The Story of the Silent from the Beginning of the World by SteveofCallie

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The Song of Beginning.

The Ainulindalë.

  • Melkor Begins
  • Caladan Begins
  • The Rise of Discord
  • The Fall of Melkor
  • Of the Silent

Know this! That Eru first kindled the Flame which never doth perish for each of his beings.  Only then would they sculpt by the music pure Essence and Form for each creature in accord with the soul. Thus each of the beings who sprang into unending life was utterly pure in existence without Form.  Then Eru and the others garbed them with Essence and adorned them with Form.  Each Ainur became so, solely in keeping by the Light of the Flame Within.  Their Essences fulfill their nature.

Thus, no creature arose that was ever created enslaved, as though given a Form not in keeping with the Flame Imperishable within.  No creature was garbed with an Essence or style to be made just a tool of obedience.  Of this was Melkor the Valar most canny; such arose from his song in desecration of Life.

That is why he later sought the Flame Imperishable in secret; to shackle the pure Flame of Life into bodies unspeakable, crafted for foul arts, enslaved to his will. 

Melkor Begins

Eru Ilúvatar gave First Flame to First Being, who burst forth as anthem from the Song of Creation, the First Created One.

From the very start, as the greatest voice of the First Created One spiraled and swept in alone, the voice of Melkor, and brought counterpoint to the main theme of Ilúvatar, many beginning spirits without form were drawn to join and sing the theme of Melkor, as its beauty seemed almost to surpass the first theme of Eru; and thus many of the singers in the Ainulindalë came instantly to love Melkor with all their hearts.  For they saw Melkor in splendor as he truly was created, and they pledged enduring loyalty to him, unto the end of the World made from the Void.

And some of them thus wedded their fates to the being of Melkor out of their love; and of this twining Melkor was most aware.

And after the bringing forth of the Ainur it was Melkor, in fealty to the anthem of Eru Ilúvatar, sang with them of the newcoming All, vast and void universe, and darkness was on the face of the new universe, the World.  And the power of his voice drew about all the spirits who were to become the Ainur; and they marveled at the becoming of the All.

Thus were created the objects of the world, the real things without the Flame Imperishable within, things only with Form and Essence; and in an instant, they simply were.

How dare we speak about the mind of Melkor, of knowing the time of his corruption, of his thoughts and the time of turning to wickedness?  We must be humble, and acknowledge that of these things we were not meant to understand, and cannot understand.

Caladan Begins

Across the song of the waters below passed a great new voice that soared into the trackless sky.  Suddenly the stars did burst forth as the raiment of the Queen of Heaven, and light shone on the land and the restless waters, and the voice of Varda was heard for the first time rejoicing the Light.

But that herald voice calling before in darkness across the waters was not Varda, but instead the voice of the Second Creature named Caladan, singing of the becoming of Light itself shining on All.

The Light upon All was the Gift Inspired the Voice of Caladan to the Ainur and to Eru Ilúvatar.  Caladan, who was known also as Cálëtano, did offer Light especially to his brother Melkor, who vainly believed he alone had sung forth the All, and thus would delight in the power of Creation's own song by seeing its infinity; for Caladan loved Melkor as he loved Eru Ilúvatar, and he loved them from the uttermost depths of his being.

But the mind of Melkor began to be jealous, for Caladan’s hymn to Light destroyed the primordial Darkness that lay upon Creation.  He suspected that Caladan was trying to usurp his foolish pride as Creator of All.  So began the path of Melkor straying from loving service to the Valar and the One. Thus enmity to the light of Varda and Caladan grew in his heart.

The growing spirits of the Ainur rejoiced, for they could see how Light and Dark complement each other, and bring forth each other, as does the tenebrous space between the stars bring forth their radiance.  In truth, Caladan and Melkor as brothers and opposites seemed to span the utterly vast state of being through Dark and Light. And Varda in her becoming rejoiced in this duality.

As the Ainulindalë grew and the other Ainur came forward into being, the theme of Melkor progressed and joined with other voices, and in his dawning and jealous thoughts he dared to blend matters of his own imagining, themes that served to stand apart from music of the First Song entirely. Straightaway discord arose between his mighty voice and the theme of the rest of Ainulindalë.

