"In the Great Battle and the tumults of the fall of Thangorodrim there were mighty convulsions in the earth, and Beleriand was broken and laid waste; and northward and westward many lands sank beneath the waters of the Great Sea. In the east, in Ossiriand, the walls of Ered Luin were broken, and a great gap was made in them towards the south, and a gulf of the sea flowed in. Into that gulf the River Lhûn fell by a new course, and it was called therefore the Gulf of Lhûn. That country had of old been named Lindon by the Noldor, and this name it bore thereafter; and many of the Eldar still dwelt there, lingering, unwilling yet to forsake Beleriand where they had fought and laboured long. Gil-galad son of  ingon was their king, and with him was Elrond Half-elven, son of Eärendil the Mariner and brother of Elros first king of Númenor."
      - The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"

.: The Elven Realms of Middle-earth :.

   I hearkened to them first while I was yet in the spring of childhood: the tales and songs of Galadriel and Celeborn; of Gil-galad and Elrond; of Oropher and Thranduil; of Celebrimbor and the Gwaith-i-Mírdain; and of Círdan, lord of the Grey Havens. Highborn Noldor and Sindar of fair Beleriand who withstood its ruin but forsook the summons of the herald of Manwë to depart for the Blessed Realm.
   Instead, at the dawning of the Second Age of the world long ago, they founded the Grey Havens nigh the mouth of the River Lhûn, whence Elves can yet take ship to Valinor beyond the encircling seas; and with them were many of their remaining folk, from Gondolin or Doriath or elsewhere, mingling with the Green-elves of Ossiriand who have dwelt here ere the rising of the Moon, a long, long age ago.

   Wherefore did their hearts choose this course? It is told that many Elves lingered in Lindon for they were unwilling yet to forsake Beleriand where they had fought and laboured long; yet a shadow of doubt lies upon my mind. Verily, it may be that it was the great love for their land that thus swayed their choice, but my heart tells me there is more to this; for I have oft pondered upon what choice I would have made in their place, and I deem that I would indeed choose alike, but chiefly because there is no returning upon Straight Road from the the Undying Lands!
   We are bound to Arda until the end of days, and to my mind this forbodes ages upon endless ages yet to come; to live countless years in a changeless land, though they be years of bliss, does not lighten my heart. For I am yet young and unwearied by the sorrows of the world, and the long years of my life still lie before me; and my eyes have not yet beheld the wide unknown lands of Middle-earth.

   But the love we hold for our elven-lands is deeper than the deeps of the Sea,¹ so perhaps I make too little of this as their reason. For myself, only fifty times have the golden elm-leaves fallen in Harlindon in my brief lifetime, yet here in this greenwood my heart dwells ever beneath the beech and oak and elm. To my mind it is a place of remembrance: of mirth and folly, of joy and sadness, of love and wrath. For this is not merely my abode, but where I live my life; and I would not have the heart to forsake it forever.
   And, I confess, my heart is indeed daunted by the thought of dwelling amidst the Great Ones! The High Elves have dwelt in the Light of the Trees and have the friendship of the Ainur, but alas, I am naught but a common woodland elf-lad, rude and rustic to their eyes, and to my mind they are but a rumour and Valinor is only a distant name!

*      *      *

   But what can I guess of the thought and heart of these Highborn of great renown? That which I do know, or have but lately learned, of their passage and abode in the after-days is thus:

• *   In Lindon Gil-galad Ereinion, High King of the Elves of the West, was lord; and he made his abode in Forlindon in the Second Age. He perished at the fiery hand of Sauron in the Siege of Barad-dûr.
• *   After the fall of Gil-galad, Círdan the Shipwright became the Lord of the Havens, and so remains. He rules the Elves of Lindon from Mithlond, and is counted mighty among the Wise.
• *   Celebrimbor, son of Curufin, became great in friendship with Galadriel and Celeborn; in the 750th year of the Second Age, he with many others of the exiled Noldor (the Gwaith-i-Mírdain to-be), followed them to found the realm of Eregion in Eriador.
• *  Celeborn son of Galadhon ruled the fief of Harlindon until together with Galadriel, his wife, he crossed into Eriador with many Noldor, Sindar, and Laegil, my kin, in their following. For a while, they dwelt at Evendim nigh Lake Nenuial, and ruled as Lord and Lady of the Eldar in Eriador (and the wandering companies of Nandor counted among them.)
•    Thereafter Galadriel and Celeborn removed from Lake Nenuial and dwelt for a time in Eregion; and after the Sack of Eregion they removed to Belfalas, and dwelt in the land that is now called Dol Amroth.
•     Thence to Lórinand they came, for Amroth, last King of Lórien, was lost and had no heir, therefore Celeborn and Galadriel took up the rule together as the Lord and Lady of Galadhrim. There they yet abide, and the Golden Wood is now named Lothlórien.
• *   Elrond son of Eärendil remained in the service of Gil-galad in Mithlond, where he gained renown as a healer and lore-master.  In the first war with Sauron in the Second Age, Gil-galad sent Elrond to the aid of Eregion; but it was laid waste and Elrond fled far to the north. There he built the stronghold of Imladris, and after the fall of Gil-galad, he gathered there many Elves and other folk of wisdom and power from among all the kindreds of Middle-earth; and the house of Elrond was a refuge for the weary and the oppressed, and a treasury of good counsel and wise lore.
• *   Oropher and Thranduil, his son, came hither from Doriath after its ruin, but had no desire to be merged with the other Sindar of Beleriand, nor dominated by the Noldorin Exiles for whom the folk of Doriath had no great love. Thus they removed to Greenwood the Great, which is now called Mirkwood; but thrice he moved his people northwards, and in the north-eastern reaches he delved Felegoth, the Halls of the Elvenking.

*      *      *

   This I have learned from the songs and tales of old, and the remembrance of our clan elders and lore-keepers, and from the Grey-elves who dwell along the shore; yet my heart tells me there is more to learn ere I set forth beyond the Ered Lindon². Perhaps in Harlond I may find maps to guide my path? But that haven lies wellnigh fifty leagues to the north and west, a journey that will bring me to the shores of the Gulf of Lhûn, whence Mithlond is but fifty leagues more to the east.
   Thus I deem that I may as well make this the start of my long journey to the middle lands, but which way should I take thereafter?

*      *      *

"Others of the Eldar there were who crossed the mountains of Ered Luin in that age and passed into the inner lands. Many of these were Teleri, survivors of Doriath and Ossiriand; and they established realms among the Silvan Elves in woods and mountains far from the sea, for which nonetheless they ever yearned in their hearts. Only in Eregion, which Men called Hollin, did Elves of Noldorin race establish a lasting realm beyond the Ered Luin."
      - The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power  and the Third Age"

1. " ‘That what should be shall be,’ [Galadriel] answered. ‘The love of the Elves for their land and their works is deeper than the deeps of the Sea, and their regret is undying and cannot ever wholly be assuaged.' "
      - The Fellowship of the Rings, "Lothlórien"

2. "... wherefore the Noldor named that country Lindon, the land of music, and the mountains beyond they named Ered Lindon, for they first saw them from Ossiriand."
      - The Silmarillion, "Of Beleriand and It's Realms"

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