(I believe @electroniccollectiondonut @adhd-edward-teach and @someoneinthestars showed interest :))
So, this is somewhere between a meta and me being entirely self indulgent - however, I want to share with you all my Headcanons for how the six tribes of the Avari function (and also how I write them when I do)!
(Everything underneath because it did get rather long)
So firstly, I looked at good old Tolkien Gateway page for the Avari. Most of the page describes things that are in the published silm, that the Avari were the elves who refused the Valar's summons and went their own way. I don't have all the relevant HoME books that are referenced in regards to Nurwë and Morwë and a few other bits, but I shall trust that Tolkien Gateway is reputable. (I'll link any character pages, if you wanted to check out anything for yourself).
So from what I gather, Nurwë was of the Nelyar and Morwë was of the Tatyar before the Great March. And there were two particular groups of Avari - those who refused the summons and those who lived far enough away from Cuiviénen that they did not truly believe the summons to be real/not a ploy by the Enemy.
Now with the Nelyar being greater in number than the Tatyar, I'd imagine spreading out would be more likely for them and so how I imagine the initial split of the Avari to go is like this:
Morwë is vehement and stubborn (a trait of the Nelyar in particular) that they do not need the Valar and he and Finwë, being respected members of their clan (and possibly even cousins), end up splitting the Tatyar (who love much closer together than the Nelyar due to being a smaller clan) in two - those who are willing to go and those who aren't.
Finwë obviously leads the newly named Ñoldor West and, almost to be contrary and also because Morwë accepts that Cuiviénen is becoming more dangerous to live at as time goes on, Morwë's people move East, walking until they come upon a shore far beyond the control of Morgoth.
This group of people would later be known as the Hwenti. It says on the Gateway page, quoting from HoME, that the Avari were distrustful of the Eldar - which I headcanon mostly to be because of their distrust of the Valar in general - but the Tatyarin Avari (under Morwë) were said to dislike the Noldor most, which stems a lot from this argument and rather eventful severing on the banks of Cuiviénen.
Now the names of the Avari tribes is interesting (and there's a link here to an interesting short article on the linguistics of them) because they appear to be variations on the Primitive Elvish word Kwendî which means 'the Speakers' - which is the way that elves refer to themselves.
So the question I've asked myself is - do the Avari refer to their tribes using their words for the Elvish collective (which seems strange) or is this a misinterpretation by another elvish scholar - as Watsonian reasoning, of course - which lead to the Elvish tribes being referred to by these names in Valinorean records?
I think it's more likely to be the latter as elves - even back in Cuiviénen - seem to have a distinct interest in having names that describe who they are in some way.
But back to Morwë: his people are called the Hwenti by Valinorean records but they called themselves Alacínos. Better linguists than me could develop this using the rules that the word Hwenti would bring to the Tribe's language, but it is meant to vaguely mean People of Protection (which is a bit of a fuck you to the Tatyar who left for Valinor, a way of saying they are perfectly fine without the Valar's protection.
On a note about the Avari languages: due to the fact that I am not at all a linguist, I'm just vaguely interested in it's development, and due to the fact that I have No Time in my life right now, I am using some of Tolkien's much older languages that he didn't develop too much.
For Morwë's tribe, I am using the Solosimpi language as it is a bit less developed than Gnomish - which I use for Nurwë's tribe - and I write less for Morwë's Avari. It's a purely practical use and not the most ideal solution but I don't know enough about linguistics to even think about starting to conlang the Avari languages.
Now Morwë's tribe is pretty much happy where it is: they grow their settlements all along that Eastern coast until they're a fairly large tribe as they are relatively undisturbed by Morgoth (who is either captured by this point or else, too distracted by the West) and don't have many other worries.
They are by no means experts on the sea but they become very good at glass making and farming mussels and other shellfish and other beach-like things, as well as getting to know the terrain close to the coast as well.
They are very much crafters, like the rest of the Tatyar though, so a lot of their interest springs from there (hence the glass-making: later on, they will be renowned for their glassmaking skills throughout all the Quendi). Not yet worked out all the ins and outs of the coastal crafts, but they definitely happen!
