Elves

Their immortality protects against aging and illnesses. Yet they are still vulnerable to both injuries and grief. Yep – it is possible for an elf to die from a broken heart. It is important to note that while wounds can kill them, elves are able to recover from what would have killed a human. There is also reincarnation of elves, with those not guilty of major crimes and who want to are allowed to have a second life. Meanwhile they are resistant to but not immune to environmental stresses, such as extreme cold. Nor are they able to survive without food entirely – though they require less than humans. This last point and lembas bread makes it likely that sieges would be hard to win without direct assault.

Normally, children were few and far between. Pregnancy appears to last a full year. Most couples have 4 or fewer children and 7 is the all time record. While they consider raising children as the happiest times of their lives, they tend to lose interest in having more children naturally after this point. It is apparently normal for 100-200 years to pass between the marriage and the first child and even longer between later ones.   Most couples choose to have their children in peacetime to avoid the pain of a young child losing their parent.   This was in part because physically children did not reach physical maturity until they were 100. Though their minds appear to reach maturity faster than humans. They can speak, walk and dance by their first year. By twenty they may still appear to be 7, but have fully matured in terms of language skills. Puberty hits at 50.   Their spirits were bound to the world until it ended. This meant the possibility for reincarnation. On death, the spirit was sent to essentially be judged. Those who were guilty of serious crimes and did not repent were typically not reincarnated. But it appears that the Valar were free to technically delay this or impose conditions as they saw fit. Those who refused the summons or reincarnation or were denied it were effectively ghosts. They still could not leave the world even if they did not get a new body.   Generally, as elves age they increasingly get weary of the world and want to return to the Undying Lands. To get there, they take ships from the Grey Havens. Once they make it, their spirit then begins to consume their body until it totally fades. So this just got weird quick.

They are generally human like in appearance. But much more beautiful. Their hair color varied based on ethnic group. The Noldor for example generally had brown or black. Vanyar tended to have golden while the Teleri silver or dark. Normally they had grey eyes. It is generally assumed they have pointed ears, though it looks like the descriptions in the books do not explicitly state this. Normally they do not have beards. Their eyes were usually grey or dark.

They are often described as highly intelligent. Possibly the most intelligent in Middle Earth. Their curiosity, desire to learn and create are their defining mental attributes. But it appears they are prone to jealousy, greed and pride. They are apparently able to be fooled by those that look good. In an interesting passage, Sauron was able to shape shift into a fair form and deceive an elf into helping him make the rings of power.   A general pattern emerged in elves similar to that of men. Those that made it to and stayed in the Undying Lands are supposed to be the wisest and most artistically skilled. Those that accepted the invitation but did not make it across the sea ranked next in these. Those that were too afraid to cross the Misty Mountains appear to be the ones ranking the worst. By elf standards, they ranked so poorly in these categories they were the only ones to harbor real racial animosity towards dwarves.   This last group, the Silvan elves, appear to be a special level of clueless by elf standards. During the Last Alliance, they sent a decent number of troops to fight. But their leader decided to disobey orders. This led to them losing two thirds of their troops. Thranduil became the leader of these troops and Mirkwood as a result.   The Noldor are at the other end of the spectrum. They are defined as being the most intelligent. Their skill in crafts and art is also above all others. But they are the most proud of the elves. So while they are the strongest and bravest elves, they were bogged down in costly military adventures against Melkor and their fellow elves. They failed to gain allies due to their brutality against fellow elves and their disdain for them. Apparently they built whole cities for the other groups of elves as a gift to those they say live in simple huts. Talk about how to win friends and influence people. So while they were the strongest, bravest and most intelligent elves who waged a good fight against Melkor, it took them humbling themselves in order to get the winning reinforcements.

