Morgoth's Ring (11 page)

$24 Therefore the Valar and all their folk were joyful again, and for long they were well content, and they came seldom over the mountains to the Outer Lands; and Middle-earth lay in a twilight beneath the stars that Varda had wrought in the ages forgotten of her labours in Ea.

3500

$25 And it came to pass that, after Valinor was full-wrought and the mansions of the Valar were established and their gardens and woodlands were arrayed, the Valar built their city in the midst of the plain beyond the Pelori. That city they named Valmar the Blessed. And before its western gate there was a green mound, and it was bare save for a sward of unfading grass.

$26 Then Yavanna and Nienna came to that Green Mound; and Yavanna hallowed it, and sat there long upon the green grass and sang a song of great power, in which was set all her thought of things that grow in the earth. But Nienna thought in silence, and watered the mould with tears. Then all the Valar were gathered together to hearken to the song of Yavanna; and the mound was in the midst of the Ring of Doom before the gates of Valmar, and the Valar sat round about in silence upon their thrones of council, and their folk were set before their feet.

And as the gods watched, behold! upon the mound there sprang two green saplings, and they grew and became fair and tall, and they came to blossom.

$27 Thus there awoke in the world the Two Trees of Valinor, of all growing things the fairest and most renowned, whose fate is woven with the fate of Arda. The elder of the Trees was named Telperion, and its blossoms were of shining white, and a dew of silver light was spilled from them. Laurelin the younger Tree was called; its green leaves were edged with gold, and its flowers were like to clusters of yellow flame, and a rain of gold dripped from them to the ground. From those Trees there came forth a great light, and all Valinor was filled with it.

Then the bliss of the Valar was increased; for the light of the Trees was holy and of great power, so that, if aught was good or lovely or of worth, in that light its loveliness and its worth were fully revealed; and all that walked in that light were glad at heart.

$28 But the light that was spilled from the Trees endured long, ere it was taken up into the airs or sank into the earth for their enrichment. Therefore of its abundance Varda was wont to gather great store, and it was hoarded in mighty vats nigh to the Green Mound. Thence the Maiar would draw it and bring it to frith and field, even those far removed from Valmar, so that all regions of Valinor were nourished and waxed ever fairer.

$29 Thus began the Days of the Bliss of Valinor, and thus began also the count of Time. For the Trees waxed to full bloom and light, and waned again, unceasingly, without change of speed or fullness. Telperion came first to flower, and a little ere he ceased to shine Laurelin began to bud; and again ere Laurelin had grown dim Telperion awoke once more. Therefore the Valar took the time of the flowering, first of Telperion and then of Laurelin, to be for them a Day in Valinor; and the time when each Tree was flowering alone they divided into five hours, each equal to the time of the mingling of their lights, twice in each Day. There were thus twelve such hours in every Day of the Valar; and one thousand of those Days was held to be a Year, for then the Trees would put forth a new branch and their stature would increase.

The opening section of the Annals of Aman ends here; it is followed by a heading Here begins a new Reckoning in the Light of the Trees, with dates beginning at Y.T.1, the First Year of the Trees.

NOTES.

1. The definition of Ea as 'the World that Is' is found also at the appearance of the name in an addition to the text of Ainulindale'

D, p. 31, $20. I give it throughout in the form that it has in the texts, Ea, Ea, Ea'.

2. The original form of the name was Lorien, but this was changed to Lorien on the QS manuscript.

3. AV 2 had here (V.110) 'Yavanna, whom Aule espoused after in the world, in Valinor'; in the later rewriting of the AV 2 manuscript that led directly to AAm (p. 47) this became 'Yavanna, whom Aule espoused in Arda', where AAm has 'in Ea'.

4. AV 2 had here (V.110) 'these are the Vanimor, the Beautiful', changed in the later rewriting (see note 3) to 'these are the Mairi...', and then to 'these are the Maiar...' This was probably where the word Maiar first arose.

5. In the earlier (only) of the two manuscripts of the opening of The Tale of Years the heading Of the Beginning of Time and its Reckoning was subsequently extended by the addition of From the work of Quennar Onotimo; see note 6.

