History of Arda

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of

Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth,[a]
began when the Ainur entered Arda, following
the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long
ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional
universe. Time from that point was measured
using Valian Years, though the subsequent history
of Arda was divided into three time periods using
different years, known as the Years of the Lamps,
the Years of the Trees and the Years of the Sun. A
separate, overlapping chronology divides the
history into 'Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar'. The
first such Age began with the Awakening of the Tolkien meant Arda to be "our own green and solid
Elves during the Years of the Trees and continued Earth", seen here in the Baltistan mountains, "at some
for the first six centuries of the Years of the Sun. quite remote epoch in the past".[1]
All the subsequent Ages took place during the
Years of the Sun. Most Middle-earth stories take
place in the first three Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar.

Major themes of the history are the divine creation of the world, followed by the splintering of the created
light as different wills come into conflict. Scholars have noted the biblical echoes of God, Satan, and the
fall of man here, rooted in Tolkien's own Christian faith. Arda is, as critics have noted, "our own green and
solid Earth at some quite remote epoch in the past."[1] As such, it has not only an immediate story but a
history, and the whole thing is an "imagined prehistory"[3] of the Earth as it is now.

Contents
Music of the Ainur
Ages of Arda
Spring of Arda
Years of the Trees
Years of the Sun
Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar
First Age
Second Age
Third Age
Fourth Age
Dagor Dagorath
Analysis
Creation and sub-creation
A dark mythology
 Greek mythology
"Imagined prehistory"
Notes
References
Primary
Secondary
Sources

Music of the Ainur

The supreme deity of Tolkien's universe is Eru Ilúvatar. Ilúvatar created spirits named the Ainur from his
thoughts, and some were considered brothers or sisters. Ilúvatar made divine music with them. Melkor, then
the most powerful of the Ainur, broke the harmony of the music, until Ilúvatar began first a second theme,
and then a third theme, which the Ainur could not comprehend since they were not the source of it. The
essence of their song symbolized the history of the whole universe and the Children of Ilúvatar that were to
dwell in it – Men and Elves.[T 1]

Then Ilúvatar created Eä, which means "to be," the universe itself, and formed within it Arda, the Earth,
"globed within the void": the world together with the three airs is set apart from Avakúma, the "void"
without. The first 15 of the Ainur that descended to Arda, and the most powerful ones, were called Valar;
the lesser Ainur were called Maiar.[T 1]

Ages of Arda

Spring of Arda

When the Valar entered Arda, it

was still lifeless and had no
distinct geographical features.
The initial shape of Arda,
chosen by the Valar, was much
more symmetrical, including the
central continent of Middle-
earth. Middle-earth was also
originally much larger, and was
lit by the misty light that veiled
the barren ground. The Valar
concentrated this light in two
The Spring of Arda, lit by the two great lamps. Based on Karen Wynn
large lamps, called Illuin and
Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth
Ormal. The Vala Aulë forged
two great pillar-like mountains,
Helcar in the north and Ringil in
the south. Illuin was set upon Helcar and Ormal upon Ringil. In the middle, where the light of the lamps
mingled, the Valar dwelt at the island of Almaren upon the Great Lake.[T 2]
This period, known as the Spring of Arda, was a time when the Valar had ordered the World as they
wished and rested upon Almaren, and Melkor lurked beyond the Walls of Night. During this time animals
first appeared, and forests started to grow.[T 2]
The Spring of Arda was interrupted when Melkor returned
to Arda, and ended completely when he assaulted and destroyed the Lamps of the Valar. Arda was again
darkened, and the fall of the great Lamps spoiled the symmetry of Arda's surface. New continents were
created: Aman in the West, Middle-earth proper in the middle, the uninhabited lands (later called the Land
of the Sun) in the East. At the site of the northern lamp was later the inland Sea of Helcar, of which
Cuiviénen was a bay. At the site of the southern lamp was later the Sea of Ringil. After the destruction of
the Two Lamps the Years of the Lamps ended and the Years of the Trees began.[T 2][b]

Years of the Trees

After the destruction of the Two

Lamps and the kingdom of
Almaren, the Valar abandoned
Middle-earth, moving to the
continent of Aman. There they
built their Second Kingdom,
Valinor. Yavanna made the Two
Trees, named Telperion (the
silver tree) and Laurelin (the
golden tree) in the land of
Valinor. The Trees illuminated
Valinor, leaving Middle-earth in Arda in the Years of the Trees. The Two Trees of Valinor illuminated the
darkness lit only by stars. The Blessed Realm; the rest of Arda was dark at that time. The outlines of the
Years of the Trees were continents are purely schematic.
contemporary with Middle-
earth's Sleep of Yavanna
(recalled by Treebeard as the Great Darkness).[T 2]

