![]() Tolkien stated in an interview that the Two Trees derived from them rather than from the World Tree Yggdrasil of Norse myth. The Tolkien scholar John Garth traces the Two Trees to the medieval Trees of the Sun and the Moon. Turgon's daughter, Idril Celebrindal, had hair likened to "the gold of Laurelin before the coming of Melkor." In the First Age, however, the Elvish King Turgon of the city of Gondolin did create a non-living image of Laurelin, named Glingal 'Hanging Flame'. Tolkien never mentioned any tree made in the likeness of Laurelin, writing that "of Laurelin the Golden no likeness is left in Middle-Earth". During the rule of the Stewards of Gondor, the White Tree of Gondor stood dead in the citadel of Minas Tirith on Aragorn's return as King, he found a seedling in the snow on the mountain behind the city, and brought it back to the citadel, where it flourished. The hero Isildur managed to save a single fruit of Nimloth, and planted seedlings in Middle-earth. ![]() When the dark lord Sauron took control of the island, he made king Ar-Pharazôn cut it down. It was known as Nimloth, the White Tree of Númenor. In the Second Age, a seedling of Celeborn was brought as a gift to the Men who lived on the island of Númenor to the east of Valinor. It had many seedlings, one of which was named Celeborn, and planted on the isle of Tol Eressëa. This tree, named Galathilion, was identical to Telperion except that it gave no light of its own being. Telperion's successors Ĭoat of arms of Gondor bearing the white tree, Nimloth the fairīecause the Elves that first came to Valinor especially loved Telperion, Yavanna made a second tree like it to stand in their city of Tirion. However the true light of the Trees, before their poisoning by Ungoliant, was said to now reside only in the three jewels called Silmarils, which had been created by Fëanor, the most gifted of the Elves, before the disaster. This is why, in The Lord of the Rings, the Sun is usually referred to as "she" and the moon as "he". These were turned into flying ships crossing the sky, and each was steered by spirits who were chosen after the 'genders' of the Trees themselves: male Tilion and female Arien. Yavanna and Nienna attempted a healing, but they succeeded only in reviving Telperion's last flower (to become the Moon) and Laurelin's last fruit (to become the Sun). Concealed in a cloud of darkness, Melkor struck each Tree and the insatiable Ungoliant devoured whatever life and light remained in them. He enlisted the help of the giant spider-creature Ungoliant to destroy the Two Trees. Ĭountless numbers of these "days" had passed by when Melkor reappeared. In total, therefore, one "day" of first silver then gold light lasted twelve hours. Įach Tree, in turn, would give off light for seven hours (waxing to full brightness and then slowly waning again), with the ends of their cycles overlapping so that at one hour each of "dawn" and "dusk" soft gold and silver light would be given off together. Tolkien stated that the light from the Two Trees of Valinor alternately waxed and waned, overlapping by an hour. Laurelin had leaves of a young green, similar to the colour of newly opened beech leaves, trimmed with gold, and her dew was likewise collected by the Vala of light Varda. His blossoms were white like that of cherry and his silvery dew was collected as a source of water and of light. Telperion had leaves that were dark green on their upper surface and silver on their lower. ![]() They grew in the presence of all of the Valar, watered by the tears of the Vala of pity and mourning, Nienna. The Trees stood on the hill Ezellohar located outside the city of the Valar, Valimar. Telperion was referred to as male and Laurelin female. ![]() Again one was silver and the other golden. The Valar retreated to Valinor to make their home on the western continent, and there one of them, Yavanna the Vala of living things, sang into existence the Two Trees to provide a new pair of light-sources. They had been created by the Valar, powerful spirit beings, but were cast down and destroyed by the Dark Lord Melkor. The first sources of light for all of Tolkien's imaginary world, Arda, were two enormous Lamps on the central continent, Middle-earth: Illuin, the silver one to the north, and Ormal, the golden one to the south. ![]()
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