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{{cleanup}}
{{cleanup}}
{{race
{{people infobox
|image=
| name=Avari
|name=Avari
| image=[[File:Peter Xavier Price - Avari Elf.jpg|250px]]
|dominions=Possibly [[Dorwinion]]
| caption="[[:File:Peter Xavier Price - Avari Elf.jpg|Avari Elf]]" by [[Peter Xavier Price]]
|languages=Many
| pronun=
|height=
| othernames=Dark-elves, the Unwilling
|length=
| origin=Elves who the [[Great Journey]]
|skincolor=White
| location=Originally [[Cuiviénen]]
|haircolor=Probably dark
| affiliation=
|feathers=
| rivalry=
|distinctions=Refused the [[Great Journey]]
| language=[[Avarin]] languages
|lifespan=Immortal
| members=possibly [[Morwë]], [[Nurwë]]
|members=Possibly [[Morwë]], [[Nurwë]]
| lifespan=Immortal
| distinctions=
| height=
| hair=
| skin=White
| clothing=
| weapons=
}}
}}
[[Quenya|Q]]: unwilling
{{pronounce|Quenya - Avari.mp3|Gilgamesh}}
The '''Avari''' are a branch of the [[Elves]]. Also known as East Elves


When [[Oromë]] found the [[Elves]] that [[Awakening of the Elves|awakened]] in [[Cuiviénen]], he summoned them to come with him to [[Valinor]]. All the [[Vanyar]] and most of the [[Ñoldor]] were persuaded, along with some of the [[Teleri]], and followed [[Oromë]] into the west on the [[Great Journey]]. The remainder of the [[Ñoldor]] and [[Teleri]] remained suspicious, or simply refused to depart from their own lands, and spread gradually throughout the wide lands of [[Middle-earth]]. They were after known in [[Quenya]]—the language of the [[Eldar]] that eventually reached [[Valinor]]—by the name ''Avari'', meaning "the Unwilling", because they refused the summons.
The '''Avari''' ([[Quenya|Q]]: "unwilling"; or "'''the Refusers'''"<ref>{{PM|Atani}}, p. 312</ref>) were a branch of [[Elves]] that refused to make the [[Great Journey]].


Having never come to [[Valinor]], the Avari remained a wild folk, dwellers of forests. Little is known of them, as they do not appear in any of the tales, save some references to Avari creeping in the south of [[Beleriand]] in the [[First Age]]. Many of them probably merged with the [[Nandor]] and became known as [[Silvan Elves]]. Also, it is speculated that the [[Dark Elves]] were the first other sentient race encountered by the race of [[Men]] during their infancy.  The [[Dark Elves]] probably taught them many of the basic crafts of civilization, though the craft of the Eldar surpassed that of the Avari even more than that of the Avari surpassed primitive [[Men]].
==History==
The original [[Elves]] that [[Awakening of the Elves|awakened]] in [[Cuiviénen]] numbered 144, and they were divided into three clans: the [[Minyar]], which had 14 members; the [[Tatyar]], which had 56 members; and the [[Nelyar]] (or [[Lindar]]), which had 74 members. After the [[Vala]] [[Oromë]] invited the Elves to live in [[Valinor]], the Elves entered into a great debate on whether to follow Oromë into the west. Most of the Elves were persuaded to undertake this [[Great Journey]], including all of the Minyar, half of the Tatyar, and 46 of the Nelyar. These Elves became known collectively  as the [[Eldar]], and their clans became known by new names: the Minyar Eldar were called the [[Vanyar]], the Tatyar Eldar were called the [[Noldor]], and the Nelyar Eldar were called the [[Teleri]].<ref name=WJ3801>{{WJ|C}}, pp. 380-83</ref>


