prefaced with:

:

:   A form of this legend is found in a single typescript with carbon copy.
:   On one copy my father wrote (and similarly but more briefly on the
:   other): 'Actually written (in style and and simple notions) to be a
:   surviving Elvish "fairytale" or child's tale, mingled with counting-lore'.
: 

: The story as published and the discussion of the Elvish clans in "Quendi and Eldar" are the only two direct references to this early history of the Elves, but there is at least one other passage which seems to share some influence with it. This is a note appended to the Cirdan essay which speaks of the early rafts of the Teleri (Nelyar) at Cuivienen, and how they shaped their paddles in the form of the water-birds which lived on the lake.

Besides, as Captain Kirk once said, 'most legends have their basis in fact'...

But seriously, if we're going to start ruling out writings because they're 'fairytale' or 'legend' or 'Elvish hearsay', then what are we doing here anyway? I gathered the Silm was only what Bilbo heard through the Elves of Rivendell (likewise LT were only what Eriol heard through the Elves of Tol Eressea). And furthermore, anything before the awakening of the Elves was just what the Valar told the Elves anyway. Yet we still ferociously debate every word of these! Unless something is unequivocably contradicted, I think we have to consider it. Very similar to REAL history.

Heorrenda