The Alacínos end up living by the coast for pretty much the rest of the world. They partly integrate with Men when they come (there are a lot of peredhil on the East Coast) but for the most part, they live separately in their small settlements quite happily. Some may fade or succumb to injury but for the most part, they are content.
However, some of the younger elves - lead by an elf by the name Aiwala, and Morwë's granddaughter-in-law - are curious about the West and grew restless in their haven on the coast sometime after the sun rose. So Aiwala - a very good public speaker - took a group of the younger elves (a fairly sizeable portion of the Alacínos) and started the journey West.
Now travelling was inherently a lot more dangerous than staying on the coast. They are aiming for Cuiviénen, hoping to follow their ancient kinsmen to the land in the West but they never make it - instead, they find themselves near the southern end of a mountain range.
At the north of this mountain range is where the Stonefoots reside and to the south is where the Blacklocks, and it is the Blacklocks that end up finding the bedraggled group of elves at their front doorstep.
The elves were taken in for the winter and then they just...didn't leave. The dwarves were an entirely new people and the Avari got rather interested in them - they lived in the land around the mountains, providing food and other natural things the dwarves were uninclined to producing and they created a sort of symbiotic relationship that's unaffected by the issues the West have.
I like to think that due to this inclination towards the dwarves, which Eöl is said to have, that this is a tribe Eöl originated from somehow. Not that he is a good example of any group of people, and this also would not explain how he is a kinsman of Thingol.
Aiwala's tribe is the Penni and I imagine that their language is both influenced by the Alacínos, Khuzdul and also general linguistic drift. As for their collective name, I think it would be something along the lines of dwarf-friends - I'm tempted by a name that means Mountain Friends or Mountain People - but as their language is so far non-existent to me, I shall have to continue to refer to them as the Penni.
The Penni continue to live there well into the third and fourth ages but with how much time they had spent around mortals, and as their dwarven neighbours started to spend more and more time beneath ground, the Penni started to fade.
Some found themselves wandering West towards the call of Mandos and the heart of Elvendom (or something), others found themselves wandering back to the East from whence they came and the rest stayed put until they had all but faded from memory.
It is said by the Men who dwell in the area in the modern day that the place is haunted by laughing spirits who will guide you on the safest path through the mountains and will lead dangerous animals from your path, but only if you're respectful of the land.
Again, this is kind of playing off the idea of fading, and dying for elves in general. If fading is like what Míriel Therindë did, then it is much more like dying than what this seems like, but as the Avari are so tied to the land, I like to believe that a lot of them choose to ignore the Call of Mandos for quite a while (if not forever) to dwell as ghosts.
Anyway, that's pretty much the host of Morwë. As for Nurwë, she ends up spawning the other four clans.
Initially, after the Eldar had gone West and Morwë had gone East, Nurwë and the rest of the Avari stay on the banks of Cuiviénen. It's quite dangerous as Morgoth's still sort of out there hunting them - at least, even if Morgoth is captured, he still has lackeys doing his job on the downlow - but they make do until there is a proper all-out fight and they are forced to leave.
Nurwë leads them north with her sons Nunë and Nuin, and their sister Niwen and once they finally settle in these very northern forests, the people scatter again into small groups, only occasionally coming back to Nurwë's forest stronghold when they are in need of something.
These are the Kindi, who refer to themselves as Parnoth in their own tongue. It means People Who Speak to Trees or something similar (and I used Tolkien's old language of Gnomish to get the words). The Tree Speak is important as this is how the very spread out Parnoth communicate with each other - they are very close with the Ents of this forest who are all Evergreen Ents as the forest is something like the forests you might find in Alaska or one of the poles.
Anyway, it turns out that while this new forest hideout is good at hiding from Morgoth, it's not the ideal for hiding from the elements and so there are two definite drifts away from Nurwë in the time after they settle in the forest.
The first, before the sun rose, was one led by Nunë after Niwen was killed by a small group of orcs who had found their forest and her daughter, Idralas, was taken by them into thralldom.