The Rise of Discord

Many who sang nigh Melkor grew despondent, and their thought was disturbed, and their music faltered; but some began to attune their music to Melkor, rather than to the theme triumphant which Eru Ilúvatar voiced. Of these embodied voices singing at the dawn of Time, many were drawn to the splendor of Melkor everlastingly in the days of his greatness. These followers of Melkor twisted and wove through his discord a great clangor and harshness to praise him and please him evermore; and followed him and fell into corruption when he came to damage the earth as Morgoth and remained in his foul allegiance until doom shall tell.

But a small few of the Created, those who loved Melkor with all their hearts, did grieve when the heard the falsity of his new anthem; and in shock, they fell into silence.   It seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the seat of Ilúvatar, and they were utterly dissonant.

Still, the silent ones, the spirits in like mind to Caladan later called the Quorin, stood mute during the rest of the Ainulindalë, the song at the Beginning of the World when it veered off into clangor.  Many of the silent were the wisest of all creatures.  Although they loved Melkor continually with all their hearts; they also knew in clear wisdom from their very essences that nothing could ever come to pass that did not issue from Eru Ilúvatar's thought; and that no other Flame Eternal might ever exist, that was not the spirit of Eru Ilúvatar himself.

The Fall of Melkor

The Quorin were greatly troubled, as they saw Melkor falling tremendously but helplessly into becoming utterly alone, a being with allegiance to naught but himself.  He did seek to become alone a single Power. To those who followed Melkor in his misbelief, as well as those who cried out in rage at his falling, it seemed that something called Evil came into creation.  Those who were perpetually chained to Melkor by his love for them, and thus fell into the deep, so reckoned that Evil could exist alone and detached.  They would join him in the evil.

But the greater wisdom of the Quorin unmasked the helpless deception about the fall of Melkor into Evil; for Evil could not stand alone. However thenceforth, Melkor was utterly blind to any falsity about the reality of Evil as naught but a delusion.

Many of the other Ainur called out to Caladan to speak and strive with Melkor and unblind him; but Caladan did not and remained silent.

And the Quorin at least all understood that He, Melkor, the Lord whom the Quorin loved with all their hearts, could never become completely pure Evil, no matter his strivings and imaginings and works and delusion; for Melkor could not unmake himself as a creature of the Flame Imperishable without disappearing utterly.  The Quorin were filled with grief seeing that Melkor had not become in any way greater and more magnificent by this delusion; he merely would a shadow of his original glory, hidden in corruption, and crippled.

Of the Silent

But the power of the mighty voice of Melkor clouded his own understanding and wisdom. He became deaf to simple knowledge.  In shock and shame, the minds of the Quorin were drawn into ever-growing silent shadow.  Mighty was their despair, which mingled with their love; but all in silence.

As the other voices of the Ainur sang forth and sought their true pitch and melody and became filled from out of the emptiness, those whose voices rang forth in the chorus came to love one or another of the Ainur; and so began of the families of the Valar and Maiar to later come into being, just as had the family of Melkor.

But the Quorin remained silent.

At the close of the First Song at the Start of Days, the Song of Creation when all was sung and came to being, the Heavens rested.

Then did Eru Ilúvatar gather the Ainur who had fallen silent, the Quorin, and asked of their thoughts.

By the end of the Song of Creation, the theme of Melkor was surprising to the Ainur, but the truth of his fundamental corruption was still long hence.  He still seemed to be the Noble Firstborn of the Ainur.

For as long as the Song of the World endured, the Quorin were bound by their great love to Melkor, even Caladan.  They, out of love, were pledged to his Essence; but they could not do anything that foreboded the fall of Melkor into degradation.  Therefore, the Quorin begged Eru to release them from the bonds of creation, and to let them pass away into nothingness, and die, to relieve their torment.

And Eru Ilúvatar grieved, that his creatures could be in torment from their existence. Eru would not send them to nothingness, naming these the Silent Ones Orvlann, those without deceit, and Pen-úgarth, the Sinless Ones.

Then Eru Ilúvatar called Nienna of the Aratar, Queen of the Valar, to his side; and likewise, Yavanna Fructifer.  They sang together the First Song from Within the World, of the creation of Tol Úpahtëa.

Chapter End Notes

Unmetered dactyl, mostly. 

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