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Elves By the Numbers - Page 3

© Michael Martinez

Eol has his own torqued history. He moved around from kindred to kindred but seems to have ended up back with Elwe's family. In "Quendi and Eldar" he is actually a Tatyarin Elf, one of the Avari descended from the second kindred. Cirdan, on the other hand, is said in a couple of places to be one of Elwe's kinsmen (the exact relationship is never defined). And then there is the question of Elmo, the "shadowy" younger brother of Elwe and Olwe who was the grandfather of Celeborn (by one genealogy). The presence of brothers and sisters implies very strongly that neither Elwe nor Ingwe were among the first Elves. It has been argued that Ingwe's name, derived from "ing-", may still mean "first" (although in "The Etymologies" Ingwe is translated as "prince of Elves", not "eldest" or "first Elf"). Taking the story of Imin, Tata, and Enel as canon, we must accept that neither Ingwe nor Elwe could be first generation Elves. So Ingwe's name most likely refers to his position among the Minyar (and the Eldar) rather than that he was the "first to awaken". But Finwe remains anomalous. He has no brothers or sisters, so far as we know. And yet, neither does he have a wife until he marries Miriel Serinde. Originally Finwe and Miriel were married before the Noldor reached Beleriand, and she died while crossing the Hithaeglir (the Misty Mountains). But that tradition was abandoned so that Feanor would be born in Aman. But moving Feanor's birthplace to Aman doesn't imply that Finwe was not a first-generation Elf. In fact, Miriel, alone of all the Noldor, had silver hair. Silver hair was supposedly the trademark of Elwe's family. Well, hair colors among the Elves changed like the names of hobbits in the early texts of The Lord of the Rings. Although many people believe that only the Vanyar could have golden hair, there are quite a few examples of golden hair outside the Vanyar (and the house of Finarfin). Miriel's silver hair might eventually have forced Tolkien to consider she was related to Elwe somehow, but there is no indication he ever reached that point. So, to find a proper context for Miriel, one must look at "The Shibboleth of Feanor". This work, published in The Peoples of Middle-earth, indicates that Miriel was herself born in Valinor. The "Shibboleth" points out that "Ingwe" means, more or less, "chief", and that the Vanyar called themselves Ingweron, "the chieftains", the first Elves. They were, technically, the oldest group by all accounts. Ingwe's title among them was Ingwe Ingweron "chief of the chieftains". Nothing in these names must imply that Ingwe should have awakened first at Cuivienen, but unless Ingwe took up the name Ingwe when he set out upon the Great Journey, it seems reasonable to infer he was the leader of the Minyar when Orome found them.

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