(By the way, Idralas is what spawned this whole series of headcanons because I wanted a cultural background for the thralls of Angband so I could develop her relationship with Maedhros as his right hand)
Nunë takes this small group West for two reasons: one, to search for safety among their kin and perhaps even take the Valar's protection (as they do not yet know of what occurred with the Eldar); and two, to perhaps be able to rescue their stolen kin from Morgoth's hands.
This group of Avari is the Cuind, although I think their name for themselves would be West Wanderers or West Wandering People (although, again, not sure what sort of word that'd look like).
It should be noted that the Gateway page for the Tatyar says that it is Avari of Tatyarin descent who arrive in Beleriand during the First Age, not those of Nelyarin descent. However, I have elected to ignore this because it developed differently in my head - I did want to point this out though, in case someone wanted to argue with me over this.
They don't have a set place where they live and drift in and out of other Elven society in the search for a way to rescue their kin. They are only a small group and they end up - for the most part - integrating into other parts of society. For example, Nunë's daughters Crinthammos and Lindwil, end up married to Caranthir and Orodreth respectively.
However, they do have a language! It's a disgusting amalgamation of Quenya, their mother tongue of Parthin and Sindarin which they use for communications between each other (mostly in letter form) as they can no longe rely on the trees for communication as they don't all live in the same forest anymore.
Later on, a fair few of them who remained end up travelling East again to join up with the remains of the Parnoth, who had moved to join the Nandor in the Greenwood.
However, before the Parnoth moved, there was another split that occurred. The people known as the Kinn-Lai, led by Nuin, moved South-East, hoping to find Morwë and their kin out there (in a similar fashion to Nunë's decision to move). I like the idea of them being called Hisildi (Twilight Elves) as that is what Nuin and Tû's people were called in the BoLT.
There are quite a lot more of them following Nuin than followed Nunë as there is not a lot of trust in the Valar/west in most of the Avari and so they are slower going (and also remain spread out - it is apparently custom for the Nelyar to meander and split up on a regular basis).
Nuin is in some sort of relationship with the wayward Maia Tû, which is also gives him a bit more political clout over his brother.
Nuin is the one who wakes the first of the Men up (despite Tû's warning) and so, for a while, the Hisildi stay with the Men. Due to this close proximity to Men, their (initial) language is very closely linked with the early Mannish ones.
There is a definite drift away though as the Men drift off in their different directions. Most of the Hisildi go off in their own family groups, becoming the wanderers that a lot of Valinorean scholars say all Avari are, particularly as Morgoth's influence picks up and he sends his darkness out past the Blue Mountains.
A small subsect of the elves (later called the Windan), led by Tinfang (Tû and Nuin's child), goes together to hide in the small valleys from Morgoth's influence. They called themselves Banathin, which meant Half Burrow, for their houses where made partly in the ground, almost like a rabbit's burrow. They find themselves there with the remaining petty dwarves and with wayward men and over the years, they all rather disappear.
With the exception of Tinfang and a few of the older elves who had died early on due to misfortune or bad luck, no-one knows what happened to them and their language, one that developed a lot with Mannish and a few Dwarven loans added in, is known to very few.
It should be noted that around the mid to late second age, nearly an age after the Banathin went missing, the first few rare sightings of the people known as Hobbits was recorded. There language, Westron, closely resembled something that might have once been the language of the Banathin. There houses, too, had a tendency to burrow in the ground.
Anyway! That's the six clans for you! If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask, I am always happy to answer questions about the things I love!
I got asked by @mxmia about my headcannon on Sindir and Avarin use of piercings and hair coloring etc so I hope this answer your question!
HAIR:
Coloring your hair as a Sindir is more of a choice whereas in some clans of the Avarin it´s a ritual they do each spring to show their gratitude for the returning wildlife and, both plants and animals.
Before the sun it was more of a prayer. If they returned from a long successful hunt, which can reach up to two to three months, they would thank whatever spirits they believed had helped them by "giving up their natural hair color" but also to look more spirit like to scare the evil creatures away.
So basically the best warriors have the brightest and most colorful hair. Although in the ages of the sun their best warrior still has colored hair.
