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According to the Sil, when the Valar first created Arda and lived in it, "The First War began before Arda was full-shaped, and ere yet there was anything that grew or walked upon earth; and for long Melkor had the upper hand."
Subsequently Arda was lit by the Lamps of Aule and Yavanna. Then Melkor destroyed the lamps and marred Arda, and the Valar withdrew to Valinor. "But as the ages drew on to the hour appointed by Iluvatar for the coming of the Firstborn, Middle-Earth lay in a twilight beneath the stars that Varda had wrought....and in the darkness Melkor dwelt, and still often walked abroad, in many shapes of power and fear..."
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