SWG Re-Read - "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor" Discussion Post

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Chapter 11 – Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor


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Summary

For a long time after the death of the Trees, the Valar sit in the Ring of Doom, seemingly inactive. They are mourning and holding council without words. Only when they learn that the Noldor have reached Middle-earth do the Valar return to visible action. Yavanna and Nienna attempt to heal the Trees, but to no avail. All they achieve is one last silver flower from Telperion, and one last golden fruit from Laurelin. These are hallowed by Manwë, and Aulë and his people create ships for them. The Valar decide that they cannot make open war on Morgoth because the damage to the world would be too great and could prove fatal to mortals, whom the Valar now expect to come into being soon; but they can provide lights for the dark world by setting the vessels of the flower of Telperion – the moon – and the fruit of Laurelin – the sun – into the sky. The ship of the moon is steared by a Maia called Tilion, and the ship of the sun by a Maia called Arien. Tilion is less steady and reliable than Arien so he often moves from his path, and he is also drawn to the splendour of Arien, which is why the moon is unsteady in its course and often darkened.

Initially, these new lights go from west to east and back and fourth again, but the Valar realise that the world is now too bright, lacking sleep and rest. Therefore the course of the lights is altered, and they now move from east to west above the Earth, and then move underneath the Earth back to the east to rise again. Because the lights pass closer to the earth above Valinor, and because the sun briefly rests in Valinor before passing under the earth, that region still gets more light than the rest of the world, although it cannot rival the splendour of the Trees.

Morgoth hates the new lights. At their first rising, he hides underground and sends up a great cloud of reek and smoke to block out the light. Later he attempts to assail Tilion, but his spirits of shadow do not succeed. He doesn't dare to move against Arien. In the end, he hides himself and his servants with shadows and fumes.

The Valar see the attack on Tilion and decide to make Valinor safer yet. The Pelóri are raised even higher and made impassable except for the Calacirya, which is kept open for the sake of those Eldar who stayed in Valinor but guarded by many towers and an army. In the sea between Valinor and Middle-earth, the Valar set the Enchanted Isles and hide the passage to Aman with shadows and bewilderment. It is now nearly impossible to sail towards Valinor because of the dangerous hidden rocks and weariness born on the mists. Therefore Mandos' words to the Noldor, that Valinor will be shut against and hidden from them, are made true.



Our Favourite Quotes

~"For the Valar may work many things with thoughts rather than with hands, and without voices in silence they may hold council with one another. Thus they held vigil in the night of Valinor, and their thought passed back beyond Eä and forth to the End; yet neither power nor wisdom assuaged their grief, and the knowing of evil in the hour of its being."

~ "And it was told by the Vanyar that when the messengers declared to Manwë the answer of Fëanor to his heralds, Manwë wept and bowed his head. But at that last word of Fëanor: that at the least the Noldor should do deeds to live in song for ever, he raised his head, as one that hears a voice far off, and he said: 'So shall it be! Dear-bought those songs shall be accounted, and yet shall be well-bought. For the price could be no other. Thus even as Eru spoke to us shall beauty not before conceived be brought into Eä, and evil yet be good to have been.'
But Mandos said: 'And yet remain evil. To me shall Fëanor come soon.'"

~ "Yet even as hope failed and their song faltered, Telperion bore at last upon a leafless bough one great flower of silver, and Laurelin a single fruit of gold. These Yavanna took; and then the Trees died, and their lifeless stems stand yet in Valinor, a memorial of vanished joy."

~ "Arien the maiden was mightier than [Tilion], and she was chosen because she had not feared the heats of Laurelin, and was unhurt by them, being from the beginning a spirit of fire, whom Melkor had not deceived nor drawn to his service. Too bright were the eyes of Arien for even the Eldar to look on, and leaving Valinor she forsook the form and raimend which like the Valar she had worn there, and she was as a naked flame, terrible in the fullness of her splendour."

~ "The servants of Morgoth were filled with amazement, but the Elves of the Outer Lands looked up in delight; and even as the Moon rose above the darkness in the west, Fingolfin let blow his silver trumpets and began his march into Middle-earth, and the shadows of his host went long and black before them."

~ “At dawn the shadows of the Mountains of Defense lay heavy on the Blessed Realm.”

~ "But Tilion went with uncertain pace, as yet he goes, and was still drawn towards Arien, as he shall ever be; so that often both may be seen above the Earth together, or at times it will chance that he comes so nigh that his shadow cuts off her brightness and there is a darkness amid the day."

