Children of Ilúvatar

In the fictional works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Children of Ilúvatar are Elves and Men. Dwarves are not included in this distinction, as they were in fact created by Aulë. The story of their creation is told in the Quenta Silmarillion, and explains how the Elves and Men were created by Eru Ilúvatar directly, without delegation to the Ainur.

Elves are also named the Quendi ("those who speak", in Quenya) and the Minnónar ("Firstborn"). They are further divided into many groupings, often distiguished by their respective linguistic branches.

Men are also named the Apanónar ("Those born after" or "Afterborn"), Fírimar ("Mortals"), Engwar ("the Sickly"), and the Followers. These somewhat derogatory names were given to Men by the Elves, who were the primary historians of the early events of Middle-earth.

The reason for this naming is simple. Elves were the first of the Children of Ilúvatar to appear in Middle-earth, whereas Men were not to follow until the beginning of the First Age, with the creation of the Sun and Moon, many thousands of years later.

Animals and plants were probably fashioned by Ainur after themes set out by Eru in the Music of the Ainur. In cases where animals exhibit sapience, as in the case of Huan or the Eagles, this is questionable&mdash;they may actually be Maiar instead.

Reference

 * 1)  Ardalambion, "English-Quenya Wordlist" cites The War of the Jewels p. 403.