The Years of the Trees were divided into two epochs. The first ten Ages, the Years of Bliss, saw peace and
prosperity in Valinor. The Eagles, the Ents and the Dwarves were conceived by Manwë, Yavanna, and
Aulë respectively, but placed into slumber until after the awakening of the Elves. The next ten Ages, called
the Noontide of the Blessed Realm, saw Varda rekindling the stars above Middle-earth. This was the first
time after the Spring of Arda that Middle-earth was illuminated. The first Elves awoke in Cuiviénen in the
middle of Middle-earth, marking the start of the First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar, and were soon
approached by the Enemy Melkor who hoped to enslave them. Learning of this, the Valar and the Maiar
came into Middle-earth and, in the War of the Powers (also called the Battle of the Powers), defeated
Melkor and brought him captive to Valinor. This began the period of the Peace of Arda.[T 4]

After the War of the Powers, Oromë of the Valar summoned the Elves to Aman. Many of the Elves went
with Oromë on the Great Journey westwards towards Aman. Along the journey several groups of Elves
tarried, notably the Nandor and the Sindar. The three clans that arrived at Aman were the Vanyar, Noldor
and the Teleri. They made their home in Eldamar.[T 5] After Melkor appeared to repent and was released
after his servitude of three Ages, he stirred up rivalry between the Noldorin King Finwë's two sons Fëanor
and Fingolfin. With the help of Ungoliant, he killed Finwë and stole the Silmarils, three gems crafted by
Fëanor that contained light of the Two Trees, from his vault, and destroyed the Trees of the Valar. The
world was again dark, save for the faint starlight.[T 6][T 7]
Bitter at the Valar's inactivity, Fëanor and his house left to pursue Melkor, cursing him with the name
"Morgoth".[T 8] While his brother Finarfin chose to stay in Valinor, a larger host led by Fingolfin followed
Fëanor. They reached Alqualondë, the port-city of the Teleri, who forbade them from taking their ships for
the journey to Middle-earth. The first Kinslaying thus ensued, and a curse was put on the house of the
Noldor forever. Fëanor's host sailed on the boats, leaving Fingolfin's host behind – who crossed over to
Middle-earth on the Helcaraxë or Grinding Ice in the far north, losing many. The War of the Great Jewels
followed, and lasted until the end of the First Age. Meanwhile, the Valar took the last living fruit of
Laurelin and the last living flower of Telperion and used them to create the Moon and Sun, which remained
a part of Arda, but were separate from Ambar (the world). The first rising of the sun over Ambar heralded
the end of the Years of the Trees, and the start of the Years of the Sun, which last to the present day.[T 9]

Years of the Sun

The Years of the Sun were the last of the three great time-periods of Arda. They began with the first sunrise
in conjunction with the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth, and last until the present day.[T 10] The Years
of the Sun began towards the end of the First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar and continued through the
Second, Third, and part of the Fourth in Tolkien's stories. Tolkien estimated that modern times would
correspond to the sixth or seventh age.[T 11]

Tolkien situated the History of Arda as Earth's prehistory.[T 11]

Duration
Began
Age End event
years years ago
End of the Spring of Arda:

   Melkor destroys the Two Lamps

Years of the Lamps 33,573 60,962    Arda's symmetry broken

   Aman and Middle-earth created

   The Valar move to Aman

   Melkor steals the Silmarils

Years of the Trees 14,373 27,425

   Ungoliant kills the Two Trees of Valinor
Years of the Sun
War of Wrath:

   Morgoth's defeat in Beleriand

First Age 590 13,052

   Thangorodrim broken

   Most of Beleriand drowned

Akallabêth:

   Sauron's first downfall

Second Age 3,441 12,462    World made round

   Númenor drowned

   Valinor removed from Arda

War of the Ring:

   Final defeat of Sauron

Third Age 3,021 9,021

   Destruction of the One Ring

   Elves depart from Middle-earth

Fourth Age ???? 6,000

   Middle-earth breaks up

Fifth Age
   Continents rearrange

????    To present day, modern life

Sixth Age?

