The White Council

Silvan Elves, Avari (was Re: Legolas)

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: >>>I read an essay in Unfinished Tales called 'Sindarin princes : of Silvan Elves', and the main topic of discussion was : Lothlorien and Mirkwood, both of which were Silvan (elves who : stopped at the Misty Mountains on the Great Journey from : Cuivinien) realms ruled by the Sindar. I am almost sure that : Thranduil's realm had a Silvan majority, although he and his : family were Sindarin. : - Ecthelion of the Fountain

Yes, that is what is said in UNFINISHED TALES. The nature of the Silvan Elves has been debated for years. Tolkien made more than one statement about where they came from, and that, of course, is what has fueled the debates.

In "Quendi and Eldar" (THE WAR OF THE JEWELS, Volume XI of THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH) Tolkien provies a list of Avari tribes, of whom the Penni are said to have merged with the Nandor in the Vales of Anduin to become the Silvan Elves. In the appendix to THE LORD OF THE RINGS itself Tolkien writes that the Silvan Elves were the East-elves and the Eldar were the West-elves. His conception of the Silvan Elves' roots therefore appears to have evolved from a rather simple East-versus-West grouping to a more complex social structure by which the Elves fragmented into numerous groups and the Silvan Elves emerged as a blending of some of those groups.

The two traditions are not entirely inconsistent. Some people don't feel the Nandor should be considered Eldar (and again this is in part because Tolkien seems to distinguish between Nandor and Eldar on occasion). Hence, even in the Silvan Elves = Nandor + Penni Avari formula, the Silvan Elves would still be East-elves.

On the other hand, not long ago it was pointed out to me in email that the Penni seem to be the only Telerin group of Avari in the list Tolkien provided (this is based on linguistic analysis of the names, applying rules of phonetic shift provided by Tolkien), and that the implication the other groups were all Tatyar (the group from whom the Noldor came) is consistent with the idea that the Teleri were more close-knit and less-prone to fragmentation than the Noldor (despite apparent historical contradictions to the notion). Hence, the Penni would have outnumbered the Nandor who merged with them, and the Silvan Elves would thus be mostly Avarin in origin.