~ "Still therefore, after the Long Night, the light of Valinor was greater and fairer than upon Middle-earth; for the Sun rested there, and the lights of heaven drew nearer to Earth in that region. But neither the Sun nor the Moon can recall the light that was of old, that came from the Trees before they were touched by the poison of Ungoliant. That light lives now in the Silmarils alone."

~ “Being unwilling to make war upon [Morgoth] in Middle-earth, they remembered nonetheless the ruin of Almaren; and they resolved that the like should not befall Valinor. Therefore at that time, they fortified their land anew, and they raised up the mountain-walls of the Pelóri to sheer and dreadful heights, east, north, and south. Their outer sides were dark and smooth, without foothold or ledge, and they fell in great precipices with faces hard as glass, and rose up to towers with crowns of white ice.”

~ "Hardly might any vessel pass between them, for in the dangerous sounds the waves sighed forever upon dark rocks shrouded in mist. And in the twilight a great weariness came upon mariners and a loathing of the sea; but all that ever set foot upon the islands were there entrapped, and slept until the Change of the World. Thus it was as Mandos foretold to them in Araman the Blessed Realm was shut against the Noldor, and of the many messengers that in after days sailed into the West none came ever to Valinor – save one only: the mightiest mariner of song."



Earlier Versions

~ The account of the creation of Sun and Moon is much longer in The Book of Lost Tales, and differs in many details from the final version. Here are some of the most significant changes:

* The Valar are more obviously active. By the time the Noldor reach Middle-earth, Tulkas and some other Valar are still hunting for Morgoth. (2)

* The first Valar who attempt to heal the Trees are Lórien and Vána. They gather light of gold and silver and are admonished by Manwë for wasting so much of the remaining radiance. Only then do they call upon Yavanna, who declares that many ages shall pass before the Trees are rekindled. (2)

* Manwë asks Aulë to create a ship to carry what little radiance remains in the pools of the Trees into the sky, after the manner of some stars. Unfortunately, Aulë does not succeed in this task. (2)

* Yavanna is again asked to heal the Trees. She does not want to try because she knows it will be futile, but she is compelled by the other Valar. In spite of her best efforts, Yavanna achieves nothing. Eventually, she swoons and falls. Only when Vána weeps over the trunk of Laurelin does a shoot spring forth. It buds and brings forth leaves and even flowers. The Eldar gather all the petals that are blown away by the wind; they try to store them and find that only baskets made of gold or other metals can contain them. There is one particularly great flower, which ripens into a fruit.Yavanna asks Aulë to bear up that fruit so it doesn't fall to the ground and burst. When Aulë, with Tulkas' help, does as she says, many people complain that he is again damaging the Tree. Aulë stumbles and Tulkas drops the fruit, which bursts into a pillar of light. Now Aulë realises how he can build a ship of light from gold, and promptly does so. Vána donates her hair to make sails and riggings. (2)

* The sun is the first new light to rise. It grows so bright and hot that Lórien's gardens wither and Vána's flowers wilt. Manwë nonetheless wants to keep the sun in the sky perpetually. Ulmo can convince him that the world needs cool and rest, but they do not currently know how to achieve this without dropping it into darkness again. Lórien grieves for the loss of rest by the trunk of Telperion, which makes new leaves come forth on one branch. When it flowers, the air grows colder than it has ever been in Valinor, and all flowers but one freeze and fade. The single surviving flower grows brighter and heavier. Lórien does not allow anyone to come near it or take it. In the end, the branch whithers and the flower falls to the ground (which is why the moon has craters). Although it is damaged, it is still bright enough to allow the building of a second ship of light. The moon-ship not only receives a steersman and other spirits to accompany it; an "aged Elf with hoary locks" also steps aboard who tends to the flower – the "man in the moon". (2)

* In this version, it is Fionwë (Eönwë) who is in love with the maiden of the sun, rather than Ilinsor (Tilion). The latter rather seems to feel a mixture of fear and jealousy. (2; 3)

* Initially, both sun and moon are wayward – or rather, they are not assigned any clear course until after the Hiding of Valinor. (2) It is then that the Gates of Morn and the Door of Night are created so the lights can pass underneath the Earth and then return into the sky. After that, the sun moves steadily, but the moon remains unsteady. The courses of sun and moon are only properly governed after the appearance of "three aged men" (who are in fact the sons of Aluin, the Ainu of Time) called Danuin, Ranuin and Fanuin (later translated as Day, Month and Year). (3)