Seventh Age?[T 11]

Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar

The First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar, or Eruhíni, began during the Years of the Trees when the Elves
awoke in Cuiviénen in the middle-east of Middle-earth. This marked the start of the years when the
Children of Ilúvatar were active in Middle-earth.[T 12]

First Age

The First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar, also

referred to as the Elder Days in The Lord of the
Rings, began during the Years of the Trees when
the Elves awoke at Cuiviénen, and hence the
events mentioned above under Years of the Trees
overlap with the beginning of the First Age.[T 12]

Having crossed into Middle-earth, Fëanor was

soon lost in an attack on Morgoth's Balrogs – but
his sons survived and founded realms, as did the
followers of his half-brother Fingolfin, who Arda in the First Age. The outlines of the continents are
reached Beleriand after Fëanor's death. In the purely schematic.
Dagor Aglareb or Glorious Battle, the armies of
the Noldor led by Fingolfin and Maedhros
attacked from the east and west, destroying the invading Orcs and laid siege to Morgoth's stronghold,
Angband. The Noldor for a time maintained the Siege of Angband, Morgoth's stronghold, resulting in the
Long Peace. This Peace lasted hundreds of years, during which time Men arrived over the Blue
Mountains.[T 13] Morgoth broke the siege in the Dagor Bragollach, or the Battle of Sudden Flame.[T 14]
The Eldar, Edain and the Dwarves were all disastrously defeated in the Nírnaeth Arnoediad or Battle of
Unnumbered Tears,[T 15] and one by one, the kingdoms fell, even the hidden ones of Doriath[T 16] and
Gondolin.[T 17]

At the end of the age, all that remained of free Elves and Men in Beleriand was a settlement at the mouth of
the River Sirion and another on the Isle of Balar. Eärendil possessed the Silmaril which his wife Elwing's
grandparents, Beren and Lúthien, had taken from Morgoth. But Fëanor's sons still maintained that all the
Silmarils belonged to them, and so there were two more Kinslayings.[T 16][T 18] Eärendil and Elwing
crossed the Great Sea to beg the Valar for aid against Morgoth. They responded, sending forth a great host.
In the War of Wrath, Melkor was utterly defeated. He was expelled into the Void and most of his works
were destroyed, bringing the First Age to an end. This came at a terrible cost, however, as most of
Beleriand itself was sunk.[T 18]

Second Age

The Second Age is characterized by the establishment and flourishing of Númenor, the rise of Sauron in
Middle-earth, the creation of the Rings of Power and the Ringwraiths, and the early wars of the Rings
between Sauron and the Elves. It ended with Sauron's defeat by the Last Alliance of Elves and
Men.[T 19][c] The Men who had remained faithful were given the island of Númenor, in the middle of the
Great Sea, and there they established a powerful kingdom. The White Tree of Númenor was planted in the
King's city of Armenelos; and it was said that while that tree stood in the King's courtyard, the reign of
Númenor would endure. The Elves were granted pardon for the sins of Fëanor, and were allowed to return
home to the Undying Lands.[T 19] The Númenóreans became great seafarers, and were learned, wise, and
had a lifespan beyond other men. At first, they honored the Ban of the Valar, never sailing into the Undying
Lands. They went east to Middle-earth and taught the men living there valuable skills. After a time, they
became jealous of the Elves for their immortality. Sauron, Morgoth's chief servant, was still active. As
Annatar, in disguise he taught the Elves of Eregion the craft of creating Rings of Power. Seven Rings were
made for the Dwarves, while Nine were made for Men who later became known as the Ringwraiths.
However, he built a stronghold called Barad-dûr and secretly forged the One Ring in the fires of Mount
Doom to control the other rings and their bearers. Celebrimbor, a grandson of Fëanor, forged three mighty
rings on his own: Vilya, possessed first by the Elven king Gil-galad, then by Elrond; Nenya, wielded by
Galadriel; and Narya, given by Celebrimbor to Círdan, who gave it to Gandalf.[T 19]

As soon as Sauron put on the One Ring, the Elves realized that they had been betrayed and removed the
Three. (Sauron eventually obtained the Seven and the Nine. While he was unable to suborn the Dwarf
ringbearers, he had more success with the Men who bore the Nine; they became the Nazgûl or
Ringwraiths.) Sauron then made war on the elves and nearly destroyed them utterly during the Dark Years,
but when it seemed defeat was imminent, the Númenóreans joined the battle and completely crushed the
forces of Sauron. Sauron never forgot the ruin brought on his armies by the Númenóreans, and made it his
goal to destroy them.[T 19]

