Summary
The Valar held a council, debating what to do now that the Trees were destroyed. They mourned for the Trees, and equally for Morgoth’s corruption of Fëanor. For Fëanor was the greatest of the Children of Ilúvatar, and all that he might have done in the future was now lost. Word came to the Valar of Fëanor’s response to their herald, that whatever might befall them in Middle-earth would be remembered in song. Manwë agreed, but wept for the price those songs would bear. And Mandos said that Fëanor would soon come to him.
Yavanna and Nienna put forth all their power, and were able to coax one last golden fruit from Laurelin and a silver flower from Telperion before the Trees died utterly. Aulë made vessels for them, and Manwë hallowed them, and Varda gave them the power to traverse the skies. In so doing they gave light to Middle-earth, for they still cared for the exiled Noldor and wished to hinder the doings of Morgoth.
Yet they did not wish to challenge Morgoth directly. They remembered the damage to Middle-earth that had happened during the destruction of Utumno, and had no wish to repeat that. Further, they knew that Men would awaken soon, and Men are far more frail than the Elves.
The lamp of silver was named Isil, and tended by Tilion, Maia or Oromë who had loved Telperion. The lamp of gold was named Anar, and tended by the Maia Arien. She was a Maia of fire, and could endure the heat of the fruit of Laurelin.
The Moon was the first to arise, and crossed the skies before the Sun first arose (the first dawn was in the West, not the East), and the coming of the Sun dismayed the servants of Morgoth. The plan had been for one always to be in the sky, but Tilion was drawn to Arien’s glory, and kept trying to approach her. As a result, the vessel of the Moon would be blackened and burned. When they finished traversing the sky, the two vessels would travel beneath Arda, returning to Valinor to rise again. On one such trip Tilion was attacked by the servants of Morgoth, though he was able to escape.
The Valar also further fortified Valinor, raising the Pelóri to new heights. The Calacirya they left open, for the sake of the Elves, but it was heavily guarded. And around Aman was strung a ring of islands to enchant and ensnare any who attempted to sail through them.
Commentary
So now we have a Sun and a Moon. Some good classic mythology-building there. I particularly liked Tolkien’s explanation for eclipses and the phases of the moon.
I found it interesting that the Valar mourned for the marring of Fëanor every bit as much as they mourned for the Trees. Fëanor was by any objective standard the greatest who would ever be among Elves and Men, and therefore (in his own way) as singular a creation as the Trees themselves. And furthermore, all that Fëanor might have done is lost as well, because as Mandos said, ‘To me shall Fëanor come soon.’
(Uhh, Mandos, dude … spoiler alert on that maybe?)
Morgoth, naturally, isn’t too keen on either the Sun or the Moon, but there’s not much he can do about either. His attempt to attack Tilion (the weaker of the two) beneath Arda failed, and he can’t reach them in the sky:
As he grew in malice, and sent forth from himself the evil that he conceived in lies and creatures of wickedness, his might passed into them and was dispersed, and he himself became ever more bound to the earth, unwilling to issue from his dark strongholds.
There’s a lot of implications packed in there. One of the volumes of the History of Middle-earth is entitled Morgoth’s Ring, for though he didn’t make a literal Ring of Power, in many ways Arda itself is to Morgoth as the Ring will be to Sauron. Sauron poured much of his power into the Ring, and was thus bound to it - while the Ring endured, so did Sauron, and its destruction so diminished Sauron that he was rendered powerless. Morgoth has been pouring his power out since the creation of Arda, trying to shape it to his will. This has come at a great cost to him - he is greatly reduced in himself, unable even to change form any longer. Yet to destroy Morgoth utterly would require the ending of Arda itself, and Arda, thanks to Morgoth’s infusion of himself, is irreparably marred.
Next time, it’s raining Men! Hallelujah, it’s raining Men.
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