The Great Journey, or Great March, was the journey that many Elves took from Cuiviénen, the place of their awakening, to Valinor in Aman. These Elves were named the Eldar.
History
After the War of the Valar against Melkor, much of northern Middle-earth was broken. Oromë returned to take the Eldar with him to Valinor to live in peace under the protection of the Valar. The majority of the Elves departed, but a part remained behind, becoming known as the "Avari" in the Sundering of the Elves.
Oromë guided the Eldar north of the Sea of Helcar, passing under the smoke of the ruined Iron Mountains. Some Eldar fled in fear and disappeared from history. Later the host passed through a great forest (the later Mirkwood) on the path where later was the Menn-i-Naugrim, and then long waited at the shores of the Great River Anduin while Oromë sought a way to get them over the Misty Mountains, which were much higher in those days.
When Oromë returned, having found (or forged) the High Pass (close to where Rivendell was later built), most Eldar went on, but a group remained behind under their leader Lenwë), becoming known as the Nandor.
The remaining Eldar passed north of the immense forests that covered all of Eriador, along the route of the later East-West Road that ran through Arnor. Finally the Vanyar and Ñoldor crossed the Blue Mountains, while the Lindar still lagged behind in Eriador (for which reason they became known as the Teleri).
The Vanyar and Ñoldor were ferried across Belegaer on Tol Eressëa, which would later be permanently anchored off the coast of Aman by Ulmo, while the Teleri finally entered Beleriand. When Ulmo returned for them the greater part of the Teleri finally crossed Belegaer, but a part remained behind, becoming the Sindar.[1]
The Sundering of the Elves
Translations
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Groot Reis |
| Albanian | Udhëtim i madh |
| Amharic | ታላቋ ጉዞ |
| Arabic | الرحلة العظيمة |
| Armenian | Մեծ ճանապարհորդություն |
| Assamese | দি মহান যাত্ৰা |
| Azerbaijani | Böyük səyahət |
| Basque | Bidaia handia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Вялікае падарожжа |
| Bengali | গ্রেট জার্নি |
| Bosnian | Sjajno putovanje |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Великото пътешествие |
| Burmese | ဂရိတ်ခရီး |
| Cebuano | Dakong panaw |
| Cambodian | ដំណើរដ៏អស្ចារ្យ |
| Catalan | Gran Viatge |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 大遠行 |
| Croatian | Veliko putovanje |
| Czech | Skvělá zájezd |
| Danish | Fantastisk Rejse |
| Dutch | Geweldige Reis |
| Esperanto | Granda Vojaĝo |
| Estonian | Suur teekond |
| Filipino | Mahusay na paglalakbay |
| Finnish | Suuri matka |
| French | Grande Marche |
| Frisian | Grutte reis |
| Galician | Grande Viaxe |
| Georgian | დიდი მოგზაურობა |
| German | Große Wanderung |
| Gujarati | ગ્રેટ જર્ની |
| Haitian Creole | Grann vwayaj |
| Hausa | Babban tafiya |
| Hebrew | המסע הגדול |
| Hindi | महान यात्रा |
| Hungarian | Nagy utazás |
| Icelandic | Stóraferð |
| Indonesian | Perjalanan besar |
| Irish Gaelic | Turas mór |
| Italian | Grande Viaggio |
| Japanese | グレート・ジャーニー |
| Javanese | Lelampahan gedhe |
| Kannada | ಗ್ರೇಟ್ ಜರ್ನಿ |
| Kazakh | Үлкен саяхат (Cyrillic) Ülken sayaxat (Latin) |
| Korean | 위대한 여행 |
| Kurdish | Rêwîtiyek Mezin (Kurmanji Kurdish) |
| Laotian | ການເດີນທາງທີ່ຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່ |
| Latin | Magna iter |
| Latvian | Liels ceļojums |
| Lithuanian | Puiki kelionė |
| Luxembourgish | Grouss Tour |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Големо патување |
| Malagasy | Lehibe ny diany |
| Malaysian | Perjalanan hebat |
| Malayalam | മഹത്തായ യാത്ര |
| Maori | haerenga Nui |
| Marathi | ग्रेट जर्नी |
| Maltese | Vjaġġ kbira |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Агуу аялал |
| Nepalese | महान् यात्रा |
| Norwegian | Flott Reise |
| Pashto | لوی سفر |
| Persian | سفر بزرگ |
| Polish | Wielka Wędrówka |
| Portuguese | Grande viagem |
| Punjabi | ਗ੍ਰੇਟ ਜਰਨੀ |
| Romanian | Marea călătorie |
| Romansh | viadi Grand |
| Russian | Великий поход |
| Samoan | Malaga tele |
| Scottish Gaelic | Turas mòr |
| Serbian | Велико путовање (Cyrillic) Veliko putovanje (Latin) |
| Sindhi | عظيم سفر |
| Sinhalese | මහා ගමනක් |
| Slovak | Skvelá cesta / Veľká púť |
| Slovenian | Odlično potovanje |
| Somali | Socda Weyn |
| Spanish | Gran Viaje o Gran Marcha a Valinor |
| Swahili | Safari Kubwa |
| Swedish | Stor Resa |
| Tamil | பெரிய பயணம் |
| Telugu | గ్రేట్ జర్నీ |
| Thai | การเดินทางครั้งใหญ่ของเอลฟ์ |
| Turkish | Büyük Yolculuk |
| Turkmen | Beýik Syýahat |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Великий Похід |
| Urdu | عظیم سفر |
| Uzbek | Катта саёҳат (Cyrillic) Katta sayohat (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Cuộc hành trình tuyệt vời |
| Welsh | Taith fawr |
| Xhosa | Uhambo olukhulu |
| Yiddish | גרויס דזשאָורניי |