A Word on the Creation of Arda
The Valar then went into the West to the Undying Lands, where they built a second kingdom called Valinor. They lit these lands with two magical trees called Laurelin the Golden and Telperion the White. They shone eternally with brilliant gold and silver Light, and in the Ages of the Trees, there was bilss in the Undying Lands. During theis time, the lands of Middle Earth were plunged into gloom. These were the Ages of Darkness of Middle-earth, when Melkor dug the great pits of Utumno beneath the mountains of the North and built dungeons of black stone, fire and ice. Here were gathered the evil powers of the World. Cruel spirits, phantoms, wraiths and evil demons stalked the halls of Utumno and were commanded by the rebel Maiar: Gothmog the Balrog and Sauron the Sorcerer. Yet, with the coming of the Age of Stars, the power of Utumno was brought to an end.
In the First Age of Stars, Melkor bred Orcs and Trolls: twisted life forms made frm tortured Elves and Ents who fell into his hands. Amid the sounding of trumpets, the Valar came out of the West against this new and dreadful evil. There followed the War of the Powers in which Utumno was destroyed and after which Melkor was chained for three long Ages.
After many Ages of Darkness, Varda the Lady of the Heavens took the dew from the SIlver Tree of the Valar and, crossing the skies, rekindled the bright Stars which shone down on Middle-earth. With this Rekindling of the Stars, there came the Awakening of the Elves in the Mere of Cuiviénen by the shores of Helcar, the Inland Sea beneath Orocami, the Mountains of the East. Thus began the Ages of Stars, shich saw not only the awakening of the Elves but also the arising of the Dwarves and Ents and the breeding of the evil Orcs and Trolls. In these Ages the Great Journey, the migration of the Elves also took place. For the most part these were peaceful, glorious years for the Elves in both Middle-earth and the Undying Lands.
In the Undying Lands, the Noldor and Vanyar Elves built the first and greatest city in Eldamar. This was Tirion of the white towers and crystal stair and it was set on the hill of Tuna in Calacirya, the Pass of Light. The city was placed so that not only could the Elves live in the Light of the Trees and look out on the sea, but also from under the shadow of Tuna and the tall towers, could view the glittering Stars that are so dear to their hearts.
The last of the Elves to reach the Undying Lands were the Teleri, who were called Sea-elves. They were the first people to build ships, and for many Ages they lived on the shores of Middle-earth and on Tol Eressëa, the "lonely isle". Because of their great love for the sea and for their fair ships, they would not enter Eldamar. They chose instead to live on the shores of the Undying Lands beneath the Stars. There they built Alqualondë, which is "haven of Swans", and the ships of these Elves were like Swans with eyes and beaks of jet and gold. Beneath the arch of sea-carved stone that is the gate of Alqualondë, the Teleri still sail their Swan ships, sing fair songs and listen to the murmuring sea on the shore.
After three Ages of Chaining, Melkor came before the Valar to be judged. He seemed to have changed and he claimed to have repented, so Manwë, the Lord of the Valar, ordered his chains to be removed. But the Valar were deceived for Melkor only seemed to be fair and good: in secret he plotted ther downfall. First he sowed strife among the Elves, and then in alliance with the Great Spider Ungoliant he made open war on the Valar. He came with Ungoliant to the Trees of the Valar and struck them with a great spear, and the Spider sucked the Light and Life from the Trees so they withered and died. All of Valinor was made hideously black with the Unlight of Ungoliant, and Melkor laughed with evil joy because for a second time he had put out the great Lights of the World.
After the destruction of the Trees of the Valar, Melkor slew Finwë, the Noldor king, and took the Silmarils from him. In great wrath the Noldor pursued the evil Vala, and, despite the warning by the Valar, they made their way back to Middle-earth. Some went in ships, which they took from the Teleri, but a great number led by Fingolfin crossed Helcaraxë, the Grinding Ice. This was the northern narrow gap of sea and ice between the Undying Lands and Middle-earth. In that crossing many an Elf lord and lady fell into the sea or perished beneath collapsing towers of ice.
Through the Ages of Stars, while High Elves of Eldamar flourished in the Light of the Trees, on Middle-earth the Sindar Grey-elves became a great race. Their king was Elu Thingol and their queen was Melian the Maia. The Sindar were lords of al Beleriand and they lived in the citadel of Menegroth, the Thousand Caves. This place was a wonder to all the World: because the Sindar loved the forests so greatly, the halls and caverns of Menegroth were carved with trees, birds and animals of stone and filled with fountains and lamps of crystal. Through these halls walked the Sindar lords, the greatest Elves of Middle-earth in the Ages of Starlight.