But they do have vastly superior agility and eyesight. Legolas was able to count the number of men and horses approaching them as the Rohirrim was still miles away. They also appear to have telepathy and use that to communicate. Elves appear to be the main species in Middle Earth that is ambidextrous

At birth, the father typically assigns the infant a single name based on either one of the parent's names. This was the official name for the elf. Prefixes seem to be based on physical appearances and thus applied later. A name given later by their mother often is based on physical appearance or character trait or their fate. Apparently these were rare but considered important.   Later in life, the elf would choose a second name. It was apparently a sign of intimacy to know or even be able to use it. It was seen as rude to use the chosen name by those who were not close to the elf. Generally it would not even be used in records or tales. What is included in these is essentially honorifics. Like how Alexander III of Macedon is known to history as "the Great".

When they first awoke, one of the first things they saw were the just recently created stars. The first thing they heard was the sound of water from a nearby lake. They fell in love with these. We see these forming the basis of elf art thereafter. Singing was a major part of their art and is the art most inspired by water. Artistic pursuits appear to focus on smithing, sculpture, weaving and music.   The Noldor are said to be the first to find and carve gems. The Valar Aule who focused on smithing loved the Noldor because of their skill. Eventually they came to surpass their teachers. Also unique among the elves is the Noldor interest in embroidery.   Elves loved poetry and music so much they claimed to have invented them. The Noldor also are credited with inventing the first writing system. And writing many epic books. At first, the elves apparently could not speak, so their songs did not have words. Also - for a world literally created by divine intervention, this seems like a weird thing.   Water and the sea were said to be important parts of their art and culture. The Grey Havens was a sea based colony and most real world analogs have water based art. The Teleri ethnicity were the "sea elves", known for making ships. I would imagine that water motifs would be more common in their art than the rest.

Apparently there is not much of a difference in terms of gender norms. Most tasks appear to be equally shared between the genders. But men do tend to focus on war while women on healing. But this is not rigid. The core idea is that taking life interferes with the ability to heal it. So the women who hunt also refrain from medicine. Men who choose to be healers also refrain from going to war or hunting.

Apparently it is normal for elves to marry when they are around fifty years old. Those who marry late or never are apparently rather weird. Also rather odd is the elven ability to tell if another elf is married via the eyes and voice. Any relations between elves closer than second cousins is taboo.   Monogamy and love based marriages are the norm and adultery is apparently extremely rare. This is apparently due to the fact they are not motivated by lust in any real meaningful way. So while engagements can be backed out of, this is rare. Elves are naturally cautious due to the permanence of marriage. And they are immortal - it is not like they don't have time to think things through beforehand. The engagement is formalized with the exchanging of silver rings. Should the engagement end, they are publicly returned and melted.   Elves apparently know they were going to marry long before the ceremony actually takes place. Marriages also require parental permission as well. But if the ceremony is getting close, this appears to be abandoned. In this case, the engagement is announced at a meeting of the two families. The wedding is celebrated with a feast with the two families. The rings are worn on the index finger. The bride's mother typically gives the groom a jewel. But only some words spoken by the pair (presumably vows) and the consummation are all that are required. The ceremony tends to also involve the return of the engagement rings for gold ones.

Another element of elven culture after their cynicism is a conservative set of social norms. Marriage is for life. As far as I have found, only one elf had two wives and that was due to the first dying. Sex is seen as beautiful due not just to the intimacy of it but the fact it could produce children. In a mirror of real world debates surrounding abortion, elves see life as beginning at conception and celebrate conception days instead of birthdays. Adultery and premarital sex is unheard of in elven society. There is a set of gender norms as well though it was not rigidly adhered to.   Once the marriage is completed, the couple is not totally bonded. They are still considered separate individuals and as such they can live apart for long periods of time. Society continues to recognize that each elf has their own physical and mental gifts/interests.

One interesting thing here is that the elves appear to have some form of magic. Elrond famously summoned a flood and had the ability of foresight. Galadriel appears to have telepathy and the ability to conjure visions of the past. It was also an elven smith that made many of the rings of power. Other objects – such as the lembas bread, their rope and cloaks granting invisibility appear to be magical. The door the Fellowship uses to get into Moria was built by elves. It opened without being pushed at the speaking of a password, was invisible most of the time and the writing on it could only be read in moonlight.   It is unclear if it is actually accurate to call it magic. It appears that some of the alleged magic is simple linguistic simplification by the elves. Other cases it just appeared magical because the item in question is not understood by the speaker. Thus, it can be hard to tell what exactly is magic and what is just extremely advanced technology.   It is stated that their technology appears to universally do harm to evil beings. The rope given to the Fellowship hurt Gollum's skin.

