"J.R.R. Tolkien - The History of Middle-Earth - 00" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tolkien J.R.R)

The Silvan Elves
The Silvan Elves are generally thought to be descended of a portion of the Nandor who remained
in Greenwood the Great or by the river Anduin. But since some of the Avari eventually settled in
Beleriand we must assume that others settled among the Nandor of the Vales of Anduin. And
when the Elves could no longer live in Cuivi├лnen they must have turned their minds and hearts
toward the west. Men were increasing in number in the eastern lands and there would have been
little incentive for the Avari to stay close to tribes who were in Morgoth's service or led by Men
who had been in his service.

The Silvan Elves originally lived very close together on both sides of the river, at about the same
latitude as the forest of Lindorinand and southern Greenwood about Amon Lanc. They crossed
the river by boats and rafts and probably hunted in the woods for game, fished the river, and
perhaps traded with the Dwarves of Khazad-dum.

Like the Noldor and Sindar, the Silvan Elves were permitted to sail over Sea to Aman when they
grew weary of Middle-earth. They appear to have been closely associated with the haven of
Edhellond near the Bay of Belfalas, though by the Third Age communication between the
northern Elves and Edhellond seems to have been diminished.

The great migration of the Silvan Elves of Lorien in the year 1981 reduced the population of
Lorien though it did not affect the Elven realm in Northern Mirkwood. But it would seem that
the great influx of Elves fleeing Middle-earth infused the folk of Edhellond with a desire to flee
the mortal lands.

After the death of Amroth and the desertion of Edhellond some Silvan Elves still occasionally set
sail over Sea. The poem "The White Ship" speaks of a group of Elves who sail down the Anduin;
Legolas is said to have built a ship in Ithilien and sailed over Sea. And Mithrellas, the wife of
Imraz├┤r the Numenorean in one version of the founding of the House of Dol Amroth, was a
Silvan Elf who left her husband after bearing him two children. She was supposedly a handmaid
of Nimrodel, and could not have left Middle-earth before Amroth did. Perhaps she joined a
company of Elves who built a ship near Belfalas some years after Amroth's death.

In the Fourth Age the Silvan Elves of Lorien followed Celeborn across the Anduin to establish
the realm of East Lorien. The "Tale of Aragorn And Arwen" implies that a few Elves remained
in Lorien but not enough to maintain the ancient Elven realm.

Thranduil, King of Northern Mirkwood, permitted his son Legolas to lead some of their folk
south to Ithilien. Gondor thus enjoyed a renewal of Elvish influence for at least a few centuries,
as it is unlikely all of Legolas' people went with him over Sea.

The Silvan Elves were drawn into all the major wars of the Second and Third Ages. They gave
assistance to the Elves of Eregion in the War of the Elves and Sauron, and they marched with
Gil-galad in the War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Elrond called upon the Elves of
Lorien for aid on at least two and possibly three occasions in the wars against Angmar, and
Thranduil fought in the Battle of Five Armies.


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