Two Trees of Valinor

Two Trees of Valinor
Background Information
Location	Ezellohar
Appearance	Two tall trees, one of gold, the other of silver
Destroyer	Melkor and Ungoliant YT 1495

The Two Trees of Valinor, also known as the Trees of the Valar or simply the Two Trees, were Laurelin (the Gold Tree) and Telperion (the Silver Tree), which brought light into the land of the Valar in ancient times. They were destroyed by Melkor and the primal spider Ungoliant, but their last flower and fruit were made by the Valar into the Sun and the Moon.

History

"Days of the Bliss of Valinor" by Sepi Donne

Creation & destruction

The first sources of light for all of Arda were two enormous Lamps: Illuin, the silver one to the north, and Ormal, the golden one to the south. These were cast down and destroyed by Melkor. Afterward, the Valar went to Valinor and Yavanna sang into existence the Two Trees, silver Telperion and golden Laurelin. Telperion was considered male and Laurelin female. The Trees sat on the hill Ezellohar located outside Valmar. They grew in the presence of all of the Valar, watered by the tears of Nienna.

Each tree was a source of light: Telperion's silver and Laurelin's gold. Telperion had dark leaves (silver on one side) and his silvery dew was collected as a source of water and of light. Laurelin had gold-trimmed leaves and her dew was likewise collected by Varda. One "day" lasted twelve hours. Each Tree, in turn, would give off light for seven hours (waxing to full brightness and then slowly waning again), so that at one hour each of "dawn" and "dusk" soft gold and silver light would be given off together.

The Two Trees at night, by Spiros Gelekas

Jealous, Melkor enlisted the help of the giant spider-creature Ungoliant (the mother of Shelob) to destroy the Two Trees. Concealed in Unlight, Melkor struck each Tree with a spear and the insatiable Ungoliant devoured whatever life and light remained in them.

Again Yavanna sang and Nienna wept, but they succeeded only in reviving Telperion's last flower (to become the Moon) and Laurelin's last fruit (to become the Sun). These were assigned to lesser spirits, male Tilion and female Arien, after the 'genders' of the Trees themselves. This is why, in The Lord of the Rings, the Sun is usually referred to as "she" and the moon as "he".

However, the true light of the Trees, before their poisoning by Ungoliant, was said to afterwards reside only in the Silmarils.

Telperion's descendants

Because the Elves that first came to Valinor especially loved Telperion, Yavanna made a second tree like it to stand in the city of Tirion where the Vanyar and Ñoldor dwelt together at first. This tree, named Galathilion, was identical to Telperion except that it gave no light of its own. It had many seedlings, one of which was planted in the isle of Tol Eressëa (named Celeborn).

In the Second Age, a seedling of Celeborn was brought as a gift to the Númenóreans - this was Nimloth, the White Tree of Númenor. It lasted through the majority of the realm's duration, but when Sauron corrupted the island he persuaded King Ar-Pharazôn to chop it down.

Telperion aglow, by Ralph Damiani

Fortunately Isildur managed to save a single fruit of that tree. Of this fruit later came the White Trees of Gondor.

Internal significance

The Two Trees of Valinor existed at a time when the only other source of light was the stars (which had been created for the Elves' benefit by Varda from the dews of the Two Trees). When three Elven ambassadors were brought to see Valinor for themselves in order that the Elves might be convinced to come to Valinor, it seems that the Two Trees affected them most significantly.

In particular, Thingol is said to have been motivated in the Great Journey by his desire to see the Light of Valinor again (until he finds contentment in the light he sees in Melian's face). Also in later times, the Elves would be divided between the Calaquendi who had seen the light of the Trees, and the Moriquendi who had not; with the former group having found enlightenment and near rapture in the light they beheld.

The Silmarillion repeatedly states that those Elves who saw the Two Trees were mighty, with the light of Aman in their faces. As vassals of the Valar, the Trees somehow bestowed otherworldly power and understanding on those exposed to them. Galadriel in particular had an affinity to Laurelin, as her hair was said to have captured the golden light of that tree. In turn this inspired Fëanor to make the jewels that could hold that same light; the Silmarils.

The last six centuries of the First Age is entirely affected by the desire of many different characters to possess the Silmarils, which contained the only remaining unsullied light of the Trees. Yet upon his flight from Valinor after destroying the light of the Two Trees, Melkor stole the Silmarils and sparked the Oath of Fëanor (who renamed Melkor Morgoth) and after many years the Valar embarked on the War of Wrath, which ended the First Age.

In the Second and Third Ages, the White Trees of Númenor and of Gondor, whose likeness descends from that of Telperion, have a mostly symbolic significance. They stand both as symbols of the kingdoms in question, and also as reminders of the ancestral alliance between the Dúnedain and the Elves. Even in this late age the two trees are remembered by some. Gandalf obviously remembers them with reverence, as he speaks of them to Pippin.

Etymology

Both Telperion and Laurelin are said to have been given many names among which are the following: Laurelin was also given the names of Malinalda and Culúrien, while Telperion was also named Silpion and Ninquelótë. Telperion's name in Valarin, the language of the Valar, is said to have been Ibrîniðilpathânezel; Laurelin's name is recorded as Tulukhedelgorûs.

In early writings of Tolkien, Telperion's names were Silpion, Bansil, and Belthil.

