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Dates
Awoke with the other Elves some three ages before the beginning of the Years of the Sun
Origins
Elves who refused the Great Journey, or abandoned it before reaching Beleriand
Location
Widespread across eastern Middle-earth; in Beleriand, Wild Elves were found mainly in the great forest of Taur-im-Duinath and eastward of the river Gelion
Race
Elves
Division
Avari, and possibly also descendants of the Nandor1
Meaning
These Elves were 'wild' by comparison to the High Elves and the Sindar of Beleriand
Other names
Apparently a reference to the Avari, also called the Unwilling

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  • Updated 5 March 2023
  • This entry is complete

Wild Elves

Wanderers in Beleriand

A name used by Mîm the Petty-dwarf in contrast to the Sindar and the Noldor of Beleriand. His meaning is not entirely clear; he may have been referring to the Laiquendi of Ossiriand, or (perhaps more plausibly) to those few Avari who had travelled westward of the Blue Mountains. At least some of these were to be found in Taur-im-Duinath, the great wild forest of southern Beleriand, and it was perhaps wanderers from this forest that Mîm had encountered.


Notes

1

From the single reference we have to Wild Elves, from the Petty-dwarf Mîm, it is hard to be certain exactly which group of Elves he was describing (if indeed he knew himself). The index to Unfinished Tales defines 'Wild Elves' as referring to 'Dark Elves (Avari)', but this is not as helpful as it seems, given that Dark Elves and Avari are not precisely equivalent terms. In particular, it is not specified whether the Wild Elves included the Green-elves of Ossiriand, who were Dark Elves but not Avari (their ancestors the Nandor had begun the Great Journey but later abandoned it).

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 5 March 2023
  • This entry is complete

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