Towards the end of the age, the Númenóreans became increasingly haughty. Now they sought to dominate
other men and to establish kingdoms. Centuries after Tar-Minastir's engagement, when Sauron had largely
recovered, Ar-Pharazôn, the last and most powerful of the Kings of Númenor, humbled Sauron – his
armies deserting in the face of Númenor's might – and brought him to Númenor as a hostage, although this
was Sauron's goal. At this time still beautiful in appearance, Sauron gained Ar-Pharazôn's trust and became
high priest in the cult of Melkor. At this time, the Faithful (who still worshipped the one god, Eru Ilúvatar),
were persecuted openly by those called the King's Men, and were sacrificed in the name of Melkor.
Eventually, Sauron convinced Ar-Pharazôn to invade Aman, promising him that he would thus obtain
immortality.[T 19] Amandil, chief of the Faithful, sailed westward to warn the Valar. His son Elendil and
grandsons Isildur and Anárion prepared to flee eastwards, taking with them a seedling of the White Tree of
Númenor before Sauron destroyed it, and the palantíri, gifts of the elves. When the King's forces set foot
on Aman, the Valar laid down their guardianship of the world and called on Ilúvatar to intervene.[T 19]

The world was changed into a sphere and the continent of Aman was removed, although a sailing route
from Middle-earth to Aman, accessible to the Elves but not to mortals, persisted. Númenor was utterly
destroyed, as was the fair body of Sauron; however, his spirit returned to Mordor, where he again took up
the One Ring, and gathered his strength once more. Elendil, his sons and the remainder of the Faithful
sailed to Middle-earth, where they founded the realms in exile of Gondor and Arnor.[T 19]

Sauron arose again and challenged them. The Elves allied with Men to form the Last Alliance of Elves and
Men. For seven years, the Alliance laid siege to Barad-dûr, until at last Sauron himself entered the field. He
slew Elendil, High King of Gondor and Arnor, and Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor in Middle-
earth. However, Isildur took up the hilt of Narsil, his father's shattered sword, and cut the One Ring from
Sauron's hand. Sauron was defeated, but not utterly destroyed. Afterward, Isildur ignored the counsel of
Elrond, and rather than destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, he kept it as weregild for his
dead father. But the Ring betrayed him and slipped from his finger as he was escaping from an Orc ambush
at the Gladden Fields. Isildur was killed by an orc arrow, and the Ring was lost in the Anduin River.[T 19]

Third Age

The Third Age lasted for 3021 years, beginning with the first downfall of Sauron, when he was defeated
by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men following the downfall of Númenor and ending with the War of the
Ring and final defeat of Sauron, the events narrated in The Lord of the Rings. Virtually the entire history of
the Third Age takes place in Middle-earth.[T 23] The Third Age saw the rise in power of the realms of
Arnor and Gondor, and their fall. Arnor was divided into three petty Kingdoms, which fell one by one in
the wars with Sauron's vassal kingdom of Angmar, whilst Gondor fell victim to Kin-strife, plague,
Wainriders,
and Corsairs.
In this time,
the line of the
Kings of
Gondor ends,
with the House
of the
Stewards
ruling in their
stead.
Meanwhile,
the heirs of
Isildur from
the fallen
kingdom of
Arnor wander
Middle-earth,
aided only by
Elrond in
Rivendell; but
the line of
rightful heirs The Downfall of Númenor and the Changing of the World.[4]
remains
unbroken
throughout the age.[T 23]

This age was characterized by the waning of the Elves. In the beginning of the Third Age, many Elves left
for Valinor because they were disturbed by the recent war. However, Elven kingdoms still survived in
Lindon, Lothlórien, and Mirkwood. Rivendell also became a prominent haven for the Elves and other
races. Throughout the Age, they chose not to mingle much in the matters of other lands, and only came to
the aid of other races in time of war. The Elves devoted themselves to artistic pleasures, and tended to the
lands which they occupied. The gradual decline of Elven populations occurred throughout the Age as the
rise of Sauron came to dominate Middle-earth. By the end of the Third Age, only fragments of the once-
grand Elven civilization survived in Middle-earth.[T 23]