~ The Hiding of Valinor as told in The Book of Lost Tales also differs from the final version. For instance, the Hiding of Valinor isn't initially conceived by the Valar, but rather by the Teleri. Manwë, Varda and Ulmo have no part in it, but the other Valar all contribute to the Hiding, using even the remains of Ungoliant's webs to trap anyone who attempts to reach Valinor. The Teleri also insist that the Helcaraxë must be destroyed so nobody ever passes over them again. When they ask Ulmo to create the Enchanted Isles to ward off any Noldor who might want to return, Ulmo rebukes them and says that they learned such bitterness not from him, but from Morgoth. However, Ossë helps them. (3)

~ At Manwë's behest, Lórien later creates a bridge from the Eastern Lands to Kôr (Tirion), which is the Olorë Mallë (Path of Dreams), and Oromë and Vána create a bridge that the Valar can use to reach Middle-earth: Ilweran, the rainbow. (3)

~ The accounts offered by "The Earliest 'Silmarillion'" and "The Quenta" are a lot more streamlined and altered in many details. "The Earliest 'Silmarillion'" records that the trees only bring forth a single flower and a single fruit; it is Yavanna who achieves these final signs of life. The Sun and Moon initially rise in the west and set in the east, but the Valar later find it safer to bring them from west to east under the Earth and let them pass from east to west in the skies. The Hiding of Valinor is now a joint effort by all Valar, apparently including Manwë, Varda and Ulmo, to prevent the Noldor from returning (4). In "The Quenta", the Sun and Moon pass from West to East and back again. Tilion still is a rival, rather than an admirer, of Úrien (Árien). The Hiding of Valinor is now undertaken not only to shut Valinor against the Noldor, but also to protect the Blessed Realm from Morgoth. Interestingly, the allusion to Eärendil here reads "save one, and he came too late". (5)

~ "The Earliest Annals of Beleriand" only mention the rising of Sun and Moon to mark the beginning of measured time in Middle-earth, without further detail on their creation or the development of their course in the sky. (6)

~ “The Later Annals of Valinor” give merely a summary: that the Valar made the Sun and Moon, and sent them forth, with the Moon going first and with rising of the Sun, Men awoke. (7) The “Later Annals of Beleriand” has even less detail, but mentions that Morgoth withdrew into his dungeons in dismay. (8) The version in the “Quenta Silmarillion” is greatly expanded: Aulë is restored as a creator of the vessels for the Sun and Moon; the detail about the reactions to the rising of the Moon (including the line about Fingolfin’s people’s shadows) appear, as does the explanation for solar eclipses and meteors. The light from the Sun is gathered and stored in vats and pools, something later applied to the Trees. Ulmo prophesies that the Silmarils can only be obtained with the aid of Men. The description of Valinor’s defenses is much expanded. (9)

~ The chapter in the “Later Quenta Silmarillion” is heavily based on the version in The Lost Road. Significant changes are both Yavanna and Nienna attempting to heal the Trees, an entire section was put into past tense, the part about the Elder Sun and Moon (aka the Trees) rekindling is removed, and Ossë helps the Teleri rebuild their ships. (10)

~ The version in the “Annals of Aman” is the final one. It is heavily based on the version in the Quenta Silmarillion, but also has many changes. Among them is the dialogue about Fëanor, that the Valar fear to make war against Morgoth because of the coming of Men; Arien’s description; the explanation for meteors disappears; another passage is put into the past tense; that the Valar now reckon day by the coming of Anor; and the storing of sunlight is omitted, as is Ulmo’s prophecy. Morgoth’s assault of the Moon is added and becomes the reason for Valinor’s fortification. A few notes were added at a later date, including that Manwë sent the Eagles to watch Thangordrim and assist the Noldor in extreme need and that Ulmo secretly aided the Elves. JRR Tolkien also questioned how lunar eclipses would work. (11)

~ As has been touched on previously, the group of “Myths Transformed” essays brings in a Round World explanation written in the late 1950s. Tolkien felt that Elves would know the truth due to the Valar’s teachings and that therefore the legends came from Mannish myths, and primarily because he felt that an obviously astronomically wrong version could no longer work. (12) One of the central features of this explanation is that the Sun and Moon existed before/with the world and the light of the Trees came from their uncorrupted light before Melkor attacked them. Therefore, the light of the Silmarils is ultimately the light of the Sun (and Moon). (13) There is a fairly long outline of the new chronology written with details not found elsewhere, many of which are about the battles between Melkor and the Valar and reasons for the Sun and Moon being defiled and created: Melkor attacked Arien, who fled out of Eä. The Moon was created to counteract the night and Melkor attacked it, driving out Tilion until after the death of the Trees. (14)


Food for Thought

~ Does it make sense to you that the Valar hold vigil and send their thoughts "beyond Eä and forth to the End", but that there is no attempt to save the Trees until the Noldor have left Aman for good?

