The Silmarillion ch.5: Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalie

[azalea]

This is really long, but there was a lot to cover. I have to say I enjoyed this chapter so much more the second time.

“Of Eldamar (Elvenhome) and the Princes of the Eldalie (Elven-folk)� is a chapter that introduces us to characters and places that have significant roles later in the mythology. Likewise, the situations that are detailed can be seen to have a bearing on later events. Of note in this chapter are the following:
We meet Cirdan the Shipwright.
Tol Eressea and Tuna are formed; Tirion and Alqualonde are built.
Galathilion is planted, the first “branch� (so to speak) in a line of trees that originated from Telperion.
The first flowers outside of Aman grow in Tol Eressea.
We meet Feanor and the rest of that gang, the major players in many events that later unfold. It is here that we are introduced to Galadriel.
And finally, we are told that all living things that dwelt in Arda “lived then in the land of Aman,� Melkor’s fell creatures excluded, of course.

I’ll start with that last bit: I of course take that to mean that any creature found anywhere in Arda would also be found in Aman, not that there were no creatures anywhere else, as the structure of that sentence could indicate. That sentence also implies that there were other creatures there that didn’t make it – could this mean dinosaurs? Unicorns? Both, or neither? And I wonder how big was Aman, because you have to figure that it had at least a few of everything from bears to squirrels to oliphaunts and on and on. It had to be pretty big to house comfortably all of those, plus the Valar and the elves! Wow.

Reading this chapter made me think about Tolkien’s reason for writing this, as a mythology. A mythology, as defined by Webster (I am paraphrasing) is a body of unverifiable stories that a people use to explain their history and to explain natural events or contemporary practices. It is interesting that the next definition of mythology is “an allegorical narrative.� We know that Tolkien hated allegory, but in creating this mythology, he seemed to include in the tales explanations for comtemporary things, as a good mythology does. This is evidenced in this chapter a couple of times, which I’ll open for discussion here. The first I’ve already mentioned: the fact that there are animals that we’ve heard of that no longer exist. He doesn’t tell what those are, but leaves it to the reader’s imagination.
The second is Tol Eressea. It is told here how the island is “moved� by Ulmo to pick up the elves in the Bay of Balar. The island then “moves� again, when he brings them on the island over the sea to Aman, but part of the island was broken off and remained in the bay. The island is moved a final time when Ulmo goes to retrieve the host of Olwe, then plants the island in the Bay of Eldamar at Osse’s request. As I read this whole episode, it reminded me so much of the other myths I’ve read. I could see the moving of the island being an explanation for the changing of the landscape, perhaps a kind of land bridge arose in the bay, connecting the main shore with the island, and then the waters rose again and parted on the other side. (It doesn’t say how long the journey took, so we don’t have that as a reference here.) Then once again the waters on the other side parted, and then came back together, but the waters on the far side never parted fully, so the island stayed in the bay. The fact that the island never made it all the way there also is given as the explanation for “the sundering of their [the Teleri's] speech from that of the Vanyar and the Noldor.�

I would have loved to see Ulmo blowing his shell. I wonder what it looked like, and sounded like.

In this chapter we see further evidence that Thingol started out as a great guy. He comes out of the trance lookin’ good. Funny how it just coincidentally (or not?) happens that he comes out AFTER the group of elves left with Olwe. It reminded me of the discussion we had about whether or not it was part of Iluvatar’s plan that Melian should “intervene� by falling in love with Elwe. It also states here that “a high doom was before him.� We’ve talked (somewhere) about the word doom, and what it means in different situations. A “high doom.� Now that I’ve read the rest, that really makes sense.

Here we find the foundation for the making of the Silmarils. The Noldor (who I started to call the earth lovers) are Aule’s buddies, so they learn all about making really cool stuff. Feanor is described for us as being the “mightiest in skill of word and of hand, more learned than his brothers.� (Here again is that “noble blood� element – the king’s firstborn son is the mightiest of the elves. Rarely are ignoble characters ones that shape events.)

(continued on next post)