The Wizards arrived around a thousand years[T 23] after the start of this period to aid the Free Peoples, most
importantly Gandalf and Saruman. The One Ring was found by Sméagol but, under the power of the Ring
and ignorant of its true nature, he retreated with the Ring to a secret life under the Misty Mountains.[T 23]
Middle-earth's devastating Great Plague originated in its vast eastern region, Rhûn, where it caused
considerable suffering.[T 24] By the winter of late T.A. 1635 the Plague spread from Rhûn into Wilderland,
on the east of Middle-earth's western lands; in Wilderland it killed more than half the population.[T 25] In
the following year the Great Plague spread into Gondor and then Eriador. In Gondor the Plague caused
many deaths, including king Telemnar, his children, and the White Tree; the population of the capital city
Osgiliath was decimated, and government of the kingdom was transferred to Minas Tirith. In Eriador, the
nascent Hobbit-realm of the Shire suffered "great loss" in what they called the Dark Plague.[T 23]

The so-called Watchful Peace began in T.A. 2063, when Gandalf went to Dol Guldur and the evil dwelling
there (later known to be Sauron) fled to the far east. It lasted until T.A. 2460, when Sauron returned with
new strength. During this period Gondor strengthened its borders, keeping a watchful eye on the east, as
Minas Morgul was still a threat on their flank and Mordor was still occupied with Orcs. There were minor
skirmishes with Umbar. In the north, Arnor was long gone, but the Hobbits of the Shire prospered, getting
their first Took Thain, and colonizing Buckland. The Dwarves of Durin's folk under Thorin I abandoned
Erebor, and left for the Grey Mountains, where most of their kin now gathered. Meanwhile, Sauron created
a strong alliance between the tribes of Easterlings, so that when he returned he had many Men in his
service.[T 23]

The main events of The Hobbit occur in T.A. 2941.[T 23] By the time of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron had
recovered, and was seeking the One Ring. The events of the ensuing War of the Ring leading to the end of
the Third Age is the subject of The Lord of the Rings, and summarized in Of the Rings of Power and the
Third Age. After the defeat of Sauron, Aragorn takes his place as King of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor
and Gondor, restoring the line of Kings from the Stewards of Gondor. Aragorn marries the daughter of
Elrond, Arwen, thus for the last time adding Elvish blood to the royal line. As the age ends, Gandalf, Frodo
Baggins and many of the remaining Elves of Middle-earth sail from the Grey Havens to Aman.[T 23]

Fourth Age

With the end of the Third Age began the Dominion of Men. Elves were no longer involved in Human
affairs, and most Elves leave for Valinor; those that remain behind "fade" and diminish. A similar fate meets
the Dwarves: although Erebor becomes an ally of the Reunited Kingdom and there are indications Khazad-
dûm is refounded, and a colony is established by Gimli in the White Mountains, they disappear from
human history.[T 26]

Eldarion, son of Aragorn II Elessar and Arwen Evenstar, became King of the Reunited Kingdom in F.A.
120. His father gave him the tokens of his rule, and then gave up his life willingly, as his ancestors had
done thousands of years before. Arwen left him to rule alone, passing away to the now-empty land of
Lórien where she died.[T 27] Upon the death of Aragorn, Legolas departed Middle-earth for Valinor, taking
Gimli with him and ending the Fellowship of the Ring in Middle-earth.[T 28]

Tolkien once considered writing a sequel to The Lord of the Rings, called The New Shadow, which would
have taken place in Eldarion's reign, and in which Eldarion deals with his people turning to evil practices –
in effect, a repetition of the history of Númenor.[T 29] In a 1972 letter concerning this draft, Tolkien
mentioned that Eldarion's reign would have lasted for about 100 years after the death of Aragorn.[T 30][d]
His realm was to be "great and long-enduring", but the lifespan of the royal house was not to be restored; it
would continued to wane until it was like that of ordinary Men.[T 31]

Dagor Dagorath

In a letter, Tolkien wrote that "This legendarium [The Silmarillion] ends with a vision of the end of the
world [after all the ages have elapsed], its breaking and remaking, and the recovery of the Silmarilli and the
'light before the Sun' – after a final battle [Dagor Dagorath] which owes, I suppose, more to the Norse
vision of Ragnarök than to anything else, though it is not much like it."[T 32] The concept of Dagor
Dagorath appears in Tolkien's manuscripts that were published by his son Christopher in The Shaping of
Middle-earth but not in the published Silmarillion, where the eventual fate of Arda is left open-ended in the
closing lines of the Quenta Silmarillion.[T 33]