Belegost was one of the seven great kingdoms of Dwarves. Eith her sister realm of Nogrod, Belegost was dug deep under Mount Dolmed in the Blue Mountains in the Ages of Stars. AMong the Dwarves of Belegost were the finest smiths and stone-carvers on Middle-earth. In the Armourer's Halls, which were next only to Khazad-dûm in grandeur, they made many bright weapons and were the first people to forge chain-mail. The Dwarves of Belegost traded with the Sindar of Beleriand and supplied these Elves with weapons of incomparably tempered steel; furthermore these Dwarves carved the stone chambers of Menegroth. In the First Age of Sun, the Dwarves of Belegost and their lord Azaghâl won great fame in the War of the Jewels. For in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, the Dwarves alone could withstand the blaze of Dragon-fire because they were a race of smiths and used great heat on their helms, and they wore masks of steel that protected their faces from flames. The axes too that they forged were strong enough to hold the Dragons in check. Though Lord Azaghâl was slain in the battle, he wounded Glaurung, the Father of Dragons, and the Dragon brood fled from the battle-ground. Yet valiant as the Dwarves were, neither Belegost nor Nogrod survived the First Age of Sun. For when the Great Battle was fought at the end of the Age, Beleriand and the Blue Mountains were broken apart in the struggle and all the land and the mountains shifted and collapsed into the se`a. So Belegost and Nogrod were destroyed and those Dwarves who did not perish at that time fled East to the great mansions of Khazad-Dûm.
The War of the Jewels dominated the First Age of Sun. In the war there was much tragedy and sorrow but there were also many deed of valour. In this time the Balrogs were defeated. Orc legions were destroyed ad Dragons were slain, yet the greatest of deeds was preformed in the Quest of the Silmaril. A single Elven-princess and one mortal warrior achieved what all the armies of Middle-earth could not. In that Quest, Lúthien the Fair took on the form of a mighty Vampire and her lover Beren the Edain took on the shape of a great Wolf. In such disguises they entered the very throne room of Morgoth in the deep Pits of Angband. There, Lúthien cast a great enchantment of sleep over Morgoth and his servants. In fulfillment of the Quest, Beren arose from the sleeping shape of the great Wolf and with the knife Angrist cut a Silmaril from Morgoth’s Iron Crown.
The most beautiful Elven city built on Middle-earth was said to be Gondolin, the Hidden Kingdom. This was the last Elf-kingdom to survive the War of the Jewels. Its king was Turgon, the Noldor lord, who wisely chose to conceal this city in the Encircling Mountains. But in the end the servants of Morgoth discovered it; Orc legions appeared before it’s gates, together with Trolls and fire-breathing Dragons driven on by the Balrog demons. Though the Elves battles valiantly Gondolin was sacked, and with its destruction the Elf-realms of Beleriand were brought to an end.
After watching the defeats and sufferings of the Elves and Men of Beleriand, the Valar could no longer tolerate the evil dominion of Morgoth over the lands of Middle-earth. So the Valar and Maiar joined in the War of Wrath against Morgoth’s evil kingdom Angband. All the World was rent by this great was. The Iron Mountains were broken open and the dungeons and great chambers of torture were destroyed. Morgoth’s Dragons and demons came into battle but were slain by the Valarian host. The servants of Morgoth were scattered and he himself was cast into the Void. So ended the First Age of Sun, and with it the chief architect of evil vanished for ever, though much that Morgoth had made remained within the Spheres of the World.
Eregion was the land of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, the Elven-smiths of the Second Age of Sun, and Ost-in-Edhil was their chief city. In Eregion trade between these Elves and Dwarves of Khazad-dûm flourished for a thousand years. Here Celebrimbor, the greatest smith of the Age, directed the gorging of the Rings of Power, over which the War of Sauron and the Elves was to be fought. In that War Eregion was destroyed and Khazad-dûm closed it’s doors to the Worls and was renamed Moria.
The Second Age of Sun was accounted the Age of the Númenóreans: those Men who were descended from the Edain of the First Age and to whom the Valar had given Númenor, a land in the midst of the wide sea between Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. The Númenóreans were granted a span of life far greater than ordinary Men, and through the centuries their strength and wealth increased and their navy sailed over all the seas of the mortal World. So great had their power become that they dared to challenge Sauron the Dark Lord, and indeed took him in chains to their country. But by guile Sauron achieved what he could not by strength of arms. For Sauron falsely counseled the proud Númenóreans and corrupted them, and so the Númenóreans made war on the Valar in the Undying Lands. And, for this act, Ilúvatar caused the fair land of Númenor to burst asunder. The mountains and cities fell; collapsed into a watery abyss. In that cataclysm also came the Change of the World. The Undying Lands were set beyond the Spheres of the mortal World and were for ever beyond the reach of Men.
By the power of the Ruling Ring, Sauron made the foundations of Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower of Mordor. The Last Alliance of Elves and Men laid siege to that Tower for seven years at the end of the Second Age before finally forcing Sauron into open battle. Though many of the greatest Eldar and Dúnedain lords were slain, the Alliance was granted victory and the One Ring was cut from Sauron the Ring Lord’s hand. For more than a thousand years Sauron had no shape and wandered the Earth as a powerless shadow. Yet because the One Ring was not destroyed, Sauron and his Tower were not ended. Both he and the Tower were to arise in the Third Age and once again Sauron the Ring Lord would seek to dominate the World.
The green and pleasant lands of the Shire had been the homeland of the Hobbits since the seventeenth century of the Third Age of Sun. Here lived Bilbo Baggins, who joined the Quest of the Lonely Mountain and on that adventure aquired a magic Ring. This chance discovery drew Bilbo, his nephew Frodo Baggins and all the Hobbits of the Shire into the greatest drama of that Age. So it was that because of their possession of this magic Ring the Hobbits, the meekest and lease of all peoples, came to hold the fate of all the World in their hands.
And so the Lord of the Rings begins…
**please see ‘Notes’