~ The Silmarillion states that in their twilight, the Valar recall the darkness of Arda, the Avari and the (now imminent) arrival of Men. Do you take that to mean that without the brutal reminder, they might not have thought to provide the lands outside Aman with light?

~ Do you see a reversal of traditional representations of gender in the characterisation of Arien (constant and powerful) and Tilion (changeful, almost moth-like)?

~ Do you think that the additional details offered by the Book of Lost Tales enhance the story, or rather make it too convoluted?

~ Apart from the Pelóri casting dark shadows at dawn, what additional difficulties would those who lived in Valinor have to adjust to, going from a land always lit to one of day and night?

~ If you follow the “Myths Transformed” version, does the explanation that the myths in the published Silmarillion originate from Men before they met the Eldar satisfy you? Does the Light of the Trees/Silmarils coming from an uncorrupted Sun and Moon work for you? Are there any parts of MT that you ignore?


Works Cited

(1)The Silmarillion. "Chapter 11. Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor".

(2)The History of Middle-earth: The Book of Lost Tales 1. "VIII. The Tale of the Sun and Moon".

(3)The History of Middle-earth: The Book of Lost Tales 1. "IX. The Hiding of Valinor".

(4)The History of Middle-earth: The Shaping of Middle-earth. "II. The Earliest 'Silmarillion'", 6.

(5)The History of Middle-earth: The Shaping of Middle-earth. "III. The Quenta", 6.

(6)The History of Middle-earth: The Shaping of Middle-earth. "VII. The Earliest Annals of Beleriand." Year 1.

(7) The Lost Road, “The Later Annals of Valinor,” VY 2998--3000

(8) The Lost Road, “The Later Annals of Beleriand,” Years of the Sun 1

(9) The Lost Road, “Quenta Silmarillion,” Of the Sun and Moon and Hiding of Valinor

(10) Morgoth’s Ring, “The Later Quenta Silmarillion,” The First Phase, “Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor”

(11) Morgoth’s Ring, “The Annals of Aman,” Sixth and last section of the Annals of Aman (including the commentary)

(12) Morgoth’s Ring, “Myths Transformed,” I

(13) Morgoth’s Ring, “Myths Transformed,” V

(14) Morgoth’s Ring, “Myths Transformed,” II



Please note: We don't know everything and it's perfectly possible that we missed something. These summaries and questions are by no means supposed to be complete and exhaustive. If you have looked further into this particular topic or would like to discuss something that we've overlooked, please share it!

Also, please don't be afraid to talk amongst yourselves. We don't want this to be an echo chamber or for us to be lecturing to you. We want this to be a discussion among the community as a whole – everybody's got something to contribute!

Finally, don't forget to rec your favorite fanworks related to this chapter in the Fanworks Rec Post.

“Of Men” is due on June 1.

Comments

[angelica-ramses.livejournal.com]

I think I’ve read somewhere that to his death JRRT could never work out a satisfactory combination that would account for both the Trees and a scientifically sophisticated society. Is it likely that the Noldor in Valinor spent millennia in astronomical ignorance? There are a lot of mythical explanations of natural phenomena in this chapter: the movements of the sun and the moon, the craters of the moon, eclipses. At the same time it mentions two songs that about these myths (and the origin of the Enchanted Islands):
it is said in the Narsilion, the Song of the Sun and the Moon.
and
And in that time, which songs call Nurtalë Valinóreva, the Hiding of Valinor...

Who are the authors? Men? Elves who remained in Middle-earth?

[independence1776]

I think I’ve read somewhere that to his death JRRT could never work out a satisfactory combination that would account for both the Trees and a scientifically sophisticated society.

He never was able to. There's some indications that he'd begun trying to work in the Round World into the rest of the early chapters of the Silm, but nothing seemed to come of it. (Whether because he died or because he rejected it is impossible to know.)

Is it likely that the Noldor in Valinor spent millennia in astronomical ignorance?

Not according to HoME canon. In "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth," Author's Note 2, Tolkien says, "Presumably the Eldar could have had as much and as accurate information concerning this [the solar system], its structure, origin, and relation to the rest of Eä (the Universe) as they could comprehend. Presumably those who were interested did acquire this knowledge. Not all the Eldar were interested in everything; most of them concentrated their attention on (or as they said 'were in love with') the Earth."

Who are the authors? Men? Elves who remained in Middle-earth?

Presumably, given the subject matter of the songs, Elves. It follows, given the tradition so far has been mainly from Pengolodh, an Elf, but also translated by Aelfwine, a Man. However, Tolkien says in multiple places (Myths Transformed (#1) and the Athrabeth (Author's Note 2), possibly more) that the information in the Silm comes from Elves who never met the Valar and also from Mannish myth. So there's a likely mix of accurate and false information, especially about mythical explanations/creation stories.