6. As this sentence was first written in the draft text for the beginning of AAm (the rewriting of A V 2) it read: 'each such year is in length even as are ten years of the Sun that is now'; i.e., my father still retained the old much simpler computation going back through AV 2 (V.110) to AV 1 (IV.263). This was changed on the draft text to 'each such year is longer than are nine years of the Sun that is now'. In the earlier of the Tale of Years versions the words 'as it now is' were pencilled in after 'nine years under the Sun', while the second reads 'than are now nine years under the Sun'.

The second Tale of Years version, which does not refer to Quennar Onotimo in the heading Of the Beginning of Time and its Reckoning (note 5), has here: 'Thus spake Quennar Onotimo concerning this matter'. What follows from this point is in all three texts in markedly smaller script, so that the reference to Quennar seems most appropriate here.

7. The later (only) of the Tale of Years versions has 'one fifth of an age of the Valar' for 'one age of the Valar'.

8. The earlier of the Tale of Years versions adds here: 'whereas each age of the Valar is one exact part (how great or small they alone know) of the whole history of Ea. But these things are not certainly known even to the Eldar'; the later begins the additional passage in the same way, but ends: '... of the whole history of Ea from its beginning to the End that shall be. But these things are not certainly known even to [the] Vanyar.'

9. The Tale of Years versions have here: 'As for the Years of the Trees in comparison with those that came after', which makes the meaning clear.

10. In the earlier Tale of Years version 'from sun-rise to sun-rise' was changed in pencil to 'from sunset to sunset', and the following sentence 'at such times as light and dark are equally divided' was bracketed. The second version has a different reading: 'from sunset unto sunset beside the Shores of the Great Sea'.

11. In the Tale of Years versions the words '(nine and one half and eight hundredths and yet a little)' are omitted.

12. In the Tale of Years versions the words 'and ordering' are omitted.

13. For 'as is hereafter told' (which refers to the account of the Sun and Moon later in AAm) the Tale of Years versions have 'as is elsewhere told'.

14. For 'was so made' the Tale of Years versions have 'was appointed by the Valar'.

15. 'but one year' becomes in the Tale of Years versions 'but one year unto themselves'.

16. The Tale of Years versions have here 'Thus speaketh the Yenonotie of Quennar'. With Yenonotie' cf. Yenie Valinoren 'Annals of Valinor' in the title-pages of QS (V.202), and the name Onotimo itself; see the Etymologies, stems NOT 'count', YEN 'year' (V.378, 400).

17. Paragraph $10 had this form in the draft text for the beginning of AAm:

It hath been computed by the Masters of Lore that the Valar came to the Kingdom of Arda, which is this Earth, five and forty thousand years of our time ere the first rising of the Moon. And of these thirty thousand passed ere the measurement of Time began with the flowering of the Trees. These were the Days before Days. And fifteen thousand years followed after during which the Light of the Trees yet lived, and nigh on six hundred more of the New Sun and Moon after the slaying of the Trees. And these are called the Elder Days, and with their ending ended the First Age of Time, and Melkor was thrust from the world.

Thus whereas in AV 1 and AV 2 the reckoning was thus (V.Y. =

Valian Year(s), S.Y. = Sun Year(s)):

V.Y. 1000 = S.Y. 10000 First flowering of the Trees V.Y. 3000 = S.Y. 30000 Rising of the Moon

this first revision gives:

S.Y. 30000 First flowering of the Trees

S.Y. 45000 Rising of the Moon

This reckoning was then replaced again:

V.Y. 3500 = S.Y. 33530 First flowering of the Trees V.Y. 5300 = S.Y. 50775 Rising of the Moon

These figures show a ratio of 1 V.Y. = 9-58 S.Y. (see the commentary on ($5 - 10, pp. 59 - 60). This last reckoning was the form in AAm as first written, which was then changed many times to give the text printed.

18. The text as written had 'dark as the night that was before Ea', changed later to 'dark as the Night of the Void'.

19. The text as first written had 'over the borders of Ea'; this was changed later to 'over the Walls of the Night upon the borders of Arda', and then 'upon the borders of Arda' was struck out.

