Sindar

Grey-elves. This name was applied to all elves of Telerin origin (with the exceptions of the Greenelves of Ossiriand) whom the Noldor found in Beleriand upon their return from Aman. The Sindar simply called themselves Edhil (plural Edhel) which means 'elf'.
During the First Age most of the Sindar lived in Doriath and by the Falas. They loved Beleriand and feared above all its decay. That was why they were suspicious towards any sort of change whatsoever. All of them obeyed their High-king Thingol who dwelled in Menegroth (= 'The Thousand Caves') on the river Esgalduin which was the cultural center of his people.
The Sindar were said to be less keen but more canny than the Noldor. For example, one of their scholars called Daeron developed the writing system Cirth which wasn't used much among his own people, but by the dwarves. Like their forefathers the Teleri, the Grey-elves especially loved singing and merry-making.
In the war against Morgoth, the Sindar participated only hesitantly. They didn't have the illusion of being able to defeat him and preferred to trust their queen Melian's powers to protect them from the worst (Melian was a Maia). But when Doriath and Beleriand were destroyed in the end, many passed into the Old West and many mingled with the Noldor and Nandor in Lindon. For me, this comes as a surprise, because Sindar in general mistrusted the Noldor. This was the consequence of the first kinslaying that ever happened between elves: the Noldor had attacked the peaceful Teleri to steal their ships and leave Valinor for Middle-earth.
Sindarin, the language of the Grey-elves, had been the lingua franca of all Middle-earth during the First and the Second Age.

My favorite quotations:
About Thingol: In after days he became a king renowned, and his people were all the Eldar of Beleriand; the Sindar they were named, the Grey-elves, the Elves of Twilight, and King Greymantle was he, Elu Thingol in the tongue of that land. [The Silmarillion]

They are called the Sindar, the Grey-elves of starlit Beleriand; and although they were Moriquendi, under the lordship of Thingol and the teaching of Melian they became the fairest and the most wise and skilful of all the Elves of Middle-earth. [The Silmarillion]

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