Morgoth's Ring (4 page)

§20 Therefore Ilúvatar called to them and said: 'I know the desire of your minds that what ye have seen should verily be, not only in your thought, but even as ye yourselves are, and yet other.

Therefore I say: Let these things Be! And I will send forth the flame imperishable into the Void, and it shall be at the heart MORGOTH`S RING - AINULINDALË -
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of the World, and the World shall Be; and those of you that will may go down into it.' And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a light, as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame; and they knew that this was no vision only, but that Ilúvatar had made a new thing.

§21 Thus it came to pass that of the Holy Ones some abode still with Ilúvatar beyond the confines of the World; but others, and among them many of the greatest and most fair, took the leave of Ilúvatar and descended into it. But this condition Ilúvatar made, or it is the necessity of their love, that their power should henceforth be contained and bounded in the World, and be within it for ever, so that they are its life and it is theirs. And therefore, Ælfwine, we name them the Valar, the Powers of the World.

§22 But behold! when the Valar entered into the World they were at first astounded and at a loss, for it was as if naught was yet made which they had seen in vision, and all was but on point to begin, and yet unshapen; and it was dark. For the Great Music had been but the growth and flowering of thought in the Timeless Halls, and the Vision only a foreshowing; but now they had entered in at the beginning of Time, and the Valar perceived that the World had been but foreshadowed and foresung, and they must achieve it.

§23 So began their great labours in wastes unmeasured and unexplored, and in ages uncounted and forgotten, until in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the vast halls of the World there came to be that hour and that place where was made the habitation of the Children of Ilúvatar. And in this work the chief part was taken by Manwë and Aulë and Ulmo. But Melkor, too, was there from the first, and he meddled in all that was done, turning it, if he might, to his own desires and purposes; and he kindled great fires. When therefore Earth was young and full of flame Melkor coveted it, and he said to the Valar: 'This shall be my own kingdom! And I name it unto myself!'

§24 But Manwë was the brother of Melkor in the mind of Ilúvatar, and he was the chief instrument of the second Theme that Ilúvatar had raised up against the discord of Melkor; and he called unto himself others of his kin and many spirits both greater and less, and they went down into the Halls of Aman and aided Manwë, lest Melkor should hinder the fulfilment of their labour for ever, and the Earth should wither ere it

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flowered. And Manwë said unto Melkor: 'This kingdom thou shalt not take for thine own, wrongfully, for many others have laboured here no less than thou.' And there was strife between Melkor and the Valar, and for a time Melkor departed and

withdrew to other regions and did there what he would, but the Earth he could not put from his heart. For he was alone, without friend or companion, and he had as yet but small following; since of those that had attuned their music to his in the beginning not all had been willing to go down with him into the World, and few that had come would yet endure his servitude.

§25 But the Valar now took to themselves shape and form; and because they were drawn thither by love for the Children of Ilúvatar, for whom they hoped, they took shape after that manner which they had beheld in the Vision of Ilúvatar; save only in majesty and splendour, for they are mighty and holy. Moreover their shape comes of their knowledge and desire of the visible World, rather than of the World itself, and they need it not, save only as we use raiment, and yet we may be naked and suffer no loss of our being. Therefore the Valar may walk unclad, as it were, and then even the Eldar cannot clearly perceive them, though they be present. But when they clad themselves the Valar arrayed them in the form some as of male and some as of female; for that difference of temper they had even from their beginning, and it is but bodied forth in the choice of each, not made by the choice; even as with us male and female may be shown by the raiment, but is not made thereby. And Manwë and Ulmo and Aulë were as Kings; but Varda was the Queen of the Valar, and the spouse of Manwë, and her beauty was high and terrible and of great reverence. Yavanna was her sister, and Yavanna espoused Aulë; but Nienna dwells alone, even as does Ulmo. And these with Melkor are the Seven Great Ones of the Kingdom of Arda.13 But think not, Æ-

lfwine, that the shapes wherein the Great Ones array themselves are at all times like unto the shapes of kings and queens of the Children of Ilúvatar; for at whiles they may clothe them in their own thought, made visible in forms terrible and wonderful. And I myself, long years agone, in the land of the Valar14 have seen Yavanna in the likeness of a Tree; and the beauty and majesty of that form could not be told in words, not unless all the things that grow in the earth, from the least unto the greatest, should sing in choir together, making unto their MORGOTH`S RING - AINULINDALË -
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queen an offering of song to be laid before the throne of Ilúvatar.

