How many elves are there

Serf , for example, gets pluralized with a standard —s : serfs. Chief , despite ending in the same three letters as thief , gets pluralized as chiefs.

Same with briefs , beliefs , roofs , and reliefs , as well as just about all words ending in double-f: tariffs , bailiffs , sheriffs , cliffs , mastiffs , bluffs , cuffs , earmuffs. A noun comparable to elf that went its own route when it came to establishing a plural is dwarf. But the popular fantasy writer J. Tolkien preferred the plural form dwarves in his works, possibly as a deliberate echo of elves :. As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves.

Tolkien, The Hobbit , Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. A question surrounding a hard-working plural. My point is roughly there isn't a basis for any numbers - you can pick your numbers and justify them as you want.

The above are my best estimates. It's always pointed out in the books that the bit of Middle Earth we see in the books is only a small part of the total.

Many elves never reached the western regions of Middle Earth seen in the books or film. So it's possible that the populations seen may only represent a minority of the total. Still, unless there are huge kingdoms never mentioned, the total can't be large.

No numbers were given, so we can only guess. Apart from dlanod's reasoning based on the size of the main congregations of elves, there were also wandering groups like the one the company encountered on their travels through the Shire. How many of these there were and of what size I'd guess a group of more than half a dozen to a dozen would be too large to remain unnoticed in their passing is also unknown. Going from dlanod's deductions and rounding up we can assume several tens of thousands of elves remaining in Middle-earth by the end of the 3rd age, and a good portion of those taking the ships from the Grey Havens during and after the events narrated in the Lord of the Rings.

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Ask Question. Asked 9 years, 9 months ago. Active 4 years, 8 months ago. Viewed 11k times. With no consensus on how much time the Elves had in Middle-earth or Aman in terms of Years of the Sun, we cannot really agree on how to estimate numbers of generations.

If we cannot agree on how many generations of Elves might have been born, our estimates of Elven populations will be radically different. Secondly, although Tolkien wrote that an Elf might grow to maturity in as few as 50 years of the Sun, some Elves might not become fully mature for years of the Sun. Additionally, he wrote that the Eldar preferred to raise only one child at a time — but he did not say whether non-Eldarin Elves followed similar patterns.

So how long is an Elven generation? How many years should a generation be staggered? Finally, although Tolkien mentioned rates of birth for the Noldor early in their history, he implied that their rates of birth changed over time — and said nothing about the rates of birth for other Elven groups. So even assuming there were no losses to death or unrequited love, we cannot all agree on how many Elves probably lived at any given time.

Against the estimates of births we have no information about rates of death at different times. We do know that the majority of the rebellious Noldor were eventually slain in the wars with Morgoth. The losses in the wars would have halted the growth of the Noldorin population.

These complications have not fully discouraged people from making the effort. If you try to do the math yourself you may find that the numbers run anywhere from a few thousand Elves per kindred to 10s of thousands to millions. High Elves continued to live in Lindon but most sailed into the West after their king's death along with many Sindar. Elves that never chose to sail into the Utter West, instead choosing to remain in Middle-earth in places such as the Woodland Realm in the former Mirkwood , would probably become more and more secretive, less numerous, and hidden.

Eventually, these lingerers would fade away entirely as their bodies were consumed by the power of their spirits. The elves flourished in the First Age, but the Eldarin realms of Beleriand were destroyed by Morgoth, and in later ages their power waned. By the end of the Third Age the Dominion of Men was at hand, and the elves who remained in Middle-earth dwindled and became a secret people.

Unlike Men, however, they are immortal, in that their bodies do not age once they have reached maturity, so that they do not seem to become elderly or die of old age. They can be killed by physical injury however, or they may come to death from wasting away if after long eons of life they lose the will to live. Some Elves in the First Age living near Angband died from a wasting disease, which was presumably issuing from Thangorodrim, Morgoth's fortress.

Elves come of age at around fifty years old, and generally marry around this age. Elves who marry late or never are said to have strange fates. Elves can tell in the eyes and voice of another Elf whether they are married, and it is against an Elf's nature to take another by force; one so forced would reject bodily life and die. Because of the union of souls that occurs when Elves marry, and because of the eternal nature of Elven souls, they do not divorce or have multiple marriages.

Elves have a taboo against incest, but marriage among second cousins is seen as acceptable. Elves are generally unusually beautiful in face and body. There is little physical difference between males and females except that which is required for reproduction. They also have skills and abilities beyond what is possible for Men, and many can craft seemingly magical objects. In The Silmarillion , it is mentioned that the Elves are indeed closest in kin to the Ainur, given that Elves possess ethereal grace and various powers.

Elves are light of foot, can travel long distances without leaving tracks, and often can walk lightly across snow where the boots of Men would sink. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? View source. History Talk Do you like this video? Play Sound.