He called them fairies in the beginning (in what is now the Silmarillion), but they were always taller and more beautiful than humans, always immortal in some w

He called them fairies in the beginning (in what is now the Silmarillion), but they were always taller and more beautiful than humans, always immortal in some way, and always arrived before humans. He simply changed his names for them, as he also did with the 3 main race names.