It is odd that the Avari are seen as dishonorable compared to the Noldor. While the Noldor obeyed their master's call and the Sindar heard it but could not answer, the Avari ignored it entirely. But the reasons for this are not that the Elves are evil or lesser than their Noldorin brethren. The name Dark Elves is misleading in that sense.  
Those Elves who refused to take the Great Journey were called the Avari, and they were not counted among the Eldar.<ref>{{S|3}}, p. 41</ref> Their initial population had 56 members, consisting of 28 (half) of the [[Tatyar]] and 28 of the [[Nelyar]],<ref name=WJ3801 /> the latter of whom maybe were called Lindai. Some of them, especially those who dwelt furthest from the waters of [[Cuiviénen]] and wandered in the hills, had not seen Oromë at his first coming, and knew only vague, fearful rumours of the Valar; lies of Melkor concerning Oromë and [[Nahar]] perhaps had a role.<ref>{{MR|Annals}}</ref> Many thus refused to depart from their own lands, and spread gradually throughout the wide lands of [[Middle-earth]]. According to a tradition their leaders were [[Morwë]] of the Tatyar and [[Nurwë]] of the Nelyar. They were after known by the name "the Unwilling" because they refused the summons.
 
According to the legends, [[Orcs]] may be descended from Avarin elves captured and corrupted by [[Morgoth|Melkor]].
 
Over time, many Avari wandered westwards. Some mingled with the [[Nandor]] of the [[Vales of Anduin]], and others entered [[Eriador]].<ref name=WJA>{{WJ|Author}}, pp. 409-410</ref> Some time after the [[Laiquendi]] settled in Beleriand, some Avari "crept in small and secret groups into Beleriand from the South."<ref name=WJ377>{{WJ|B}}, p. 377</ref> Most of these Avari remained secretive and isolated from the other elves, living in caves and deep in the forests.<ref name=WJ377 /> They viewed the Eldar with jealousy and disdain, believing that the Eldar were deserters, and they treated the Eldar with hostility and treachery. They especially disliked the exiled [[Noldor]] who returned from Aman.<ref name=WJA /> Rarely, an Avar was accepted into Sindarin society.<ref name=WJ377 /> Outside of Beleriand, in Eriador and the Values of Anduin, some Avari and Eldar eventually established friendlier relations.<ref name=WJA />
 
The [[Edain]] who travelled to the West met the Avari first of all the Elves, and were taught from them music and language, which influenced theirs. They probably taught them many of the basic crafts of civilization, though the craft of the Eldar surpassed that of the Avari even more than that of the Avari surpassed primitive [[Men]].
 
Some Avari after the end of the [[First Age]] started to mingle with the scattered [[Nandor]] beyond the [[Misty Mountains]] and they became hardly distinguishable from them, afterwards known as [[Silvan Elves]].<ref>{{UT|6a}}</ref>
 
It is told that no Avari Elves were to be found west of the [[Misty Mountains]] during the late [[Third Age]].<ref>{{PE|17}}, p. 53</ref>


These are Elves that were so in love with their world, their middle earth, that they could not bear to leave. A moral, then, that Tolkien quietly inserted into the history of Middle Earth is that sometimes true beauty is not perfection. Valinor was perfection, but the Dark Elves stood by their beloved Middle Earth, even when their brethren left for the obvious bliss of the Undying Lands
==Tribes==
==Tribes==
Their population was composed of 1/2 of the [[Tatyar]] and 1/3 of the [[Nelyar]], who maybe were called Lindai. According to a tradition their leaders were [[Morwë]] of the Tatyar and [[Nurwë]] of the [[Nelyar]].  
Six tribes of Avari are mentioned in the [[Third Age]], and their names are all cognates of the [[Primitive Quendian]] word [[Quendi|Kwendî]] (''the Speakers''): '''[[Kindi]]''', '''[[Cuind]]''', '''[[Hwenti]]''', '''[[Windan]]''', '''[[Kinn-lai]]''', '''[[Penni]]'''.<ref>{{WJ|Author}}, Note 9</ref>
 
==Languages==
{{main|Avarin}}
The Avari had many tribes and greatly varied languages, widely sundered from one another.<ref>{{WJ|Quendi}}, p.410</ref> The names above are the only certain [[Avarin]] words ever mentioned by the Loremasters.  