§26 And behold! the Valar drew unto them many companions, some less, some well-nigh as great as themselves, and they laboured in the ordering of the Earth, and the curbing of its tumults. Then Melkor saw what was done, and that the Valar walked upon Earth as powers visible, clad in the raiment of the World, and were lovely and glorious to see, and blissful; and that Earth was become as a garden for them, for its turmoils were subdued. His envy grew then the greater within him; and he also took visible form, but because of his mood, and the malice that increased in him, that form was dark and terrible. And he descended upon Earth in power and majesty greater than any other of the Valar, as a mountain that wades in the sea and has its head above the clouds and is clad in ice and crowned with fire and smoke; and the light of his eyes was like a flame that withers with heat and pierces with a deadly cold.

§27 Thus began the first battle of the Valar and Melkor for the dominion of Arda; and of those tumults we know but little; for know thou, Ælfwine, what I have declared unto thee is come from the Valar themselves, with whom we of the Eldalië spoke in the land of Valinor, and we were instructed by them; but little would they ever tell of the days of war ere the coming of the Elves. But this we know: that the Valar endeavoured ever, in despite of Melkor, to rule the Earth and to prepare it for the coming of the Children; and they built lands, and Melkor destroyed them; valleys they delved and Melkor raised them up; mountains they carved and Melkor threw them down; seas they hallowed and Melkor spilled them; and naught might come to peace or lasting growth, for as surely as the Valar began a labour so would Melkor undo it or corrupt it. And yet their labour was not vain, and slowly the Earth was shaped and made firm.

§28 But of all such matters, Ælfwine, others shall tell thee, or thou shalt read in other lore; for it is not my part at this time to instruct thee in the history of the Earth. And now behold! here is the habitation of the Children of Ilúvatar established at the last in the deeps of Time and amidst the innumerable stars. And here are the Valar, the Powers of the World, contesting for the possession of the jewel of Ilúvatar; and thus thy feet are on the beginning of the road.

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Words of Pengolod
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§29 And when he had ended the
Ainulindalë
, such as Rúmil had made it, Pengolod the Sage paused a while; and Ælfwine said to him: Little, you say, would the Valar tell to the Eldar of the days before their coming: but do not the wise among you know more of those ancient wars than Rúmil has here set forth? Or will you not tell me more of the Valar as they were when first your kindred beheld and knew them?

§30 And Pengoloð answered: Much of what I know or have learned from the elders in lore, I have written; and what I have written thou shalt read, if thou wilt, when thou hast learned better the tongue of the Noldor and their scripts. For these matters are too great and manifold to be spoken or to be taught in speech within the brief patience and heedfulness of those of mortal race. But some little more I may tell to thee now, since thou askest it of me.

