Editing Sundering of the Elves (section)

== Context <span class="anchor" id="Eldar"></span>==

=== Author ===

[[J. R. R. Tolkien]] (1892–1973) is best known as the author of the [[high fantasy]] works ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. He was a professional [[philology|philologist]], an expert in the changes in words between languages.<ref name="Carpenter 1977">{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography]] |publisher=[[George Allen & Unwin]] |publication-place=London |date=1977 |isbn=978-0-04-928037-3 |oclc=3046822 |pages=111, 200, 266 and throughout}}</ref> He created a family of [[Constructed language|invented languages]] for [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]], carefully designing the differences between them to reflect their distance from their imaginary common origin. He stated that his languages led him to create the [[A mythology for England|invented mythology]] of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', to provide a world in which his languages could have existed. In that world, the splintering of the Elvish peoples mirrored the fragmentation of their languages.<ref name="Shippey 2001"/><ref name="Flieger 1983 Darkness"/>

=== Awakening of the Elves <span class="anchor" id="Awakening"></span>===

In [[Tolkien's legendarium]], the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] awoke at [[Cuiviénen]], a bay on the eastern side of the Sea of Helcar, on the continent of [[Middle-earth]], where they were divided into three tribes: Minyar (the Firsts), Tatyar (the Seconds) and Nelyar (the Thirds). After some time, they were summoned by the [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Vala]] [[Oromë]], the huntsman, to live with him and the other Valar in [[Aman (Middle-earth)|Valinor, on Aman]]. The Eldar are those who accepted the summons. Their name, literally ''Star People'', was given to them by Oromë, in their own language, [[Primitive Quendian]].<ref name="Tyler 1980">{{cite book |last=Tyler |first=J. E. A. |title=The New Tolkien Companion |publisher=[[Avon Books]] |year=1980 |page=166 |isbn=978-0-380-46904-8}}</ref><ref name="Dickerson 2013"/> The Avari are those who refused the summons.<ref name="Dickerson 2013"/> Half of the Avari (the "refusers")<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.elfdict.com/w/Avari |title=Avari |website=Parf Edhellen: an Elvish Dictionary |access-date=2 October 2022}}</ref> came from the largest tribe, the Nelyar, but most of the Nelyar went on the journey.{{efn|"The proportions, out of 144, that when the March began became Avari or Eldar were approximately: ''Minyar'' 14: ''Avari'' 0, ''Eldar'' 14; ''Tatyar'' 56: ''Avari'' 28, ''Eldar'' 28; ''Nelyar'' 74: ''Avari'' 28, ''Eldar'' 46: ''Amanyar Teleri'' 20, ''Sindar and Nandor'' 26." (''Nandor'' 8 - p. 412) It can be seen that the Avari are made up of roughly equal numbers of Tatyar and Nelyar.<ref name="Quendi and Eldar" group=T/>}}<ref name="Quendi and Eldar" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1994|loc="Quendi and Eldar"}}</ref>