20. The text was first written 'far from the light of Illuin'.

21. The text as written had 'which is westernmost of all lands' and

'look upon the Outer Sea that encircles the kingdom of Arda'; the changes to the past tense were perhaps made at the time of writing, since the next phrase, 'and beyond were the Walls of the Night', had the past tense as written. On the other hand, the following sentence has the present tense ('But the east shores of Aman are the uttermost end of the Great Sea of the West'), where are was allowed to stand.

Commentary on the first section of the

Annals of Aman.

$$1-3 On the occurrence of the name Eru see p. 7. The account of the interrelations of the Valar and the queens of the Valar remains closely based on that in AV 2 (V.110), and retains old phrases (as 'Manwe and Melkor were most puissant and were brethren') going back to the original Annals (IV.263). There are however some developments in this opening section. On the phrase in $2, 'Orome and Tulkas were younger in the thought of Eru ere the devising of the World', see V.120. That Tulkas came last to Arda derives from the rewritten Ainulindale' ($31).

It is not said now, as it was in AV 2, that Orome was the son of Yavanna. On the other hand, it is now said, as in the Quenta (Q) and QS, that Vana was the sister of Yavanna (and Varda), whereas this was not said in AV 2. These differences are perhaps connected; for if both accounts are combined Orome's wife is the sister of his mother. But this may be to take too conventional a view of the divine relations.

The statements that Este 'goes not to the councils of the Valar and is not accounted among the rulers of Arda', and that she is the chief of the Maiar (see note 4 above), are entirely new.

$4 The passage concerning the 'lesser spirits' shows no significant development from that in AV 2 (V.110) except for the replacement of Vanimor by Maiar (translated 'the Beautiful' as Vanimor had been); the Valarindi, Children of the Valar, 'begotten in Arda' and numbered among the Maiar, remain. On the earlier history of these conceptions see V.120 - 1; and see further p. 69.

$5 Telperion first appeared in QS $16 (V.209), but not as the primary name of the Elder Tree, which remained Silpion.

Telperion, used in The Lord of the Rings, now became the primary name.

$$5-10 The account of the Reckoning of Time is at first sight somewhat baffling, but it can be clarified.

(i) According to the reckoning by the Trees

12 hours (a full flowering of both Trees) = 1 day 1000 days (12000 hours) = 1 year

100 years = 1 age of the Valar (as the Valar reckoned the ages before the Trees, according to a supposition of the Loremasters of the Elves; see notes 7 and 8 to the text) (ii) Relation of the reckoning by the Trees to the reckoning by the Sun

1 hour of the Trees = 7 hours of our time

1 day of the Trees = (7 X 12) 84 hours of our time 1 year of the Trees = (7 x 12000) 84000 hours of our time There are (365-25 X 24) 8766 hours in a Sun Year, and thus: 1 year of the Trees = (84000 -: 8766) 9 582 Sun Years *

(* Cf. the text ($7): 'nine and one half and eight hundredths and yet a little'.) (iii) Original intention of the Valar for the new reckoning by the Sun and Moon

12 hours of moonlight. 24 hours = 1 full day.

12 hours of sunlight.

700 times of sunlight and moonlight = 350 full days = 1 Sun Year.

1 hour = 1/7 of 1 hour of the Trees

Therefore:

1 Sun Year would have (24 X 350) 8400 hours = (8400 - 7) 1200 hours of the Trees = 1/10 of a Valian Year (see (i) above); thus 1 Valian Year would = 10 Sun Years

The matter can be expressed more concisely thus:

1 year of the Trees = (7 x 12000) 84000 hours of our time 84000 - (350 x 24) 8400 = 10

but

84000 - (365 25 x 24) 8766 = 9 582

(iv) The dates of the first flowering of the Trees and the first rising of the Moon ($10)

The Trees first flowered after 3500 Valian Years had passed, which is said to be equal to 33530 Sun Years (this presupposes an equivalence of 9-58; 9 582 gives 33537).

The Moon first rose after 5000 Valian Years had passed, which is said to be equal to 47901 Sun Years (this presupposes an equivalence of 9-5802; if the equivalence is 9-582

the number of Sun Years would be 47910, if 9-58 the number would be 47900).

The Trees shone for 1495 Valian Years, which is said to be equal to 14322 Sun Years (this presupposes an equivalence of almost exactly 9-58).