Six tribes of Avari are mentioned, and their names are all cognates of the [[Primitive Quendian]] word [[Quendi|Kwendî]] (''the Speakers''): '''[[Kindi]]''', '''[[Cuind]]''', '''[[Hwenti]]''', '''[[Windan]]''', '''[[Kinn-lai]]''', '''[[Penni]]'''<ref>''[[The War of the Jewels]]''</ref>.
It is also possible that the name [[Eöl]] is an Avarin one.


==Languages==
It is speculated also that [[Dorwinion]] was an Avarin land.<ref>http://www.jrrvf.com/hisweloke/site3/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=36</ref>
The names above are the only certain Avarin words ever mentioned in the published [[Middle-earth]] material. It is speculated however that [[Dorwinion]] was an Avarin land, with '''Winion''' carrying the meaning of "Wine".


According to the legends [[Orcs]] may be descended by Avarin elves captured and corrupted by [[Melkor]]. The [[Barrow-wights]] may also be spirits of Avari.{{fact}}
==Names==
==Names==
The Avari were called [[Abari]] in [[Telerin]] and Evair in [[Sindarin]]
The Avari were called ''[[Abari]]'' in [[Telerin]];<ref name=WJB>{{WJ|B}}</ref> they were also called ''[[Moripendi]]'' (an equivalent of [[Quenya]] ''[[Moriquendi]]'' which referred to the [[Sindar]] as well)<ref>{{WJ|A}}</ref>.
 
In [[Sindarin]] they were called ''Evair'', ''[[Morben]]'' or ''Mornedhel''.<ref name=WJB/>
 
==Other versions of the legendarium==
==Other versions of the legendarium==
In older versions of the legendarium, the name ''Avari'' was originally that of the later [[Eldar]], then meaning "those that departed".
In older versions of the legendarium, the name ''Avari'' was originally that of the later [[Eldar]], then meaning "those that departed".
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*[http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/avarin.htm Avarin languages at Ardalambion]
*[http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/avarin.htm Avarin languages at Ardalambion]


[[Category:Elves]]
{{references}}{{elves}}
[[Category:Avari| ]]
[[Category:Quenya nouns]]
[[de:Avari]]
[[de:Avari]]
[[fr:encyclo/peuples/elfes/avari]]
[[fi:Avari]]
[[fi:Avari]]

Revision as of 06:42, 17 February 2018

"I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess." — Sam
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Avari
People
Peter Xavier Price - Avari Elf.jpg
"Avari Elf" by Peter Xavier Price
General Information
Other namesDark-elves, the Unwilling
OriginsElves who the Great Journey
LocationsOriginally Cuiviénen
LanguagesAvarin languages
Memberspossibly Morwë, Nurwë
Physical Description
LifespanImmortal
Skin colorWhite
GalleryImages of Avari

The Avari (Q: "unwilling"; or "the Refusers"[1]) were a branch of Elves that refused to make the Great Journey.

History

The original Elves that awakened in Cuiviénen numbered 144, and they were divided into three clans: the Minyar, which had 14 members; the Tatyar, which had 56 members; and the Nelyar (or Lindar), which had 74 members. After the Vala Oromë invited the Elves to live in Valinor, the Elves entered into a great debate on whether to follow Oromë into the west. Most of the Elves were persuaded to undertake this Great Journey, including all of the Minyar, half of the Tatyar, and 46 of the Nelyar. These Elves became known collectively as the Eldar, and their clans became known by new names: the Minyar Eldar were called the Vanyar, the Tatyar Eldar were called the Noldor, and the Nelyar Eldar were called the Teleri.[2]

Those Elves who refused to take the Great Journey were called the Avari, and they were not counted among the Eldar.[3] Their initial population had 56 members, consisting of 28 (half) of the Tatyar and 28 of the Nelyar,[2] the latter of whom maybe were called Lindai. Some of them, especially those who dwelt furthest from the waters of Cuiviénen and wandered in the hills, had not seen Oromë at his first coming, and knew only vague, fearful rumours of the Valar; lies of Melkor concerning Oromë and Nahar perhaps had a role.[4] Many thus refused to depart from their own lands, and spread gradually throughout the wide lands of Middle-earth. According to a tradition their leaders were Morwë of the Tatyar and Nurwë of the Nelyar. They were after known by the name "the Unwilling" because they refused the summons.

