People of the Great Journey

		Quendi All Elves
	People of the Great Journey (Eldar)		Avari The Unwilling	Orcs?
Vanyar Light-elves	Noldor Deep Elves	Teleri The Third Clan

The first Elves awoke under the starry skies of Middle-earth in a time before the Sun and Moon had been created. They were discovered by the Vala Oromë beside the waters of Cuiviénen. The Vala offered to lead them across Middle-earth and the Great Sea to Valinor, the shining land of the Valar in the Uttermost West. Many of the Elves chose to make the journey, but many others refused. At this time the Elves became divided into the Eldar, the People of the Great Journey, and the Avari who refused the summons and remained behind.

The Great Journey was long and arduous, and many of the Elves who had begun it fell away before its end. Notable among these were the Nandor, the forerunners of the Silvan Elves, and the Sindar, the Grey-elves of Beleriand. Nonetheless many of the Eldar reached the western shores of Middle-earth and the island of Tol Eressëa which, by the power of the Vala Ulmo, transported them across the Sea.

Those of the People who completed the Great Journey dwelt in the bliss of Valinor for long ages, learning from the Valar and the Maiar who dwelt there in the Light of the Two Trees. Not all of them remained in the West, however. Melkor, the first Dark Lord, stole the Silmarils and destroyed the Two Trees before escaping into Middle-earth, and the great Elf Fëanor led a host of his people in pursuit. Thus many of the High Elves of the West returned to Middle-earth as the Years of the Sun began, and some were still to be found there thousands of years later, as the Third Age reached its end.