What this is
In brief
Origins
Many of the Silvan Elves descended from the Nandor, Elves who turned back from the Great Journey and lingered in the woods, and from kindreds who never went west. They settled the great forests of Rhovanion and were later joined by Sindarin and Noldorin rulers.
Culture
A woodland culture of hunting, archery and song, more secluded and less lordly than the Noldor. The Silvan Elves of Mirkwood lived in caverns and halls beneath the trees, and those of Lothlórien in the great city of the mallorn trees. They were suspicious of strangers yet fierce in defence.
Language
Sindarin, adopted widely, with Silvan dialects and Elvish songs of their own.
History
The Silvan Elves of Greenwood the Great became the Woodland Realm under Thranduil, reduced in later years to the north of a forest darkened by Sauron and renamed Mirkwood. In Lothlórien, Galadriel and Celeborn ruled the Silvan people. Their forces fought at the Battle of Five Armies and harried Dol Guldur during the War of the Ring.
Leaders
Settlements
- mirkwood
- lothlorien
- greenwood
Alliances
- sindar
- noldor
- elves
- the-white-council
Conflicts
- battle-of-five-armies
- war-of-the-ring
- battle-of-dol-guldur
Notable members
CharacterLegolas Greenleaf
Son of Thranduil and the Elven archer of the Fellowship, whose friendship with Gimli breaks an old estrangement.
CharacterThranduil
King of the Woodland Realm and father of Legolas, who imprisoned Thorin’s company and later fought at Five Armies.
CharacterGaladriel
An Elven-queen of the Noldor, wielder of Nenya, and one of the wisest and most powerful figures remaining in Middle-earth.
CharacterTauriel
A captain of the Woodland Realm’s guard created for Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.
Sources
The Hobbit · 1937
Published in Tolkien’s lifetime. The primary narrative of Bilbo’s journey.
The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55
Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
Unfinished Tales · 1980
Expanded and alternative accounts of the First, Second and Third Ages.
Related entries
PeopleElves
The Firstborn Children of Ilúvatar, deathless and beautiful, whose long history spans the awakening at Cuiviénen, the wars of Beleriand and the slow fading of the Third Age.
PeopleSindar
The Grey Elves of Beleriand, the great kindred who remained in Middle-earth under Thingol and Melian and whose tongue became the common Elvish speech of later ages.
PeopleNoldor
The second great kindred of the Eldar, master craftsmen and lore-masters, whose exile and wars against Morgoth shaped the whole history of the First Age.
LocationLothlórien
The golden Elven realm of Galadriel and Celeborn, preserved outside ordinary time by the ring Nenya.