According to the legends, Orcs may be descended from Avarin elves captured and corrupted by Melkor.

Over time, many Avari wandered westwards. Some mingled with the Nandor of the Vales of Anduin, and others entered Eriador.[5] Some time after the Laiquendi settled in Beleriand, some Avari "crept in small and secret groups into Beleriand from the South."[6] Most of these Avari remained secretive and isolated from the other elves, living in caves and deep in the forests.[6] They viewed the Eldar with jealousy and disdain, believing that the Eldar were deserters, and they treated the Eldar with hostility and treachery. They especially disliked the exiled Noldor who returned from Aman.[5] Rarely, an Avar was accepted into Sindarin society.[6] Outside of Beleriand, in Eriador and the Values of Anduin, some Avari and Eldar eventually established friendlier relations.[5]

The Edain who travelled to the West met the Avari first of all the Elves, and were taught from them music and language, which influenced theirs. They probably taught them many of the basic crafts of civilization, though the craft of the Eldar surpassed that of the Avari even more than that of the Avari surpassed primitive Men.

Some Avari after the end of the First Age started to mingle with the scattered Nandor beyond the Misty Mountains and they became hardly distinguishable from them, afterwards known as Silvan Elves.[7]

It is told that no Avari Elves were to be found west of the Misty Mountains during the late Third Age.[8]

Tribes

Six tribes of Avari are mentioned in the Third Age, and their names are all cognates of the Primitive Quendian word Kwendî (the Speakers): Kindi, Cuind, Hwenti, Windan, Kinn-lai, Penni.[9]

Languages

Main article: Avarin

The Avari had many tribes and greatly varied languages, widely sundered from one another.[10] The names above are the only certain Avarin words ever mentioned by the Loremasters.

It is also possible that the name Eöl is an Avarin one.

It is speculated also that Dorwinion was an Avarin land.[11]

Names

The Avari were called Abari in Telerin;[12] they were also called Moripendi (an equivalent of Quenya Moriquendi which referred to the Sindar as well)[13].

In Sindarin they were called Evair, Morben or Mornedhel.[12]

Other versions of the legendarium

In older versions of the legendarium, the name Avari was originally that of the later Eldar, then meaning "those that departed".

In other, relatively late writings, a brief idea was that the Avari did not come from the three clans, but from two other clans, led by Nurwë and Morwë. This idea was later dropped. In the final conception, the Elves were divided into three tribes.

External links

References

  1. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "The Atani and their Languages", p. 312
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar: C. The Clan-names, with notes on other names for divisions of the Eldar", pp. 380-83
  3. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor", p. 41
  4. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Two. The Annals of Aman"
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar: Author's Notes to Quendi and Eldar", pp. 409-410
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar: B. Meanings and use of the various terms applied to the Elves and their varieties in Quenya, Telerin, and Sindarin", p. 377
  7. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Appendix A: The Silvan Elves and their Speech"
  8. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 53
  9. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar: Author's Notes to Quendi and Eldar", Note 9
  10. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar", p.410
  11. ↑ http://www.jrrvf.com/hisweloke/site3/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=36
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar: B. Meanings and use of the various terms applied to the Elves and their varieties in Quenya, Telerin, and Sindarin"
  13. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar: A. The principal linguistic elements concerned"
Elves
(Quendi · People of the Stars · Firstborn · Elder Kindred)
Three Kindreds:
(Eldar · Eldalië · Edhil) 		 Vanyar (Fair-elves · Minyar) · Noldor (Deep-elves · Tatyar) · Teleri (Lindar · Nelyar)
Calaquendi:
(High-elves · Amanyar) 		 Vanyar · Noldor · Falmari
Úmanyar:  Sindar (Grey-elves · Eglath · Falathrim) · Nandor (Green-elves · Silvan Elves)
 Moriquendi:  Úmanyar · Avari (Cuind · Hwenti · Kindi · Kinn-lai · Penni · Windan)
See also:  Awakening of the Elves · Sundering of the Elves · Great Journey
Retrieved from "https://tolkiengateway.net/w/index.php?title=Avari&oldid=297086"