Eldar

The Eldar (Quenya Tengwar: full spelling or vowel-abbreviated spelling ; IPA: ; singular Elda; ; adjectival Eldarin; or ; ), or Edhil (Sindarin), are those Elves who accepted to leave Cuiviénen and undertake the Great Journey to reach Valinor. Some of them reached Aman and they were called Amanyar, although others stayed behind in Middle-earth and they were called Úmanyar.
==History==
The Elves awoke at Cuiviénen, the "Water of Awakening", in the far east of Middle-earth, in the starlight of the Long Night, before the creation of the Sun and Moon. Upon awakening the Elves heard the sound of falling water, and beheld the light of the stars, and were enamored of starlight ever after. Soon developing spoken language, the first name they gave themselves was Quendi, or 'the ones who speak with voices'. 
Although the first of the Ainur to discover the Elves was indeed Oromë, their initial discovery was by Melkor, who would send shadows and evil spirits to spy on them. When Elves would stray off alone, some were taken by Melkor or his agents. These Elves were brought to Utumno, and were believed to be twisted and mutilated into the first Orcs, who would become the most bitter enemy of the elven people. 
And so it was that on one of his many journeys in the wilds of Middle-earth, Oromë came upon the Elves. Oromë quickly came to love the Elves. Oromë called them Eldar, that means "People of the Stars", the Elves that chose to follow him, because when they awoke the stars were the only lights in the sky and for this reason they loved Varda and her creations 
After the capture of Melkor at the end of the siege of Utumno, Oromë came back to Cuiviénen in order to invite the Elves to travel with him to the Undying Lands. The proposal was accepted by the totality of the Minyar, the half of the Tatyar and the majority of the Nelyar. He also renamed the three clans as Vanyar (Minyar), Ñoldor (Tatyar) and Teleri (Nelyar). The Quendi who refused to follow Oromë were called the Avari, 'the Unwillings'. During the Great Journey some groups of the Teleri lingered behind in Middle-earth and never reached Aman, so for this reason they were called Úmanyar and along with the Avari they were considered Moriquendi, the "Elves of Darkness". Instead, those who reached Valinor became known as Calaquendi, the "Elves of Light".
==References==
Category:Elves
Category:Quenya names & words
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