Lore

People

The second division
The Division of Tongues acts as an introduction to the grammatical treaty of elvish languages, Tengwesta Quenderinwa , laying foundation to their relation to each other. Its final version showed a layer of revisions, intended to incorporate the conceptual shift from Noldorin to Sindarin , but that work was left incomplete. The second of listed divisions is concerned with Nandor that underwent a back-and-forth in terms of their identity on multiple occasions. 
 In the original version TQ1 they are presented as belonging to the second clan: 
 
 […] the followers of Nano (or Dan ) forsook the main host of the Noldor upon the march […] These are the Pereldar , or 'Half-eldians', or the Danian Elves, […] Who were also in Ossiriand called the Laiquendi or Green Elves. 
 
 But in the TQ2 that was changed to the third clan: 
 
 the followers of that lord that is named Nano or Dân  forsook the hosts of the Teleri upon the long march […] These  are the Nandor , or Danian Elves  […]  Who were also in Ossiriand called the Laiqendi or Green Elves. 
 
 This idea stays around for a decade, as told also in the  Quendi and Eldar , where it became a critical point in the etymology of Lindon : 
 
 this people still called themselves by the old clan-name * Lindai […] The country in which most of them eventually settled, as a small independent folk, they called Lindon . 
 
 But another decade later  Noldorin roots of Nandor reappeared again in the  Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals : 
 
 the Nandor were in origin a detachment of the Noldor that went astray and did not come into Beleriand until shortly before the Exilic period. 
 
 That was however brief, as soon after in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor he reverts in full to the early 50's paradigm: 
 
 There, especially near the Hithaeglir (on either side), they found scattered settlements of the Nandor, Telerin Elves who had in the First Age never completed the journey to the shores of the Sea. 
 
 This narrative did not stick around, and with a twist. In  Silvan Elves and Silvan Elvish he writes: 
 
 For the most part these secessions were made by groups of the Lindar […] The Eldar of Ossiriand, the Green Elves, […] were probably in origin of Noldorin kinship. The Wood-elves of the time of the War of the Ring appear to have been those of Teleri and their descendants who were dismayed by the Hithaeglir. 
 
 This time Green Elves and Silvan Elves became separate people, at least explicitly so. In fact, the second division itself is described now not as a singular decision, but as multiple small groups abandoning the host before crossing the Misty Mountains. That allowed for those elves to come from various origins. In fact, we can see this concept emerging already in  Quendi and Eldar , where the elves of the Vale of Anduin are described as a mixed folk of Teleri clan, including those of Lindarin Avari. 
 
 
 
 Date 
 Source 
 Nandor origin 
 Silvan elves origin 
 
 
 
 
 1937 
 Tengwesta Quenderinwa 
 Noldor 
 = Nandor 
 
 
 1951 
 Tengwesta Quenderinwa 
 Teleri 
 = Nandor 
 
 
 1959 
 Quendi and Eldar 
 Teleri 
 Avari 
 
 
 1968 
 Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals 
 Noldor 
 not mentioned 
 
 
 1969 
 The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor 
 Teleri 
 = Nandor 
 
 
 1969 
 Silvan Elves and Silvan Elvish 
 Noldor 
 Teleri

Cosmology