The Teleri who became the Nandorin Elves were a simple and reclusive folk with strong ties to the natural world, gifted in herb lore and knowledgeable of plants and beasts, and they loved most the forests and water. They were led by Lenwe (called Denweg in their tongue) and lived a quiet and prosperous life in the Age before the Sun and Moon. They made no weapons of steel and kept to their own language and their own ways, spreading outwards into the forests and down along the Anduin even to the outpouring of that great river into the sea.  Eventually a larger group of Nandor began to travel west into Beleriand and they settled there for a time and made friendships with the Naugrim, the dwarves. Saerellon's father and mother were a part of this group, and though Saerellon's mother had pleaded that they remain along the Anduin (for she was with child and feared the journey) her husband insisted, so they had followed Lenwe into Beleriand, where Saerellon was born and raised for a time in peace.

     Until evil in the forms of beasts and enemies bearing weapons came down from the north, a threat which the peaceful Nandor could not combat alone. The dwarves spoke of King Thingol and his Sindar, a powerful people. Denethor, the son of Lenwe and the Nandor Elves' king, led his people across the Ered Luin until they passed into Beleriand in the early First Age before the time of the Moon. With the permission of Thingol, who recognized them as distant kin, they settled in the rich and forested land of Ossiriand--that would later be called Lindon, "Land of the Singers,'' for the Nandor were a people of beautiful voice and known for their gift in song. They became known as the Laegrim, the Green Elves, and were once again prosperous, with the added boon of having King Thingol as an ally.

     King Thingol used this new friendship to his advantage at once, for Morgoth sent his armies to cut Thingol off from his Falathrim allies, so when Thingol called, Denethor and his Laegrim answered, and Saerellon's father marched to battle. The two forces were victorious in their two-fold attack upon Morgoth's army but the Laegrim paid dearly for it: Denethor and the remainder of his force were surrounded upon Amon Ereb and were all slain before King Thingol could send them aid. Saerellon's father was among the dead. The death of Denethor was deeply felt by the Laegrim: they would never again claim a king and became once more a reclusive people, and they withdrew from the battle against Morgoth. Many of the Laegrim fled to Doriath but the remainder once more became the Nandor and returned to their people, who lived now on both sides of the Misty Mountains.

     Saerellon and his mother were among the refugees who took ships from Beleriand ere the Wrath of the Valar caused it to fall into the sea, and they retreated to the haven of Edhellond at the place where the Anduin poured into the Bay of Belfalas. Saerellon harbored now a great hatred for the Noldor, for it was their deeds which had brought such wrath and ruin upon Middle Earth; nor would he forgive the Sindar for what he saw as their abandonment of Denethor in his time of need, thus making them responsible for Saerellon's father dying upon that Lonely Hill. To compound his pain and loss, his mother withered and would not be comforted, choosing finally to sail into the West. Saerellon resented his mother's choice and would not join her--the call of the sea was hollow in his ears, and he bore the heart and mind of a Moriquendi, those who never saw the light of Aman. Mother and son parted forever with anger and terrible words between them. Now bereft of everything he knew and loved, years passed and he found that much was changing: the Nandor were intermixing with the Sindar and choosing them as their lords, forgetting their native tongue for Sindarin and gradually becoming the Tawarwaith, the people of the forests, and in his heart he vowed never to forgive these changes.

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     In Edhellond, long ago, Saerellon took to wife the Elf-maiden Thannethil. It was an unfavorable match: Thannethil's father had all but forbidden their union, for he saw the darkened heart within the young Elf and snubbed him (as many did) for his distasteful personality and the ill-fated words he spoke to his mother before her sailing into the furthermost West. Yet Saerellon, abandoned and alone, was full of lust and anger, and he would have his way no matter the pain he caused. So it was that he bound Thannethil to himself without ceremony or vows, without blessing or the customary betrothal, though it was not wholly against her will. The scandal provoked Thannethil's father to threaten Saerellon's life, forcing the bitter youth to flee. He renounced his true name and took up the ignoble title imparted to him: Saerellon, the ''Bitter Elf.''

     No longer welcome in Edhellond, he forsook the company of all and chose instead to live in solitude, hunting orc and beast and Man alike, for the race of Men was a blight and a threat in his eyes, as Corsairs would often harass the peaceful harbor of Edhellond; thus it was that Saerellon saw firsthand the corruption of all that Men touched. No longer would he raise his voice in song and never would he submit to the rule of a Sindar or Noldor lord. He was labeled an outcast, unwelcome among civilized company, nor did he ever return to Edhellond until it was utterly abandoned and destroyed by time. Lost to him were his first wife and the son she bore him without his knowledge.

To be continued...