The History of the Elves (II): The Teleri Diaspora
The journey of the third clan of the Elves spread them throughout Middle-earth. They lost a king but ended up finding a home.
The Teleri were the third of the clans that undertook the Great Journey to Aman, the largest of the groups and the one that took the longest to cross all Middle-earth before reaching the western shores.
They were commanded by Elwë, one of the three Elven emissaries who first traveled to Valinor and returned to lead his people to the land of the Valar. The king received the help of his brother Olwë, whose figure was necessary to manage a clan with so many members, much larger than the Noldor and the Vanyar.
It happened that being such a large group (even taking into account that half of them preferred not to go to Aman, being known as the Avari), with the passing of the long years that the journey lasted, different groups separated from the clan and abandoned the march.
These groups did not return to Cuiviénen with the Avari but settled in various places in Middle-earth.
The first to separate were those who did not make it across the Misty Mountains and ended up living in the foothills of that mountain range and the valleys of the river Anduin. They received the name of Nandor Elves, and with the Avari, they were included in the term Silvan Elves. Despite it, they were two differentiated groups.
The rest of the Teleri finally reached Beleriand, the westernmost lands of Middle-earth, and behind whose sea lay Aman. Like the Noldor and the Vanyar, they were to go to the coast and wait for the Vala Ulmo to take them to the imperishable land.
However, the Teleri decided to settle in the interior of Beleriand. Elwë, who had a great relationship with King Finwë of the Noldor, usually traveled through the forests on his trips to the coast to see his friend.
On one such journey, however, Elwë became lost.
It was in the forest of Nal Emloth, which happened because the elven king was bewitched by the Maia Melian, with whom he fell madly in love. She also fell in love with Elwë, and both fell into a long sleep.
With Olwë taking sole command of the Teleri, the clan searched tirelessly for their lost king for years without success, as Melian’s spell prevented the elves from entering Nal Emloth.
In the end, the Teleri had to face reality and decide: whether to march or not to march to Valinor.
At that moment, the second great split in the Teleri took place.
Some did not want to wait for the return of King Elwë, so they chose Olwë as their new king and decided to leave for the shores of Beleriand to go to Valinor.
On the contrary, others decided to stay in the interior of Beleriand to continue looking for their king, being called from then on Eglath (the abandoned). They did not want to approach the sea for fear of succumbing to homesickness, leaving for Aman and abandoning Elwë.
Thus, what remained of the Teleri who continued the Great Journey, those led by Olwë, finally reached the shores of Beleriand. Their happiness was cut short when they discovered that the Vanyar and the Noldor had departed with Ulmo. There was no longer any possibility of traveling to the land of the Valar.
Thanks to the Noldor, who asked Ulmo to return, the Teleri could travel to Aman on an island that the Vala moved for them.
But that extraordinary event took years, so the Teleri had to live on the shores for a long time, waiting for Ulmo to come and fetch them. And it was during that time that some of the Teleri fell in love with the sea, to which they dedicated songs and music. Among them began to dwell Össe, a maia (like Melian) who was in the service of Ulmo and was so taken with the elves that he asked them to stay there to live so as not to miss the pleasure of listening to them sing.
Under the command of Círdan, this group decided to stay on the coast and became known as Falathrim. The rest of the Teleri, who remained under the reign of Olwë, waited for Ulmo and finally traveled to Valinor. They never returned to Middle-earth.
That was Teleri’s third and last split during the Great Journey.
While this was happening, in the forest of Nal Emloth, Elwë and Melian awoke and returned with the Eglath. The whole group again recognized the domain of the king, who changed his name to Thingol from then on. His people were called from then on Sindar (Grey People).
The Sindar were settled in three main areas. Most of them lived in the forest of Doriath with King Thingol and Queen Melian, a magical and blessed place, the most beautiful in all Middle-earth. Another group of Sindar moved north and was known as the Sindar Mithrim. The Sindar welcomed Círdan’s group, and they also kept their denomination of Falathrim.
Many years later, already in the First Age of the Sun, some Nandor elves crossed all Eriador and settled in the southeast of Beleriand, specifically in Ossiriand. Commanded by Denethor, they adopted the name of Green Elves, becoming independent of the rest.
Thus, when the Great Journey came to an end, the Teleri had suffered the largest diaspora among the Elves:
The Teleri, the only ones to complete the journey in full, on the eastern shores of Valinor under the command of Olwë.
The Nandor, the first to leave the Great Journey, near the Misty Mountains and the valleys of Anduin.
The Sindar, under the reign of Thingol (formerly known as Elwë), in the north, the interior, and the coasts of Beleriand.
The Green Elves split from the Nandor in Ossiriand, southeast of Beleriand.
Thus the Teleri were established in Arda until the evil of Melkor returned to the world, and the curse of Fëanor and the Noldor reached the Sindar.