Galadhrín

The Galadhrín, (called Tanarín in Yaszumatti) are small, isolated community of wood elves living in the Northwestern wildlands of the Yaszrian province of Verden. They are referred to as wood elves because of their cultures intense reverence for nature and their skills with carpentry.

History

The Galadhrín are descended from the Celestial Elves of Rathnir. The Celestial elf ancestors of the Galadhrín lived in the Kingdom of Almador (present day Aurlûnor Velande). These ancestors lived in Almador until the kingdom collapsed and triggered a 600 year long period of war and turmoil. This caused an elven mass migration. One group of celestial elf refugees travelled to the far east until they reached the world of Eldham. In Eldham, they settled in the Yaszuma crownlands (present day Yaszria). Here, the group of refugees split. The majority of these elves chose to start raising sky islands and build their cities in the clouds like the city of Umakwa, where they would physically adapt to life in the sky, eventually becoming the Umarín or "sky elves". A small group of the elven refugees grew uncomfortable with the sky islands they were building because they yearned to be closer to the earth and detested being separated from the natural wonders of Eldham. They would become refugees once more and move northwest to the corner of Eldham where they settled in the jungle. In the dense and verdant forest, the refugees would eventually become the Galadhrín or "wood elves"; an elven race more adapted to life in the wildest forests of the world.

Appearance

The most noticeable features of the Galadhrín are their piercing green eyes and their large pointed ears. At an average height of 5'5, they are shorter than the Umarín and much shorter than the celestial elves. Their skin comes in a variety of earth tones, although it is typically darker than the pale complexion of the celestial elves. They are small and nimble and well suited for life in places with dense undergrowth foliage.

Culture

All aspects of Galadhrín culture revolve around nature. Their most core value is environmental stewardship and this is visible through their architecture. Galadhrín often build tree houses in order to minimize their impact on the forest floor. They build with sustainable materials like wood or moss. Outside of physical examples, their values are visible in their religion as well. Galadhrín worship the goddess Arda as the manifestation of life and creation itself. And they view nature as the purest for of that creation. They view nature as an ecosystem and believe that their role is to protect it. As a result of this they revere azalea trees. They see the deep roots and interpret that as showing that azaleas are closest to Arda and that the roots symbolize how everything in nature is connected.