The Awakening of the Elves: How Middle-earth Began | Silmarillion Lore

A foundational journey to Cuivienen, the Water of Awakening, where the Firstborn of Iluvatar opened their eyes for the first time beneath the stars. In the Year of the Trees 1050, 144 Elves rose in twelve pairs of twelves beside a starlit mere in the uttermost east of Middle-earth, and the very first word ever spoken in Arda was Ele - Behold. From this single moment came every Elvish people: the Minyar who became Vanyar, the Tatyar who became Noldor, the Nelyar who became Teleri. But Melkor had been watching, sending shadows and the Dark Rider, and capturing lone wanderers to corrupt into the first Orcs - named the vilest deed in the legendarium. When Orome finally found them and the Valar summoned them west, Mandos broke his silence: So it is doomed. The awakening is the hinge from which every later glory and every later sorrow of Middle-earth flows.