To put it simply, elves were originally divided into three major races:
Vanyar: meaning "The Fair", they are the most beautiful race, usually blond, so they are sometimes translated as " Golden Elf"
Noldor: It means "'Those with knowledge", so it is sometimes translated as "Wisdom Elf", mostly with black hair
Teleri: It means "Those who come" last” because they were last in the process of moving to Aman. "Sea-elves are another name for them, because they love the music of the sea most.
When the gods persuaded them to move to Aman, some of the elves who originally belonged to the latter two tribes could not Those who wish to leave but stay behind are collectively called "avari", which means "The Unwilling", and those who set out are collectively called Eldar. From now on, when we talk about Vanyar, Noldor and Teleri, we will not include Avari.
The Teleri were the most numerous and later had the most branches: Sindar, Nandor, Laiquendi, etc. were all their branches.
Vanyar and Noldor all reached Aman. In the end, the Teleri who actually reached Aman were only led by Olwe. One branch.
There are many Teleri left in the middle (east of the Blue Mountains). These are called "Nandor", which means "Those who turn back";
After arriving in the Beleriand region in the far west of Middle-earth, a large number of their kings Elwe stayed there. These are the Sindar, or Grey-elf (grey elves);
In the middle of Nandor , and later some arrived in the Beleriand area under the leadership of Linwe and his son. These were called Laiquendi, or Green-elves (green elves)
Finally, Silvan, also known as Wood-elves (wood elves) , their composition is relatively complex, and they did not have this name in the First Age. Now it seems that they may have been formed by the fusion of Nandor, Laiquendi, and some Avari in the Third Age. Most of the elves belong to Silvan, because other races are either dead or gone, and there are very few left. As for Calaquendi (Light Elves or High Elves) and Moriquendi (Dark Elves). The main difference is not race, but depends on whether the elf arrived in Aman during the Great Migration. Anyone who arrives in Aman and sees the light of the sacred tree is a light elf, and vice versa. Therefore, although Sindar all belong to Moriquendi, their king. Elwe is Calaquendi, because Elwe has been to Aman.
The Elves, the most fascinating race in Middle-earth, Tolkien called them his most proud creation many times. . He spent an amazing amount of time building their culture, history, and even created two complete elven languages: Quenya and Sindarin; knowing this, it is not difficult to believe what he said.
Many people mistakenly confuse Tolkien's elves with the goblins of British folklore, but they are not actually the same. Although Tolkien himself admitted that mythology was the basis of his creation, his elves had nothing in common with the race in the mythology.
The elves are the children of Iluvator, the supreme god. Ilúvatar created them in ancient times, long before the sun and moon awakened, and gave them immortal beauty and gorgeous singing voices. They woke up under the stars of the Far East, wandered around, and gradually created language. For a long time, the Valar (the main god) did not know that such a race existed, but the Valar's mortal enemy, the evil-maker Melkor, heard of their existence. He sent black knights to plunder many elves to his fortress and tortured them cruelly, eventually turning them into Orcs.
Orome, one of the Valar, was hunting in Middle-earth and accidentally heard the singing of the elves. He hurried back to report to the other gods. For the safety of the elves, Vanla launched a war against Mork, and many years later finally defeated the Lord of Darkness and imprisoned him. After the war, Valla summoned the elves to live in Aman, the Blessed Realm, to better protect them; but only a small number of elves responded.
They are divided into three major races: Vanyar, the Fair Elves, whose leader is Ingwe, the most noble of all elf races; Noldor, the Deep Elves, whose leader It was Finwe the wise; the last to arrive and the most numerous were the Teleri, the Sea-elves, led by Elwe Singollo and the brothers Elwe. Olwe). These three major races are collectively called the Elves of Light; those who are unwilling to follow or get lost along the way are called the Elves of Darkness, because they were never seen again before the sun and moon awakened. The light of the sacred tree.
The Vanya elves were most loved by Manwe, the King of Gods, and Varda, Queen of the Stars, and have been living in Oman ever since. The Noldor elves are friends of Aule, the King of the Earth, and learned many crafts from him. Among them, Prince Feanor captured the light of two sacred trees and injected it into the three Silmarils he made. However, Mork, who regained his freedom, destroyed the sacred tree and stole the gems on his way north; Fennor's father Finw? was also killed. Manwe warned the elves not to go to war with Mork, but the Noldor elves headed by Fenor did not listen to the advice and decided to return to Middle-earth. They fought against the Teleri elves on the coast of Oman to seize the ship.
Feanor seized the ships of the Telleri elves and led the elves most loyal to him across the sea to Middle-earth; but he was soon killed by Balrog (Balrog). Since then, five wars have broken out between the elves and the dark forces. In the last battle (The War of Wrath), Valar led the elves who stayed in Oman back to Middle-earth, captured the Dark Lord and threw him into the Void forever. Many elves sailed back to Oman, the land of the immortal, and continued to travel through the mountains and ridges. The three Simariel gems experienced disasters, one rose into the sky and became Venus, one was thrown into the blazing fire, and the other was thrown into the sea. This is also the origin of the names of the three Elven Lord of the Rings thousands of years later: Vilya (Ring of Air), Narya (Ring of Fire) and Nenya (Ring of Water).
Elves are tall, smart, beautiful, elegant, and have keen eyesight. They are best at poetry, literature and music, and are also the most deadly archers in Middle-earth. Only fire, sharp blade or extreme sorrow can kill the elves; when they feel that ten thousand centuries are too long, they can also choose to give up their immortal life and go to the halls of Mandos, the master of souls, in Oman.
In the famous Elf royal family in "Lord of the Rings", Galadriel is a blond Noldor elf; her son-in-law, Elrond, the founder of Rivendell ) is a black-haired Noldor elf; her husband Celeborn and Haldir, the guardian of the golden jungle, are Sindar elves, of the same lineage as the Teleri elves, and their hair is silver. grey. After the Lord of the Rings was destroyed, almost all the elves sailed to the west; only Arwen, the daughter of Elron, and a small number of dark elves remained, becoming legends spread among the people of Middle-earth.
Reposted from the reply of Baidu user AK__47.