Analysis

Creation and sub-creation

Scholars, noting that Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic, have
stated that the Ainulindalë creation myth echoes the Christian
account of creation. Brian Rosebury calls its prose "appropriately
'scriptural'".[5] Verlyn Flieger cites Tolkien's poem Mythopoeia
("Creation of Myth"), where he speaks of "man, sub-creator, the
refracted light / through whom is splintered from a single White / to
many hues, and endlessly combined / in living shapes".[T 34][6] She
analyses in detail the successive splintering of the original created Tolkien likened the Last Battle,
light, via the Two Lamps, the Two Trees, and the Silmarils, as the Dagor Dagorath, that ends "the
wills of different beings conflict.[7] She states that for Tolkien, this world" (Arda) to the Norse
creative light was equated with the Christian Logos, the Divine Ragnarök.[T 32] Engraving Battle of
[6]
Word. Jane Chance remarks on the biblical theme of the conflict the Doomed Gods by Friedrich
between the creator Eru Ilúvatar and the fallen Vala Wilhelm Heine, 1882
Melkor/Morgoth, mirroring that between God and Satan. Similarly,
she notes, the struggles of Elves and Men corrupted by Morgoth
and his spiritual descendant Sauron echo those of Adam and Eve tempted by Satan in the Garden of Eden,
and the fall of man.[8]

Flieger has observed that the splintering of the created light is a process of decline and fall from a once-
perfect state. She identifies a theory of decline that influenced Tolkien, namely Owen Barfield's theory of
language in his 1928 book Poetic Diction. The central idea was that there was once a unified set of
meanings in an ancient language, and that modern languages are derived from this by fragmentation of
meaning.[9] Tolkien took this to imply the separation of peoples, in particular the complicated and repeated
sundering of the Elves.[10]

A dark mythology

Scholars including Flieger have noted that if Tolkien intended to create a mythology for England,[11] in the
history of Arda as told in The Silmarillion he had made it very dark.[12] John Garth has identified his
experiences in the First World War as formative; he began his Middle-earth writings at that time.[13] Flieger
suggests that Middle-earth arose not only from Tolkien's own wartime experience, but out of that of his
dead schoolfriends Geoffrey Bache Smith and Rob Gilson.[14] Janet Brennan Croft writes that Tolkien's
first prose work after returning from the war was The Fall of Gondolin, and that it is "full of extended and
terrifying scenes of battle"; she notes that the streetfighting is described over 16 pages.[15]

Greek mythology

Among the many influences that scholars have proposed as possibly important on the history of Arda is
Greek mythology. The disappearance of the island of Númenor recalls Atlantis.[T 35][T 36] The Valar
borrow many attributes from the Olympian gods. Like the Olympians, the Valar live in the world, but on a
high mountain, separated from mortals; Ulmo, Lord of the Waters, owes much to Poseidon, and Manwë,
the Lord of the Air and King of the Valar, to Zeus.[16][17] Tolkien compared Beren and Lúthien with
Orpheus and Eurydice, but with the gender roles reversed.[T 35] He mentioned Oedipus, too, in connection
with Túrin in the Children of Húrin.[T 32] Flieger has compared Fëanor with Prometheus: they are
associated with fire, and are punished for rebelling against the gods' decrees.[18]

"Imagined prehistory"
Arda is summed up by the Tolkien scholar Paul H.
Kocher as "our own green and solid Earth at some quite
remote epoch in the past."[1]

In a letter written in 1958, Tolkien places the beginning

of the Fourth Age some 6,000 years in the past:[T 11]

I imagine the gap [since the War of the

Ring and the end of the Third Age] to be
about 6000 years; that is we are now at the
end of the Fifth Age if the Ages were of
about the same length as Second Age and
Third Age. But they have, I think,
quickened; and I imagine we are actually at
the end of the Sixth Age, or in the
Seventh."[T 11]

The Tolkien scholar Richard C. West writes that one of

the "very final passages" of the internal chronology of
Lord of the Rings, The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen,
ends not just with Arwen's death, but the statement that
her grave will remain on the hill of Cerin Amroth in
what was Lothlorien "until the world is changed, and all Tolkien imagined Arda as the Earth in the distant
the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that past.[T 11][1] With the loss of all its peoples
come after ... and with the passing of [Arwen] Evenstar except Man, and the reshaping of the continents,
no more is said in this book of the days of old."[3] West all that is left of Middle-earth is a dim memory in
observes that this points up a "highly unusual" aspect of folklore, legend, and old words.[19]
Tolkien's legendarium among modern fantasy: it is set
"in the real world but in an imagined prehistory."[3] As a
result, West explains, Tolkien can build what he likes in that distant past, elves and wizards and hobbits and
all the rest, provided that he tears it all down again, so that the modern world can emerge from the
wreckage, with nothing but "a word or two, a few vague legends and confused traditions..." to show for
it.[3]

