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Old 09-01-2017, 09:01 PM   #1
ArcusCalion
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Silmaril Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor

This is the first draft of the chapter Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor

Our basis text is that of Later Quenta Silamrillion given in HoME 11; page 173-175, based on the complete text given in HoME 5; pages 245-248. I have not tracked the changes from QS to LQ, but have taken them up silently into the text. Wherever the text is different from that this is marked by an editing mark.

The markings are:
SM-xx for questions of name change, phrase change, or some canon question.
SM-EX-xx for expansions to the text.

Some conventions of my writing:
Normal Text is from the basic text that is mentioned above (when I change the basic-Text it will be mentioned)
Bold Text = source information, comments and remarks
{example} = text that should be deleted
[example] = normalised text, normally only used for general changes
<source example> = additions with source information

Quote:
Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor

SM-EX-01 <AAm §164 It is told that the Valar sat long unmoved upon their thrones in the Ring of Doom, but they were not idle as Fëanor said in the folly of his heart. For the {gods}[Valar] may work many things with thought rather than with hands, and without voices in silence they may hold council one with 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. Neither did they mourn more for the death of the Trees than for the marring of Fëanor: of all Melkor’s works the most
wicked.
§165 For Fëanor was made the mightiest in all parts of body and mind: in valor, in endurance, in beauty, in understanding, in skill, in strength and subtlety alike: of all the Children of Eru, and a bright flame was in him. The works of wonder for the glory of Arda that he might otherwise have wrought only Manwë might in some measure conceive. And the Vanyar who held vigil with the Valar have recorded that when the messengers reported to Manwë the answers 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 forever: he raised his head, as one that hears a voice afar 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.'
'And yet remain evil,' quoth Mandos. 'To me shall Fëanor come soon.'>
SM-EX-02 <LT Suddenly there {is}[was] a sound of wings in that place, for {Sorontur}[Sorontar] King of Eagles {is}[was] come again on strong wings through the dusk, and behold alighting on the boughs of darkened {Silpion}[Telperion] he {tells}[told] how {Melko}[Morgoth] {is}[was] now broken into the world and many evil spirits {are}[were] gathered to him: SM-01"{but," quoth he, "methinks never more will Utumna open unto him, and already is he busy making himself new dwellings in that region of the North where stand the Iron Mountains very high and terrible to see.} Yet O Manwë Lord of the Air, other tidings have I also for thy ear, for lo! as I winged my way homeward hither over the black seas and over the unkindly lands a sight I saw of greatest wonder and amaze: a fleet of white ships that drifted empty in the gales, and some were burning with bright fires, and as I marveled behold I saw a great concourse of folk upon the shores of the Great Lands, and they gazed all westward, but some were still wandering in the ice — for know, this was at that place where are the crags of {Helkarakse}[Helcaraxë] and the murderous waters of {Qerkaringa}[Quercaringa?] flowed of old, which now are stopped with ice. Swooping methought I heard the sound of wailing and of sad words spoken in the Eldar tongue; and this tale do I bring to thee for thy unravelling." But Manwë knew thereby that the {Noldoli}[Noldor] were gone forever and their ships burned or abandoned, and {Melko}[Morgoth] too was in the world.>
§74 When the Gods learned that the Noldor had fled, and were come at last back into Middle-earth, they were aroused from their grief, and took counsel for the redress of the injuries of the world. SM-EX-03 <LT But at that time the {Gods}[Valar] were wildered in the gloom and had little counsel, and sought each one his home and places of old delight now dead, and there sat in silence and dark pondering. Yet some fared ever and anon out upon the plain and gazed wistfully at the faded Trees as though those withered boughs would one day burgeon with new light: but this came not to pass, and Valinor was full of shadows and of gloom, and the Elves wept and could not be comforted, and the {Noldoli}[Noldor] had bitter sorrow in the northern lands.
Thereafter in a great time it pierced the grief and the weariness of the {Gods}[Valar] that light {is}[had] gone from Valinor forever, and that never again {will}[would] those trees bloom at their appointed times. Only the light of the stars remained, save where a glow lay about the fountain of {Kulullin}[Culullin] playing still or a pale gleam lingered nigh deep {Telimpe}[Silindrin], vat of dreams. Yet even these were dimmed and tarnished, for the Trees bore dew no more for their replenishment.
