Falmari

Falmari
Race
General Information
Members	Olwë, Eärwen, Celeborn
Physical Description
Lifespan	Immortal
Distinctions	Made the swanships stolen by Fëanor during the Kinslaying
Gallery	Images of Falmari

The Falmari (Q, pron. N [ˈfalmari], V [ˈɸalmari]) or Teleri of Aman, were those of the Teleri who followed the Great Journey into Beleriand and reached Valinor.

Once in Beleriand, one of their lords, Elwë, became lost, and many of his people refused to carry on to Aman until he had been found.

Elwë's brother Olwë led the rest across the Great Sea to the Blessed Realm.

Later when Ulmo returned with the island ferry, the Teleri had grown to love the sea. Ossë convinced Ulmo to anchor the island in the bay of Eldamar, off the shores of Aman, and persuaded many of the Teleri to remain in Middle-earth. The Teleri long remained on this Lonely Isle, and their language changed in different ways from that of the Vanyar and Ñoldor. Much later the Teleri learned to build ships, and finally made it to Aman.

The Teleri refused to join the Noldor in leaving Valinor, and many of them were cruelly slain in the Kinslaying at their chief city of Alqualondë, or Swan Harbour. For this reason few or none of the Teleri joined the host of the Valar which set out to capture Morgoth for good. It is recounted that the Teleri eventually forgave the Ñoldor for the Kinslaying, and the two kindreds were at peace again.

Their tongue, known as Telerin or Lindalambë (tongue of the Lindar), was considered by some to be a dialect of Quenya, but the Teleri themselves considered it to be an independent language. It was much more conservative than Quenya, and was the closest to Common Telerin (from which Sindarin and Nandorin were also derived), and even to Common Eldarin of the later Elvish languages.

Etymology

The name is Quenya and related to the word falma "wave". The singular term may have been *Falmar or *Falmaro meaning "wave-er" (cf. ending -ro).

In The Silmarillion the Teleri of Aman are simply known as 'the Teleri', from the Vanyar and Noldor point of view; in fact the Teleri of Aman were properly just the branch of that people.

Other versions of the legendarium

In the early versions of Tolkien's mythology (see: The History of Middle-earth), they were known as Solosimpi ("Pipers of the Shores"), while the name Teleri was given to the clan of Elves known in the published version of The Silmarillion as Vanyar.