West praises and quotes Kocher on Tolkien's imagined prehistory and the implied process of fading to lead
from fantasy to the modern world:[3]

At the end of his epic Tolkien inserts ... some forebodings of [Middle-earth's] future which will
make Earth what it is today ... he shows the initial steps in a long process of retreat or
disappearance by which all other intelligent species, which will leave man effectually alone on
earth... Ents may still be there in our forests, but what forests have we left? The process of
extermination is already well under way in the Third Age, and ... Tolkien bitterly deplores its
climax today."[20]

The Tolkien scholar Stuart D. Lee and the medievalist Elizabeth Solopova make "an attempt at a
summary",[19] which runs as follows. The Silmarillion describes events "presented as factual"[19] but
taking place before Earth's actual recorded history. What happened is processed through the generations as
folk-myths and legends, especially among the (Old) English. Before the Fall of Numenor, the world was
flat. In the Fall, it became round; further geological events reshaped the continents into the Earth as it now
is. All the same, the old tales survive here and there, resulting in mentions of Dwarves and Elves in real
Medieval literature. Thus, Tolkien's imagined mythology "is an attempt to reconstruct our pre-history."[19]
Lee and Solopova comment that "Only by understanding this can we fully realize the true scale of his
project and comprehend how enormous his achievement was."[19]

The poet W. H. Auden wrote in The New York Times that "no previous writer has, to my knowledge,
created an imaginary world and a feigned history in such detail. By the time the reader has finished the
trilogy, including the appendices to this last volume, he knows as much about Tolkien's Middle Earth, its
landscape, its fauna and flora, its peoples, their languages, their history, their cultural habits, as, outside his
special field, he knows about the actual world."[e][21] The scholar Margaret Hiley comments that Auden's
"feigned history" echoes Tolkien's own statement in the foreword to the second edition of Lord of the Rings
that he much preferred history, true or feigned, to allegory; and that Middle-earth's history is told in The
Silmarillion.[22]

Notes
a. Christopher Tolkien called his 12-volume set The History of Middle-earth; scholars such as
Brian Rosebury have noted that it makes more sense to call it the history of Arda, as Middle-
earth was just one continent, and the early part of the history largely concerns another
continent, Aman (Valinor), not to mention the creation and destruction of the island of
Númenor.[2]
b. The meaning of "years" in this context is problematic. The Valian years measure the
passage of time after the arrival of the Valar in Arda. The Valian years were measured in
Valinor after the first sunrise, but Tolkien provided no dates for events in Aman after that
point. Valian years are not used for Beleriand and Middle-earth. In the 1930s and 1940s
Tolkien used a figure which fluctuated slightly around ten before settling on 9.582 solar
years in each Valian year. However, in the 1950s, Tolkien decided to use a much greater
value of 144 solar years per Valian year.[T 3]
c. "The Tale of Years" in Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings outlines the major events of the
Second Age, especially as they relate to the Rings of Power and the events and characters
of The Lord of the Rings.[T 19] Appendix A contains genealogies of the royal house of
Númenor. Appendix D gives details of the Númenórean calendar, including special
intercalation in the years 1000, 2000 and 3000, and notes on how this system of
intercalation was disrupted by the designation of S.A. 3442 the first year of the Third Age.
"After the Downfall in S.A. 3319, the system was maintained by the exiles, but it was much
dislocated by the beginning of the Third Age with a new numeration: S.A. 3442 became T.A.
1. By making T.A. 4 a leap year instead of T.A. 3 (S.A. 3444) 1 more short year of only 365
days was intruded".[T 20] In addition, several sections of Unfinished Tales deal extensively
with Númenor and several of its kings.[T 21] At the end of The Silmarillion, "Akallabêth"
recounts the fall of Númenor and its kings, and the rise of Gondor and Arnor.[T 22]
d. Tolkien wrote "I have written nothing beyond the first few years of the Fourth Age. (Except
the beginning of a tale supposed to refer to the end of the reign of Eldarion about 100 years
after the death of Aragorn. ...)"[T 30]
e. Auden only had The Lord of the Rings to go on in 1956, but he commented that "From the
appendices readers will get tantalizing glimpses of the First and Second Ages" and hoped
that as the "legend of these" had already been written, readers would not have to wait too
long for them.[21]

References
Primary

This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.