Sindarin was one of two major languages of the elves. It use though is a great example of the elves using soft power to influence other cultures. The Númenór and its successor states both adopted that language.

Artistic achievements are also well known as elven areas. Music and poetry are highly prized by elves to the point they claim to have invented them. Apparently mithril is valued by elves primarily due to its artistic uses. We can assume that the artistic skills, high culture and love of nature developed over time would combine to produce a culture elves would take great pride in. They would probably be willing to defend not just their people and territory but the culture and sources of its inspiration. Meanwhile, they are willing to work with those who promise to provide greater skills and knowledge – something that would cause problems for them when confronted with both Melkor and Sauron.

Traditionally, the Noldor preferred big cities relative to the other elves. These cities were typically in valleys. The other ethnicities built homes on the shore or in woodlands

Premarital sex is not possible both out of common practice and out of elven views on the subject. Pretty much all elves appear to wait until marriage before haveing sex. But they also see sex as creating a marriage. So to them it is technically impossible. Adultery is seen as a violation of nature. There appears to be no known case of rape in elven societies.

When the elves first awoke, not even the Valar were aware of their existence. In the build up to the wars against Melkor, elves would often wander off in small groups or alone. Melkor took advantage of these isolated groups and the rest of the Valar not knowing about them. These groups of elves would as a result "disappear". Orcs were said to be made out of these unfortunate kidnapping victims. The Huntsman Valar Oromë discovered them after hearing this singing. At first, the elves were afraid because of lies spread by Melkor about him. The Valar decided that they needed to go to war with Melkor to protect the elves from Melkor. Middle Earth was literally reshaped as a result of this war. Melkor was defeated and imprisoned.   The Valar then invited them to join the Valar in the Undying Lands. A few went to test the waters and report back how it was. Their testimony led to the "Great Journey" - where the elves started a migration towards the Undying Lands. This created a split in the Elven community. Some did go all the way to the Undying lands. But some decided they liked the wide open spaces of Middle Earth and the view of stars. They stayed behind because they were afraid to cross the Misty Mountains. To be fair, so would I. Others lost their leaders and stayed out of despair or to look for said leaders. It was these elves that came to found most the major elven kingdoms of Middle Earth.   Another group called the Noldor actually returned to Middle Earth. The elves that went to the Undying lands were a little annoyed by Melkor's release from prison. A combination of hatred for Melkor and ironically his propaganda against the Valar led the Noldor to openly defy them. The Noldor returned to Middle Earth specifically to wage war on Melkor and ultimately finish the job. Another example of the elven desire for total victory against enemies they see as irredeemable.   To be fair to them though, Melkor did intentionally trick them, kill their king, steal part of their cultural heritage and do serious environmental damage in the process. And to be fair to the Valar here, they let them leave, but refused to let them back in. Only after the Noldor came back begging for aid did that ban get relaxed.   But this is interesting in a couple of respects when compared to humans Numenor also rose up in rebellion. The consequences were the entire destruction of the island and shortened life spans for everyone. So mercy appears to be a bit selective. On one hand the Numenorians did act on the advice of Sauron. But they were not his dedicated servants either like the Easterlings were. Like the Noldor, they were manipulated and lied to. And like the Noldor, serious crimes were committed. One can debate whose were worse, but one can hardly say that the Numenorians were a legitimate threat to the Valar. So it seems likely that the Valar were guilty of pro-elf bias that at least partially explains the disparity.   It is important to note that in these battles, the Noldor were willing to turn on their own. Three "kingslayings" occurred, essentially civil wars between elves. This contributed to the Teleri group refusing to send help against Melkor. Which I can somewhat understand - the third battle saw the deaths of many civilians. I can't imagine a group being too keen on fighting for a group that rebelled against the gods and butchered women and children in the process. But at the same time, this act alone contributed to the success of Melkor, even if losses in these battles (numbering in the hundreds) didn't factor in. After all, a group of highly skilled troops not engaging the enemy would be catastrophic in the face of dragons and balrogs.   The wars they waged did not go too well for them - leading to the near destruction of the Elves. Many of their kingdoms fell, residents were killed and enslaved. One battle was so brutal that it was called the "battle of unnumbered tears". Their victory only came when a return voyage was made to beg the Valar to forgive the Noldor. This was granted. The Valar returned and finally defeated Melkor.   After the defeat of Melkor, the elves founded many of their more famous kingdoms. But the battles raged on. Sauron naturally was not too happy with the defeat handed to his master and knew the role the elves played. One elven smith was deceived into helping make the Rings of Power. But this elf eventually discovered who Sauron was and hid the elven rings. So he attacked and nearly won. This war lasted 8 years - which saw the elves almost defeated. The aid of Numenor led to the defeat of Sauron.   Knowing that the threat was not removed, they formed the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, which pushed Sauron all the way back. This cost Sauron his body and the One Ring. The only reason the Free People had any hope in the War of the Ring was because Sauron had not yet recovered from his defeat at the hands of the Last Alliance. This was despite the thousands of years between the two wars and the significant amount of damage he was able to do through his proxies.   The elves, due to their immortality and being the oldest of the races of Middle Earth, have struggled against many incarnations of the forces of evil. They won each round with high losses in some cases, yet the evil still remained. So there was a degree of cynicism that caused them to leave, feeling that there was little hope. But struggle was still needed as a tool to preserve their legacy in Middle Earth. Each age saw reductions in elvish population numbers due to battlefield losses and survivors becoming refugees. So in the Second Age during the Last Alliance of Men and Elves their numbers and morale were extremely good, by the War of the Ring that was not quite as true. By the War of the Ring they are described as ready to repay their debts to the human powers, thus feeling helping was a matter of obligation rather than the mission they passionately struggled for in ages past.