Sindir does cut their hair when they lose in battle. They will cut their hair to shoulder length out of shame.
Avarins do not cut their hair only when they are children or if they are low ranked servants, there it´s shoulder length, for the servants, and the children it´s about three inches long but when they come of age (not adults) they stop cutting it.
MAKEUP:
Sindir only uses makeup if they are priests/monks, but they do love tattoos.
Avarins love makeup they usually like colorful eyeliner the most and all kinds of patterns. they also use mascara, even the children, it is only the ones of age that will use foundation and face paint.
In a rich Avarin household, with servants, the eyeliner can look different and the owner and their family of the house can use whatever pattern and color of eyeliner they want whereas the servant have a simple black winged look. (Edit: I draw Maeglin with bright eyeliner)
TATTOOS:
Both Sindir and Avarins use their tattoos to show their life stories, such as battles they have won, how big their family is, etc, although Sindir also uses them as decoration/makeup (like my Beleg design where he has tattooed a branch on his face) Avarins also use it to see who belongs to different tribes.
PIERCINGS:
Both Sindir and Avarins use piercings as decoration although Sindirs have a habit of attaching small hunt trophies to their piercings. They´re also more shameless about their piercings and more of them have their breast and lower parts pierced too where the Avain only have facial piercings, mostly ears, and only rarely their breast.
NAMES:
Sindir usually only have two names where all the grandparents deside one and the parents on another.
As at the Avarins it´s the person who has birthed the child can choose a name as soon as they want, the other parent has to wait till the child is about 10-15 years old so it matches there personality as much as possible, here the child can also begin "deciding" which way it wants to go in its craft, and when it´s 16-20 it begins learning it, this is also here where it is of age (of age in this tekst only means that it have decided on a craft and therefor also a "life")
...
My take on Eol is he is either a Avarin lord or a Maia of Aule and Namo who decided to join Melkor but got tired of it so he decided to live in a forest and completely ignored Melkor making it clear he isn´t working for any Valar or he made a Crowly (good omens)
So the most common names that we use for the various Elven peoples are actually Ñoldorin Quenya exonyms. Which is understandable. The Silmarillion is, in large part, the story of the Ñoldor.
The Ñoldor call themselves the Wise or the Learned. Everyone else is either reduced to a neutral but superficial quality or defined by a historical event in implicitly unflattering terms.
So I have compiled a list of words the various Elven peoples call themselves, for all your transformative work purposes.
1. Vanyar sing. Vanya the Fair-haired Ones
Minyar sing. Minya the First
Ingar sing. Inga Chieftains
2. Sindar sing. Sinda the Grey Ones
Edhil sing. Edhel Elves
Edhellim Elves
Eglain sing. Eglan the Forsaken
Eglath the Forsaken
Egladhrim the Forsaken
3. Teleri sing. Teler the Last-Comers
Falmari sing. Falmar the People of the Waves
Fallinelli sing. Fallinello/Fallinellë the Wave-Singers
4. Nandor sing. Nando Those Who Turn Back
Laegil sing. Laegel the Green-Folk
Laegrim the Green-Folk
Laegeldrim the Green-Folk
Tawarwaith Forest-People
5. Avari the Refusers
Kindi Elves
Cuind Elves
Hwenti Elves
Windan Elves
Kinn-lai Elves
Penni Elves
Note 1: Endonyms tend to be egocentric, equating the name of the people with the generic word for humankind, or, in this case, elvenkind.
Note 2: The endonyms of the Avari listed here refer to six different peoples and refers also to their language. Not enough is known of the Avarin languages to determine what the singular form of any of these words would be.
For those who are curious, the Sindarin word for the Ñoldor is Lechind (sing. Lachend) or Lechinn (sing. Lachenn) which means Flame-Eyed, referring to the Light of the Two Trees still caught in the eyes of the Ñoldorin Exiles.
“Avarin is a proud and legendary warrior of the Tipani clan that with the assistance of a swarm of stingbats was able to fend off RDA attackers and their mechanical AMP Suits.”