1. The Silmarillion, "Ainulindalë"

2. The Silmarillion, ch. 1 "Of the Beginning of Days"
3. Morgoth's Ring, "Myths Transformed", 9 "Aman"
4. The Silmarillion, ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
5. The Silmarillion, ch. 5 "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"
6. The Silmarillion, ch. 7 "Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor"
7. The Silmarillion, ch. 8 "Of the Darkening of Valinor"
8. The Silmarillion, ch. 6 "Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"
9. The Silmarillion, ch. 11 "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"
10. The Silmarillion, ch. 13 "Of the Return of the Noldor"
11. Carpenter 1981, #211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958, last footnote
12. The Silmarillion, ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
13. The Silmarillion, ch. 17 "Of the Coming of Men into the West"
14. The Silmarillion, ch. 18 "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"
15. The Silmarillion, ch. 20 "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"
16. The Silmarillion, ch. 22 "Of the Ruin of Doriath"
17. The Silmarillion, ch. 23 "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
18. The Silmarillion, ch. 24 Of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath
19. The Return of the King, Appendix B: The Tale of Years. "The Second Age"
20. The Return of the King, Appendix D: Calendars
21. Unfinished Tales, part 2: "The Second Age"
22. The Silmarillion, "Akallabêth"
23. The Return of the King, Appendix B: The Tale of Years, "The Third Age"
24. The Return of the King, Appendix A part I(iv), p. 328
25. Unfinished Tales, part 3 ch. 2(i) pp. 288–289
26. The Peoples of Middle-earth: "The Making of Appendix A", '(IV) Durin's Folk', p. 278.
27. The Return of the King, Appendix A: The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen
28. The Return of the King, Appendix B: Later events concerning the members of the Fellowship
of the Ring
29. The Peoples of Middle-earth, "The New Shadow"
30. Carpenter 1981, #338 to Fr. Douglas Carter, 6 June 1972
31. The Peoples of Middle-earth, "The Heirs of Elendil"
32. Carpenter 1981, #131 to Milton Waldman, late 1951
33. The Shaping of Middle-earth, ch. 3: "Quenta Noldorinwa"
34. Tolkien 2001, pp. 85–90
35. Carpenter 1981, #154 to Naomi Mitchison, September 1954
36. Carpenter 1981, #227 to Mrs Drijver, January 1961

Secondary
1. Kocher 1974, pp. 8–11.
 2. Rosebury 2003, pp. 89–133.
3. West 2006, pp. 67–100
4. Shippey 2005, pp. 324–328.
5. Rosebury 1992, p. 97.
6. Flieger 1983, pp. 44–49.
7. Flieger 1983, pp. 6–61, 89–90, 144-145 and passim.
8. Chance 1980, p. 133.
9. Flieger 1983, pp. 35–41.
10. Flieger 1983, pp. 65–87.
11. Chance 1980, Title page and passim.
12. Flieger 2005, pp. 139–142.
13. Garth 2003, Preface, pp. xiii–xviii, 309, and passim.
14. Flieger 2001, p. 224.
15. Croft 2004, p. 18.
16. Purtill 2003, pp. 52, 131.
17. Stanton 2001, p. 18.
18. Flieger 1983, p. 95.
19. Lee & Solopova 2005, pp. 256–257
20. Kocher 1974, p. 14.
21. Auden, W. H. (22 January 1956). "Books: At the End of the Quest, Victory" (http://movies2.nyt
imes.com/books/01/02/11/specials/tolkien-return.html). The New York Times. Retrieved
3 July 2020.
22. Hiley 2006.

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Chance, Jane (1980) [1979]. Tolkien's Art: A 'Mythology for England'. Macmillan. ISBN 978-
0-333-29034-7.
Croft, Janet Brennan (2004). War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-
313-32592-2.
Donovan, Leslie A. (2020) [2014]. "Middle-earth Mythology: An Overview". In Lee, Stuart D.
(ed.). A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien. Wiley Blackwell. pp. 92–106. ISBN 978-
1119656029.
Flieger, Verlyn (1983). Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World. Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0-802-81955-0.
Flieger, Verlyn (2001) [1997]. A Question of Time: J.R.R. Tolkien's Road to Faërie (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=I33v5ny3NX0C). Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-0-
87338-699-9.
Flieger, Verlyn (2005). Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology. Kent State
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Garth, John (2003). Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth.
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(PhD Thesis). Retrieved 3 July 2020.
 Kocher, Paul H. (1974) [1972]. Master of Middle-earth: The Achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien.
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