Avari

The Avari (Q: "unwilling"; or "the Refusers") were a branch of Elves that refused to embark on the Great Journey.

Origins

The original Elves that awakened in Cuiviénen numbered 144, in 72 pairs, and they were divided into three clans: the Minyar, which had 14 members; the Tatyar, which had 56 members; and the Nelyar (or Lindar), which had 74 members. These remained the rough proportions of the Elvish population up to the time of the Vala Oromë's invitation to the Elves to come to Valinor. The Elves entered into a great debate on whether to follow Oromë into the west. Most of the Elves were persuaded to undertake this Great Journey, including all of the Minyar, half of the Tatyar, and a little less than two-thirds of the Nelyar. These Elves became known collectively as the Eldar, and their clans became known by new names: the Minyar became the Vanyar, the Tatyar became the Noldor, and the Nelyar became the Teleri.

Those Elves who refused to take the Great Journey were called the Avari and they were not counted among the Eldar. Their initial population included a little more than one-third of all Quendi and was evenly divided between Tatyar and Nelyar. Some of them, especially those who dwelt furthest from the waters of Cuiviénen and wandered in the hills, had not seen Oromë at his first coming, and knew only vague, fearful rumours of the Valar; lies of Melkor concerning Oromë and Nahar perhaps had a role. Many thus refused to depart from their own lands, and spread gradually throughout the wide lands of Middle-earth. According to a tradition, their leaders were Morwë of the Tatyar and Nurwë of the Nelyar. They were after known by the name "the Unwilling" because they refused the summons. It is not known to what extent the Tatyar and Nelyar among the Avari retained their original clan names after the First Sundering, but they did retain a memory of the old clans' existence and their relationship to their Eldar cousins.

At the outset of the Great Journey, the Eldar outnumbered the Avari by a considerable margin. By the time the Great Journey was ended and Tol Eressëa was permanently anchored in the Bay of Eldamar the proportions had reversed, with Moriquendi (including the Úmanyar) outnumbering Amanyar by nearly as much as the Eldar had originally outnumbered the Avari.