Lenwë

The turning aside

Lenwë was one of the Teleri, the third and largest of the hosts that set out from Cuiviénen for the West under the guidance of Oromë. The Teleri came last and slowest, and when they reached the Great River, the Anduin, and saw the Misty Mountains rising beyond it, many were afraid. Lenwë, a member of the host of Olwë, refused to go on. He led his followers away south down the river, and they passed out of the knowledge of the Eldar for a long age.

The Nandor

Lenwë's people were called the Nandor, those who turned back, and they made their homes in the woods and river-lands of the wide east: the vales of Anduin, the mouths of the river, and the feet of the mountains. They loved running water and knew more of living things than any other Elves, but they built no cities and forged no weapons, and they were counted among the Eldar only because they had begun the Journey. From them descended the Silvan Elves of Lothlórien and of the Greenwood.

Legacy

Lenwë himself is recorded only for his refusal. His son Denethor later led a part of the Nandor over the Blue Mountains into Ossiriand, where they became the Green-elves and were received by Thingol as kin. Lenwë's fate is not told; the Silmarillion gives him no death, only descendants.

Unrecorded; he remained east of the mountains with his people.