Wherefore {does}[did] Vána arise and seek Lóriën, and with them {go}[went] SM-02 {Urwendi}[Arien] and Silmo and many of both {Vali}[Maiar] and the Elves; and they {gather}[gathered] much light of gold and silver in great vessels and {fare}[fared] sadly to the ruined Trees. There {singeth}[sang] Lóriën most wistful songs of magic and enchantment about the stock of {Silpion}[Telperion], and he bid water his roots with the radiance of {Telimpe}[Silindrin]; and this was lavishly done, albeit small store thereof remained now in the dwellings of the {Gods}[Valar]. In like manner {doth}[did] Vána, and she {sings}[sang] old golden songs of the happier days, and {bids}[bid] her maidens dance their bright dances even such as they were used to dance upon the sward of the rosegardens nigh {Kulullin}[Culullin], and as they danced she flooded the roots of Laurelin with streams from out her golden jars.
Yet all their singing and enchantment {is}[was] of little worth, and though the roots of the Trees {seem}[seemed] to drink all that they may pour, yet {can}[could] they see no stir of life renewed nor faintest gleam of light; nor withered leaf {glows}[glowed] with sap nor blossom {lifts}[lifted] its drooping stem. Indeed in the frenzy of their grief they had poured out all the last remaining stores of brightness that the {Gods}[Valar] retained, had not of a fortune Manwë and Aulë come upon them in that hour, being drawn thither by their singing in the gloom....
Then Vána said: "Pardon.....
Now was it the thought of many that those twain Lóriën and Vána might not avail to heal the wounds of Laurelin and {Silpion}[Telperion], in that no word of the Earth-lady{, mother of magics,} was mingled in their spells. Therefore many said: "Let us seek {Palurien}[Kementári], for of her {magic}[power] maybe these Trees shall again know some portion of their ancient glory — and then if light be renewed Aulë and his craftsmen may repair the hurts of our fair realm, and happiness will be once more twixt {Erumani}[Araman] and the Sea" — but of the darkness ...... for many many ages of the world. SM-03 Many things shall be done and come to pass, and the {Gods}[Valar] grow old, and the Elves come nigh to fading, ere ye shall see the rekindling of these Trees or the Magic Sun relit," and the Gods knew not what she meant, speaking of the Magic Sun, nor did for a long while after. But Tulkas hearing ....
Then said Vána: "How ...
"Nay," said Aulë, "light may not be fashioned by smithcraft, O Vána-Laisi, nor can any even of the Gods devise it, if the sap of the Trees of wonder be dried forever." But {Palurien}[Kementári] answering also said: "Lo, O Tuivána, and ye beside of the {Vali}[Valar?/Maiar?] and of the Elves....There came even the leaders of the Elves and sat at the feet of the {Gods}[Valar], SM-04{nor had that before been done;} but when all were come together Aulë arose and said: ...
Then was there a great silence ....
Then told he them concerning ....
Now the smallness of ....
Now golden light not even .... Yet even of this golden radiance was there no unfailing source, now that Laurelin dripped her sweet dew no more. SM-05.2{…} "Behold," said Manwë, "this ...
So moving were the words ...
Then said Aulë: "The task ye set me is of the utmost difficulty, yet will I do all that I may therein," and he begged the aid of Varda the starfashioner, and those twain departed and were lost in the gloom a great while.>
And Manwë bade Yavanna and Niënna to put forth all their powers of growth and healing; and they put forth all their powers upon the Trees, but the tears of Niënna availed not to heal their mortal wounds; and for a long while Yavanna sang on alone in the shadows. SM-EX-03 <LT Then sorrowfully Yavanna stood upon the plain and her form trembled and her face was very pale for the greatness of the effort that her being put forth, striving against fate. SM-06 {The}[A] phial of {gold}[golden light] she held in her right hand and {the} silver in her left, and standing between the Trees she lifted them on high,....
"Vain, O {children of}[people of] the {Gods}[Valar]," she cried, "is all my strength....but Manwë said: "Weep not, O {children}[people] of the {Gods}[Valar], the irreparable....left that place in sorrow, save {Vana}[Lóriën] only, and {she}[he] clung to the bole of {Laurelin}[Telperion] and wept.
