The Seldarine

The Seldarine or The People of Tales is the name given collectively to the Mightiest Elves from the First Age to the present. It is a mistake to think that all the Seldarine are good or noble. They are merely noteworthy and they may be noteworthy for their counter example, as much as for their example. Among the Elves these sorts of songs and records are kept by the Curates, who are famous for not passing judgment, but merely recording facts as they have occurred.

The Elves consider themselves to be children of Corellon Larethian, a servant of the Ere of All. Larethian is often called Llordein, or Master of Magic, and to some the Lord of Making. For the Elves, magic use and the singing of songs are much the same thing. For the human listener, translation of the songs is a difficult process. All of them tend to evoke great emotional content and a strange affinity for the singer, and often act as a sort of lullaby to boot.

The question may arise as to when or how an Elf becomes regarded among the Seldarine. There is no vote or formal process which puts them there. Simply, some Elf will write a song about another Elf and the popularity of its subject matter will either add it to the status of those most requested and performed, or not. The following list of songs has the benefit of being regarded highly by all the Elves I spoke to in both the Mistwood Forest, the Deepwood Forest, and a delegation from the Greywood that I was fortunate to come across while guest of the Lord of the Deepwood. I consider it authoritative from that standpoint, but I do not claim that all of these songs have universal appeal amongst all Elves, everywhere.

It must be noted that there are three historical categories of Elves among the Seldarine. The Avariel or Sky Born were the first making of Larethian. Legend has it that they had wings and soared as birds do. They were inclined to keep to their own affairs, but the depredations of the Urok made them curious and caused them to intervene during the Second Age. The children of the Avariel are said to born to the surface and are called Teraniel or Land Born. Like their sires, the Teraniel are believed to have been immortal, but lost their capacity for flight as a sort of judgment by Corellon Larethian for their curiousity. Then, those that were born after the end of the Fifth Age are called Celariel or Mortal Born and though they are extremely long-lived can know a natural death. I have never met an Avariel and was only told by others that the Lord of the Deepwood was Teraniel. I suspect that is more legend than anything, though he does speak with some authority on matters from long ago.