Galadriel is a major thematic figure we need to look at. She was from the Noldor group of elves. This is important because this group essentially gave up everything to defeat Melkor and swore to totally defeat him. Her kingdom of Lothlorien is also on the front lines. It is caught between Saruman and Sauron. It is difficult to see how she would not be interested in completing the mission. Yes, she admits that the power of the elves would dimmish and the elven kingdoms would fade once Mordor is defeated. But the historic mission of the Noldor would have been fulfilled and the return of the elves to the Undying Lands would seem justified.

It is well established in Elven history that the "higher" elves tend to rule over and have disdain for the lower elves. Massive amounts of suffering were inflicted because of this. The Sindar meanwhile considered the Noldor to be a bit arrogant and blamed the Noldor for the devastation of Melkor. So they too did not engage too much in the war against Melkor.   The Noldor in particular domesticated horses and dogs.   Apparently there was an elven ethnic group called the Avari. Others got lost, decided to look for leaders or arrived to late. These guys straight up refused to go to the Undying Lands. The result is the Avari were essentially primitives compared to the rest of the elves. But the result of them staying behind is they were the first to make contact with humans. While they were stupid and unskilled in crafts for the elves, they surpassed the skills of humans. Early human technological advancement came from the Avari.   It was during the battles against Melkor that the first battlefield alliances with men occurred. At first, only the Noldor worked with them, partly out of the lack of elven allies due to their mistreatment of them. The other groups feared men. But partially because of the solid working relationship with the Noldor and a notable marriage, this began to change.   Sauron's concerns over intellectual property rights led him to wage war on the elves. The Numenorians had to intervene to save the elves. This cooperation led to forcing Sauron back all the way to Mordor and the loss of the One Ring in the Last Alliance of Men and Elves. All in all, humans and elves appear to have a decent working relationship. Especially after this point.   The "unwise" Silvan or woodland elves were the ones most distrustful of the dwarves. But they also were friendly towards and traded with humans.