Now was the time of faintest hope and darkness most profound fallen on Valinor that was ever yet; and still did {Vana}[Lóriën] weep, {and she twined her golden hair about the bole of Laurelin and her tears dropped softly at its roots;}> <moved from later: and he touched the wound in the bole of the Tree. Lo, even as he touched that cruel hurt, a light glowed faintly there as if radiant sap still stirred within, but a low branch above Lóriën’s bowed head burgeoned suddenly, and leaves of a very dark green, long and oval, budded and unfolded upon it, yet was all the Tree beside bare and dead and has ever been so since. {Now it was at that time seven times seven days since the fruit of noon was born upon Laurelin, and many}[Many] of the Eldar and of the {sprites}[Maiar] and of the {Gods}[Valar] were drawn nigh, listening to Lóriën’s song; but he heeded them not, gazing upon the Tree.
Lo, its new leaves were crusted.... Then said Lóriën for the joy of his heart: SM-07 "Behold the Rose of Silpion", and that rose grew SM-08{till the fruit of Laurelin had been but little greater}, and ten thousand crystal petals.... being enamored of its loveliness SM-09{and lusting to see it grow mightier than the fruit of noon, more glorious than the Sun}.
Then snapped the withered .... and despite its hurts its glory and fragrance and pale {magic}[light] were very great indeed.
Now when Lóriën had mastered his grief and ruth he spake the counsel that SM-10 {Ulmo's words had called to his heart: that } the {Gods}[Valar] build {another}[a] vessel {to match the galleon of the Sun,} "and it shall be made from the Rose of Silpion," said he{, "and in memory of the waxing and waning of these Trees for twelve hours shall the Sunship sail the heavens and leave Valinor, and for twelve shall Silpion's pale bark mount the skies, and there shall be rest for tired eyes and weary hearts."}
This then was the manner of the shaping ... in {Sirnumen}[Formenos], and with the aid of those Elves and of Varda of the stars, SM-11{who gave even of the light of those frail boats of hers to give limpid clearness to their fashioning,} he brought to being ... sparks caught in snow when {Nielluin}[Helluin] was shining.>
SM-EX-04 <LT Yet even so {Lorien}[Vána] {is}[was] not appeased, {not though}[and] the darkness of the mountains {creep}[crept] across the plain, and a mist {bloweth}[blew] in from off the sea and a vague and flitting twilight {gathers}[gathered] once more in Valinor, but long {he sits}[she sat] pondering why the spells of Yavanna wrought only upon {Laurelin}[Telperion].> <Moved from earlier: and still did Vána weep, and she twined her golden hair about the bole of Laurelin and her tears dropped softly at its roots; and even as the dew of her gentle love touched that tree, behold, a sudden pale gleam was born in those dark places. Then gazed Vána in wonder, and even where her first tears fell a shoot sprang from Laurelin, and it budded, and the buds were all of gold, and there came light therefrom like a ray of sunlight beneath a cloud.
Then {sped} Vána {little way out upon the plain, and she} lifted up her sweet voice with all her power {and it came trembling faintly to the gates of Valmar, and all the Valar heard. Then said Omar. "'Tis the voice of Vana's lamentation," but Salmar said: "Nay, listen more, for rather is there joy in that sound,"} and all that stood by hearkened, and the words they heard were I-cal'antulien, Light hath returned.
{Loud then was the murmur about the streets of Valmar, and folk sped thronging over the plain, and when they beheld Vana beneath the Tree and the new shoot of gold} Then suddenly did a song of very mighty.....
Then did all the folk gaze ....
One flower there was ....
Then said Yavanna ...
Loudly they murmured .... yielded of old, and the darkened eyes of the SM-12 {Vali}[Elves] were dazzled ...
Now the most ardent radiance ....
Then that the Ship of the Heavens .... that listeth for the airs.
{Then did the Gods name that ship, and they called her Sari which is the Sun, but the Elves Ur which is fire; but many other names does she bear in legend and in poesy. The Lamp of Vana is she named among the Gods in memory of Vana's tears and her sweet tresses that she gave; and the Gnomes call her Galmir the goldgleamer and Glorvent the ship of gold, and Braglorin the blazing vessel, and many a name beside; and her names among Men no man has counted them.}
Behold now it is ...Indeed is it not called Tanyasalpë, the bowl of fire, even Fascalanúmen, the Bath of the Setting Sun, for here when {Urwendi}[Arien] after ...
Now the making of this ....
Then said Manwë, looking ....
