Amazon Studios The Rings of Power is here. We want all Spoilerites to have the best viewing experience possible and have the widest knowledge base about the Second Age of Middle-Earth. This is a weekly Let’s Get Nerdy article series highlighting a different piece of Tolkien I think you need to know about!
In past articles I have answered the question:
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- What Are the Rings of Power?
- What is Númenor?
- What is the Second Age?
- Who are the Harfoots?
- Who is Prince Durin IV?
- What is Khazad-dûm?
- Who is Celebrimbor?
- What is the Last Alliance of Men and Elves?
- Who is Elendil?
- New Pics! Who are Bronwyn and Theo?
- What is Rivendell?
- The Rings of Power First Reactions Are In!
- What is Lindon?
- What are the Nine Human Rings?
- Empire Magazine’s The Rings of Power Covers
- New Character Pictures
- Will Wizards Appear in The Rings of Power?
- New Promo for The Rings of Power
- What is Eregion?
- Leaked! Rings of Power Trailer Breakdown
- The Rings of Power Teaser Breakdown
- New EW Rings of Power Pictures
- SDCC Rings of Power Trailer Breakdown
- Who is Isildur?
- The Rings of Power is Here! Read the Reactions
- Who is the Stranger?
- Who is Queen Míriel?
- Who is Ar-Pharazôn?
- What is the broken black blade?
- What is Mordor?
- What is Mithril?
- What are the Silmarils?
- What is Narsil?
- Who founded Númenor?
- Who is Galadriel’s Brother Finrod?
- Rings of Power Adds 15 New Cast Members for Season 2
- Who is Círdan?
- Will Celeborn Appear in The Rings of Power?
- Are Galadriel and Sauron Enemies in Book Canon?
- Who is Narvi?
- Jamie Bisping Cast as Viran
- Will the Harfoots Settle The Shire?
- What to Watch Before The Rings of Power Season 2
- Will We See More Rings in The Rings of Power Season 2?
- Will Lord Belzagar Appear in The Rings of Power Season 2?
- Who is Diarmid?
- Will Ringwraiths appear in The Rings of Power Season 2?
- Will Gil-Galad Lead an Army in The Rings of Power Season 2?
- Is the Balrog Durin’s Bane?
- Who is Isildur’s sister Eärien?
- What is Rhûn Where Nori & The Stranger are Headed?
- Will Galadriel Go Dark in The Rings of Power Season 2?
- Where are the Southlanders Going?
- Is Durin Still a Prince?
- How Eärien will use the Palantir in The Rings of Power Season 2
- Is the Rings of Power close to canon? Will it get closer in Season 2?
- What is The War of the Elves and Sauron?
- Who are the Three New Rings of Power Cast Members? Ciarán Hinds, Rory Kinnear and Tanya Moodie
- Who are the Three Witches Trying to Rescue Sauron?
- Rings of Power season 2 Reportedly Wraps Filming
- Nenya will Appear in The Rings of Power season 2
- Will We see Shelob in The Rings of Power season 2?
- How Celeborn Could Appear in The Rings of Power season 2
- Will The Rings of Power be at San Diego Comic-Con?
- How are Hobbits and Harfoots Different?
- Who is Galadriel?
Every time I stray into writing about Elves in this feature there’s inevitably a mini section about the type of
elf accompanied with the briefest history of what “that type of elf” is. Given our deeper exploration of Galadriel this week and her status as a Noldor Elf we’re going to explore exactly what that means in this week’s installment of Did You Hear?
The Vanyar – or “High Elves” – were the first elves to journey to Aman, which contains Valinor. Second following The Vanyar were the Noldor. Led by their original King, Finwë, Noldor elves were prised for their craftsmanship and creativity. They are both the students and the teachers of Tolkien’s elves. Noldor elves perfect everything they make and are proficient at passing along those skills – particularly to the later-to-come race of Humans.
From my beloved, The Silmarillion:
Next came the Noldor, a name of wisdom, the people of Finwë. They are the Deep Elves, the friends of Aulë; and they are renowned in song, for they fought and laboured long and grievously in the northern lands of old.
When the Noldor elves did make their way to Middle-Earth it was to do battle against The Dark Lord Morgoth. That’s some OG First Age of Middle-Earth lore. Before there was Annatar or Sauron there was Morgoth. In many ways Morgoth became the blueprint by which Middle-Earth villains modeled themselves, only to be defeated by either a Noldor elf or a company with Noldor elves high amongst their ranks.
The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Gondolin played a significant part in the lives of the Noldor elves who eventually made it to Middle-Earth, but Gondolin is a behemoth unto itself I will write about for you at a different time.
By the end of The First Age of Middle-Earth many of the Noldor elves were already leaving Middle-Earth heralding the mass exodus back to the West many of us think of when we think of the elves around the era of The Lord of the Rings. There were several notable Noldor elves who stayed behind, like the much aforementioned Galadriel, Gil-Galad who went on to found Lothlórien and Lindon, respectively. They are the characters who have become some of the more recognizable across subsequent Tolkien adaptations.