…Which I'm not entirely sure answers your question.

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

The Trees and the Sun and Moon and the whole issue of, ahem, astronomical credibility, are among the things that I regrettably have to hand-wave away. Just as I have to accept that there was something metaphysical about the Trees, such that Vana and Yavanna couldn't simply take a tissue sample and clone Themselves some seedlings in Their lab as replacements. One interpretation I've seen is that the Trees were essentially Yavanna's children, which would make sense. You can't just clone a child and expect it to be a complete replacement for the original.

If the Sun and Moon were just one fruit and flower of the Trees, it must have been truly scary to be near the Trees when they were alive.

i always wondered whether the Pelori went all the way around the continent, or whether they were only on the eastern coastline. in which case any invader would just have to slip around and come from the back. Presumably they would have relied on ice north and south to block attack. Or if there was something metaphysical about the west coast too, so that physical attacks would not have been an issue from that side.

[independence1776]

If the Sun and Moon were just one fruit and flower of the Trees, it must have been truly scary to be near the Trees when they were alive.

That's actually something that I've never really been able to wrap my head around-- what were the physical properties when they were alive? Sometimes, it seems as if the Máhanaxar surrounds them, sometimes not. And if they do, then how would the Elves have survived being summoned there? If not, how close where the Trees?

Normally, I just think about them giving off light and not heat. How accurate that is, I don't know, but it's easier to understand.

i always wondered whether the Pelori went all the way around the continent, or whether they were only on the eastern coastline.

According to the maps in Shaping of Middle-earth, the Pelóri hug the eastern coast for a little while as the apex of a large V-shape terminating on the western coast. How accurate it is for later purposes, I have no idea. I tend to go with "hugs the eastern coast" because I generally think of Aman being about as large as North America. (And I hadn't realized until I did the research for this chapter about the Pelóri's shape.)

As for guards on the western coast, Nienna makes her home there, so she might have protections in place. (I suppose it also depends on the flat world versus round world as to how easy it would be to attack from the west; there might be more difficulties with the flat world? I'm honestly just guessing here.)

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

I've always thought of Aman as about the size of the Americas together, since Tirion was in the middle, and the Helcaraxe was clearly Arctic.

I couldn't figure out the Mahanaxar either, so when I used it in a fic, I decided that since it was the Valar's meeting-room, it could look like anything they wanted it to be.

[independence1776]

*headdesk* I meant as wide as NA, but I also think it's as long as North and South combined.

[angelica-ramses.livejournal.com]

That's why your stories have tropical cuisine in Aman! It makes geographic sense. Because of all the Nordic/Kalevala/Beowulf associations, I've always pictured a colder Tirion but, yes, Helcaraxe *is* the Arctic and as there was a huge distance to be covered from Alqualonde... (*mental picture of elves in tropicalwear*)

About the Trees as sources of light and heat: meeting near should have been like having a chat next to an open nuclear reactor! No wonder JRRT never found a convincing a way to make scientific sense of this

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

Yes. Tirion is on the equator, though since it is at a higher altitude, its climate would be more a permanent spring than a permanent summer (that would be down on the coast). So Alqualonde has a monsoonal climate, a bit like Chennai or Kolkata, or even Yangon. So when the Noldor arrived in Beleriand into the equivalent of north-western Europe, the cultural and climatic (and culinary!) shock must have been enormous. If you think of the Sindar as quasi-European in culture and the Noldor as quasi-Asian, a lot of the difficulties they had in getting along become easier to conceptualise (my vision of Maedhros is definitely as a Japanese warlord, of the sort that used to be played by Toshiro Mifune, and Himring looks like a fortified Japanese monastery of their medieval period)).

People in Tirion and Alqualonde wear sarongs like Myanmars and Indonesians, and light coats in cooler weather and terrific jewellery, obviously. Vanyar live higher up, in the foothills of the Pelori, so they wear something like traditional Japanese field clothes, except in brighter colours. Up in Formenos, they wear quilted jackets, or Chinese-style long, high-collared robes with trousers and shirts underneath.

[hhimring]

I was struck in this chapter by the claim that the Valar mourn the Marring of Feanor as much as the Death of the Trees. I find it quite hard to believe, but it's an interesting statement and triggers an astonishing amount of praise for Feanor just at the moment when he seems at his least sympathetic (Losgar having already been described.)

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I have been pointing that out to people for years who seem to presume that there is nothing to like or sympathize with about Feanor and they cannot understand what people see in him. I always say that they got the information from Tolkien himself.