But a great thought came into the heart of {Urwendi}[Arien], and she said that she was not adread, and begged leave to become the mistress of the Sun and to make herself ready for that office as Ilúvatar set it in her heart to do. Then did she {bid a many of her maidens follow her}, even {of those} who had aforetime watered the roots of Laurelin with light, and casting aside {their}[her] raiment {they}[she] went down into that pool Fascalan as {bathers}[a bather] into the sea, and its golden foams went over {their bodies}[her body], and the {Gods}[Valar] saw {them}[her] not and were afraid. But after a while {they}[she] came again to the brazen shores and {were}[was] not as before, for {their bodies were}[her body was] grown lucent and shone as with an ardor within, and {light flashed from their limbs as they moved, nor might any raiment endure to cover their glorious bodies any more. Like air were they, and they trod as lightly as does sunlight on the earth, and saying no word they climbed upon the ship}[and she was as a naked flame], and that vessel heaved against its great cords and all the folk of Valinor might scarce restrain it.>
{Yet even as hope failed and her song faltered in the dark, lo! Telperion bore at last upon a leafless bough one great flower of silver, and Laurelin a single golden fruit. These Yavanna took, and the Trees then died, and their lifeless stems stand yet in Valinor, a memorial of vanished joy. But the fruit and flower Yavanna gave to Aulë,} And Manwë hallowed them, and [thus] Aulë and his folk made vessels to hold them and preserve their radiance, as is said in Narsilion, the song of the Sun and Moon. ... hinder the deeds of {Melko}; for they remembered the SM-EX-05 <AAm
{Dark-elves}Quendi, the Avari that had remained by the waters of their awakening>, and did not utterly forsake the exiled {Gnomes}[Noldor]; and Manwë knew that the hour of Men was drawing nigh.
SM-EX-06 <AAm §170 Indeed it is said that, even as the Valar made war upon {Melkor}[Morgoth on behalf of the Quendi, so now for that time they forbore on behalf of the {Hildi}[Hildor], the Aftercomers, younger Children of Eru. For grievous had been the hurts of Middle-earth in the war upon Utumno, and the Valar feared lest even worse should now befall; whereas the {Hildi}[Hildor] should be mortal, and weaker than the Quendi to withstand fear and tumult. Moreover it was not revealed to Manwë where the beginning of Men should be, north, south, or east. Therefore the Valar sent forth light, but made strong the land of their dwelling.>
§75. Isil the Sheen the {gods}[Vanyar] of old named the Moon SM-EX-07 <AAm , flower of Telperion,> in Valinor, and Anar Fire-golden <AAm , fruit of Laurelin,> they named the Sun; but the {Eldar}[Noldor] named them also Rána the wayward, the giver of visions, and {[Urin >] Naira, the heart of flame,}[Vása] that awakens and consumes. For the Sun ... of the Moon was Tilion. {[Footnote: hyrned AE]} In the days of the Trees Arien had tended the golden flowers in the gardens of Vána and watered them with the radiant dew of Laurelin. Tilion was a young hunter of the company of Oromë SM-EX-08 <AAm . He was a lover of silver,> and he had a silver bow <AAm and he begged to be given the task of tending ever the last Flower of Silver>. He loved Arien, but she was a holier spirit of greater power, and wished to be ever virgin and alone; SM-EX-09 <AAm 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 nonetheless {Melkor}[Morgoth] had not deceived nor drawn to his service. Fair indeed was Arien to behold, but too bright were her eyes for even the Eldar to look on, and leaving Valinor she forsook the form and raiment which, like the Valar, she had there worn, and she was as a naked flame, terrible in the fullness of her splendor[;]> and Tilion pursued her in vain. Tilion forsook then the woods of Oromë, and dwelt in the gardens of Lóriën, sitting in dream beside the pools of Estë in Telperion’s flickering beams.
§76. Isil was first ... Morgoth were amazed SM-EX-10 <AAm but the Dark-elves looked up with delight>; and it is told ...
§77. Now Varda purposed ...
§78. Varda commanded ...
§79. Still therefore ... Moreover, all save Tulkas for a while were in doubt, fearing the might and cunning of Morgoth.
SM-EX-11 <AAm §179 But Morgoth hated the new lights and was for a while confounded by this unlooked-for stroke of the Valar. Then ...