Quotations

"Yet even as hope failed [...] Telperion bore at last upon a leafless bough one great flower of silver, and Laurelin a single fruit of gold." - The Silmarillion

"... and perceive the unimaginable hand and mind of Fëanor at their work, while both the White Tree and Golden were in flower!" Gandalf to Pippin, The Two Towers

External significance

Tolkien, as a Roman Catholic, would have been exposed to the significance of light in Catholic symbolism. Trees were of special importance to him - in his short story Leaf by Niggle, which in a sense was an elaborate allegory explaining his own creative process, the protagonist spends his life painting a single Tree.

The Two Trees represent the recurrent 'gold and silver' concept of the legendarium. They are created after the lamps Ormal and Illuin - and from the trees themselves, the Sun and Moon are later created.

Tolkien may have also gotten inspiration for the trees directly from the Sun, which rises in the day (as Laurelin, the golden tree), and the moon which rises in the night (Telperion, the silver tree).

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Twee bome van Valinor
Albanian	Dy Pemë e Valinor
Amharic	ቫሊኖር ሁለት ዛፎች
Arabic	شجرتي ڢالينور
Armenian	Երկու ծառեր Վալինոր
Assamese	ভেলিন'ৰৰ দুটা গছ
Asturian	Dos Árboles de Valinor
Azerbaijani	Valinor iki ağac
Basque	Valinorreko Bi Zuhaitzak
Belarusian Cyrillic	Тўо Треес оф Валінор
Bengali	ভ্যালিনোরের দুটি গাছ
Bosnian	Dva stabla od Valinora
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Двете дървета на Валинор
Catalan	Dos Arbres de Vàlinor
Cebuano	Duha ka Kahoy sa Valinor
Croatian	Dva drveta Valinora
Czech	Dva Valinorské stromy
Danish	To Træer af Valinor
Dutch	Twee Bomen van Valinor
Esperanto	Du Arboj de Valinor
Estonian	Kaks Puud Valinor
Filipino	Dalawang puno ng Valinor
Finnish	Kaksi Valinorin Puuta
Faroese	Tvey træ av Valinor
French	Deux Arbres de Valinor
Frisian	Twa beammen fan Valinor (Western)
Friulian	Doi arbui di Valinor
Galician	Dúas Árbores de Valinor
Georgian	ვალინორის ორი ხე
German	Zwei Bäume von Valinor
Greek	Δύο Δέντρα του Βάλινορ
Haitian Creole	De kalite pyebwa ki bay Valinor
Hebrew	שני עצי ואלינור
Hungarian	Valinor két fája
Icelandic	Tveir tré Valinor
Indonesian	Dua pohon Valinor
Italian	Alberi di Valinor
Irish Gaelic	Dhá crainn de Valinor
Japanese	ヴァリノールの二つの木
Kannada	ವಾಲಿನೊರ್ ಎರಡು ಮರಗಳು
Kazakh	Валинордың екі ағашы (Cyrillic) Valïnordıñ eki ağaşı (Latin)
Kurdish	Du Darên ji Valinor (Kurmanji)
Latin	Duae Arbores Valinoris
Latvian	Divi koki Valinor
Lithuanian	Du Valinoro medžiai
Macedonian Cyrillic	Две дрва на Валинор
Marathi	वलिनोर दोन झाडे
Malaysian	Dua Pokok Valinor
Maltese	Żewġ Siġar tal Valinor
Mongolian Cyrillic	Валинорын хоёр мод
Norwegian	To Trær av Valinor
Occitan	Dos arbres de Valinor
Pashto	د ویلینور دوه ونې
Persian	دو درخت از والینور
Polish	Dwa Drzewa Valinoru
Portuguese	Duas Árvores de Valinor
Punjabi	ਵਲਿਨੋਰ ਦੇ ਦੋ ਰੁੱਖ
Romanian	Doi Copaci din Valinor
Russian	Древа Валар
Sardinian	Duos àrbores de Valinor
Scottish Gaelic	Dà Craobhan de Valinor
Serbian	Два стабла Валинора (Cyrillic) Dva stabla Valinora (Latin)
Shona	Miti miviri yeValinor
Sicilian	Du' arburi di Valinor
Sindhi	والينور جا ٻه وڻ
Sinhalese	වැලිනෝර් ගස් දෙකක්
Slovak	Dva valinorské Stromy
Slovenian	Dve drevesi Valinorja
Somali	Laba Dhirta Valinor
Spanish	Dos Árboles de Valinor
Swahili	Miti miwili ya Valinor
Swedish	Två Träd av Valinor
Tajik Cyrillic	Ду дарахти Валинор
Tamil	வலிநொர் இரண்டு மரங்கள்
Tatar	Валинорның ике агачы
Telugu	వాలినోర్ రెండు చెట్లు
Thai	ทวิพฤกษาแห่งวาลินอร์
Turkish	Valinor'un iki agacı
Turkmen	Valinoryň iki agajy
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Два дерева Валінора
Urdu	والینور کے دو درخت
Uzbek	Валинор икки Дарахтлар (Cyrillic) Valinor ikki Daraxtlar (Latin)
Vietnamese	Hai cây của Valinor
Welsh	Dau Goed o Valinor
Yiddish	צוויי ביימער פון וואַלינאָר
Yoruba	Meji igi ti Valinor