Moriquendi

When the Vala Oromë came to invite the Elves of Cuiviénen to come live in Valinor, 56 of 144 chose to remain, becoming Avari, while another 26 of 144 stopped along the way, becoming Nandor and Sindar. All those Elves who never reached Valinor are "Dark Elves."

In the First Age, the Sindar viewed the term "Moriquendi" as offensive, so the Noldorin Exiles gave the name Úmanyar ("Those not of Aman") to those who started the journey but did not finish it. This specifically included the Sindar and the Laiquendi, and, broadly, also the other Nandor and their Silvan and Galadhrim descendants.

King Thingol was a special exception to these categories: he had been to Valinor as an ambassador of the Elves and saw the Light of the Trees, but he did not complete the Journey. As such he was one of the Úmanyar but not a Dark Elf, and was reckoned among the Calaquendi. Nonetheless, the Sons of Fëanor called Thingol "Dark Elf" as an insult.

The special title "Dark Elf" given to Eöl of Nan Elmoth seems to refer to his personal aversion to the light of the Sun rather than his heritage:

Tolkien said that in his earliest conception, the Dark Elves were "imagined as wandering about, and often ill-disposed towards the 'Light-Elves'". Later he considered an additional use of the term: "sometimes applied to Elves captured by Morgoth and enslaved and then released to do mischief among the Elves." He thought that this latter idea should be taken up for Eöl.

In Norse mythology, there are the Light Elves (Ljósálfar) and the Dark Elves (Dökkálfar or Svartálfar), a tradition which was well known to J.R.R. Tolkien.

1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 28/05/2026.