§31 This tale I have heard also among the loremasters of the Noldor in ages past. For they tell us that the 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. But in the midst of the war a spirit of great strength and hardihood came to the aid of the Valar, hearing in the far heaven that there was battle in the Little World. And he came like a storm of laughter and loud song, and Earth shook under his great golden feet. So came Tulkas, the Strong and the Merry, whose anger passeth like a mighty wind, scattering cloud and darkness before it. And Melkor was shaken by the laughter of Tulkas, and fled from the Earth; and there was peace for a long age. And Tulkas remained and became one of the Valar of the kingdom of Arda; but Melkor brooded in the outer darkness, and his hate was given to Tulkas for ever after. In that time the Valar brought order to the seas and the lands and the mountains, and they planted seeds; and since, when the fires had been subdued or buried beneath the primeval hills, there was need of Light they wrought two mighty lamps for the enlightening of the Middle-earth which they had built amid the Encircling Seas, and they set the lamps upon high pillars, loftier far than any of the mountains of the later days. And one they raised near to the North of Middle-earth, and it was named Foros; and the other they raised in the South, and it was called Hyaras.16 And the light of the lamps of the Valar went out over the Earth so that MORGOTH`S RING - AINULINDALË -
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all was lit as it were in a changeless day. Then the seeds that the Valar had planted began swiftly to sprout and to burgeon, and there arose a multitude of growing things great and small, grasses, and flowers of many colours, and trees whose blossom was like snow upon the mountains17 but whose feet were wrapped in the shadow of their mighty limbs. And beasts and birds came forth and dwelt in the green plains or in the rivers and the lakes, or walked in the darkness of the woods. And richest was the growth of plant and beast in the midmost parts of the Earth where the lights of both lamps met and were blended. And there upon the isle of Almar18 in a great lake was the first dwelling of the gods, when all things were new, and green was yet a marvel in the eyes of the makers.

§32 But at length Melkor returned in secret, and far in the North where the light of Foros was only dim he made a hidden dwelling. And he sent forth his power and turned again to evil much that had been well begun, so that fens became rank and poisonous and forests perilous and full of fear, and beasts became monsters of horn and ivory and dyed the Earth with blood. And when he saw his time he revealed himself and made war again on the Valar, his brethren; and he threw down the lamps, and a new darkness fell on the Earth, and all growth ceased; and in the fall of the lamps (which were very great) the seas were lifted up in fury, and many lands were drowned.

And the Valar at that time had long dwelt upon an island in the midst of the Earth,19 but now they were forced to depart again; and they made their home in the uttermost West,20 and they fortified it; and they built many mansions in that land upon the borders of the World which is called Valinor; and to fence that land from the East they built the Pelóri Valion,21 the Mountains of Valinor that were the highest upon Earth. Thence they came with war against Melkor; but he had grown in stature and malice, so that they could not at that time either overcome him or take him captive, and he escaped from their wrath and built himself a mighty fortress in the North of Middle-earth, and delved great caverns underground, and gathered there many lesser powers that seeing his greatness and growing strength were now willing to serve him; and the name of that strong and evil place was Utumno.

§33 Thus it was that Earth lay wrapped in darkness again, save in Valinor, as the ages drew on to the hour appointed for the coming of the Firstborn of the Children of Ilúvatar. And in MORGOTH`S RING - AINULINDALË -
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the darkness Melkor dwelt, and still often walked abroad in Middle-earth; and he wielded cold and fire, from the tops of the mountains to the deep furnaces that are beneath them, and whatsoever was violent or cruel or deadly in those days was laid to his charge.

§34 And in Valinor dwelt the Valar and all their kin and folk, and because of the bliss and beauty of that land they came seldom to Middle-earth. Yet Yavanna, to whom all things that grow are dear, forsook not the Earth22 utterly, and leaving the house of Aulë and the light of Valinor she would come at times and heal the hurts of Melkor; and returning she would ever urge the Valar to that war with his evil power that they must surely wage ere the coming of the Firstborn.

And Oromë also, the hunter, rode at whiles in the darkness of the unlit forests, sounding his mighty horn, whereat the shadows of Utumno, and even Melkor himself, would flee away.

§35 In the midst of the Blessed Realm Aulë dwelt, and laboured long, for in the making of all things in that land he had the chief part; and he wrought there many fair and shapely things both openly and in secret. Of him comes the love and knowledge of the Earth and of all those things that it contains, whether the lore of those who do not make but seek only for the understanding of what is, studying the fabric of the Earth and the blending and mutation of its elements, or the lore of all craftsmen: the tiller and the husbandman, the weaver, the shaper of wood, or the forger of metals. [And Aulë we name the Friend of the Noldor, for of him they learned much in after days, and they are the wisest and most skilled of the Elves. And in their own fashion, according to their own gifts which Iluvatar gave to them, they added much to his teaching, delighting in tongues and alphabets and in the figures of broidery, of drawing, and of carving.