§180 But seeing the ... save only at the {Kalakiryan}[Calacirya] wherein still stood SM-13{forsaken} the green ... ; for the armories of the Valar were opened, and the Maiar {and the Sons of the Valar} were arrayed as for war.> SM-14 But the Eldar were set to guard that pass unceasingly: rebuilt with Ossë’s aid, the fleet of the Teleri kept the shore, the remnant of the {Gnomes}[Noldor] dwelt ever in the deep cleft of the mountains. <Neither bird nor beast nor Elf nor Man, nor any other creature beside that dwelt in Middle-earth, could pass that leaguer.>
§181 And in that time also, ... the mightiest mariner of song.>
SM-EX-12 <LT Now when Manwë gazing in sorrow from high Taniquetil saw all these things done he sent for Lóriën and for Oromë, thinking ...
But the gloomy seas ....
Such then {said Vaire, '} was and still is the manner of Olórë Mallë ...
Then calling loudly that Manwë ....
Then by the {magic}[power] of its making ...
And of this work of Oromë’s came ... and the {fairies}[Elves] call it {Ilweran}[Ilmeran?] the Bridge of Heaven.
Now living Men may ... was theirs and still is.>
SM-EX-01: This section contains a whole council that is not present elsewhere, and i insert it here as it seems to fit this part of the narrative best.
SM-EX-02: This insert allows Manwe to learn about the arrival of the Noldor in Beleriand and the location of Melkor, and since this is simply referenced in later versions, it is good to see it in full.
SM-01: This passage I have removed because Angband exists in this version. In addition, the name Qerkaringa is not given elsewhere, and as its updated form in later Quenya would be Quercaringa i gave that here hesitantly. If it is deemed too unsure it is best to be dropped.
SM-EX-03: This insert provides the fullest account of the growth of the Sun and Moon from the trees, and although in later versions there is no mention of Vana or Lorien having any part in it, I have tried to word it so that Yavanna and Nienna still sing and water the mould with tears, and that the songs of Lorien and Vana only give it the extra oomph, so to speak. In my opinion, the passage in the QS doesn't eliminate the possibility of their involvement, as it is shortened simply due to compression, but that is, I suppose, a matter for debate.
SM-02: Urwendi is the old maiden with a similar function to Arien, so I changed it here and subsequently. In addition, I changed Kulullin to Culullin, because the general change of K to C in Quenya of the LotR.
SM-03: This part about the rekindling of the trees depends on the second prophecy of Mandos, so i marked it to make sure it is to be kept.
SM-04: This i removed because they had sat at the feet of the Valar in council during the debate of Finwe and Miriel.
SM-05: The two starmakings of Varda later gained distinction in type and time, so I removed the reference to both being done with silver light of the tree.
SM-05.2: I apologize, I noticed this late, and thus it has an awkward number. I removed this bit because Varda's stars have a different conception in later myth, and to have them described feels sketchy in terms of canonicity.
SM-EX-03: The LT is simply the fullest extent of the account.
SM-06: because of the bit I removed, the previous reference to the phials is gone, so I edit the text to include an introduction for them. Following this, I moved the bits about Lorien and Telperion and the Moon from their place as second to first, since that is the order in the later mythos.
SM-07: I kept the name Silpion bc in Of Valinor and the Two Trees it is said to be the name Lorien gave it.
SM-08: In this version the Sun isnt made yet
SM-09: same as the last one
SM-10: same as the last one. Ulmo's words have been lost bc of the order of the Sun and Moon.
SM-11: In keeping with 05.2 I removed this
SM-EX-04: Switching up Vana and Lorien to make it work, and moving the earlier bit forward about the Sun.
SM-12: As the Valar are basically angels, I doubt they would be blinded.
SM-EX-05: adding a nice detail from the Annals
SM-EX-06: this reason for the Valar not going to war is only given in AAm, so I add it in here.
SM-EX-07: extra descriptors from AAm
SM-EX-08: adding from AAm about Tilion
SM-EX-09: adding from AAm about Arien
SM-EX-10: adding a detail from AAm
SM-EX-11: Adding in the story of Melkor's assault on Tilion, which is found nowhere else.
SM-14: This is the only detail of the QS account that is not in AAm
SM-EX-12: These sections of the Hiding of Valinor are not mentioned again, but nothing is said to contradict them either. If we deem them to be unfit for inclusion I understand, but I figured I would add them in.

This Chapter was much more difficult than the last two, but I think I have gathered all the relevant passages into the text.

Last edited by ArcusCalion; 09-02-2017 at 09:19 PM.
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