Secret Tales of the Temple of Melkor by SteveofCallie

Introduction

An introductory repetition of the origins of the Home of the Silent

A Brief Summary and Explanation.
This story dares to meditate upon the vast world that first opened to the eyes of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, and then to his readers. I am one of his readers. I hope that my thoughts, like the voices in First Song, might harmoniously flow in some tiny way to augment his vast narrative. Any dissonance is mine alone. For this I apologize.
A paragraph from the cited poetic work on the Land of the Silent is repeated here.

The Home of the Silent
A secret mantled island lay, enwrapped by Belegaer the Sundering Sea, alone in the vast ocean between Aman and Middle-Earth.
The lands and seas of all the world came forth in song at the Start of Days, the Song of Creation sung by Eru Ilúvatar the One, with his beings created by the great song of beholding. But the island of Tol Úpahtëa was not brought forth in song on that day.
Tol Úpahtëa came into the World from the voice of Eru Ilúvatar, joined in harmony by only a few voices of the Valar. The Song of the Island of Tol Úpahtëa was the First Song of the World After Creation, and the last chant of Eru Ilúvatar within the World for many ages.
Tol Úpahtëa existed from almost the Beginning of Days, long before the Land of the Valar was raised in Aman. And when long hence the Valar created the place of Valinor upon the nearest shore in Aman to Tol Úpahtëa, Ulmo cast up a screen of rough seas and great storms between the island and Valinor which prevented any travelers who were not given leave by Ulmo to cross the sea, instead washing them in wreck back upon the shores of Aman.
Neither Ulmo nor most of the Valar were disposed to kindness towards the people of the island, who were called the mute, Quorin; the island was called the Island of the Voiceless People; and they were greatly displeasing to most of the Valar, who turned their thoughts away.1
Only Yavanna and Nienna knew the mystery of the island, and its people the Quorin, and treated them kindly. But even these Valar would not contemplate that island with others of the Valar, nor speak of the inhabitants. Only the voices of Yavanna,
Nienna and Ulmo had ever blended with the voice of Eru to cause this island, and the great purpose of Tol Úpahtëa was hidden from all others, even those who became alive at Start of Days in the Song of Creation of All, called Ainulindalë. Manwë did know; but he kept his own counsel, as he did in most things.
Among the rest of the Valar, little more was known about the island or whom might reside there and turned their thoughts from it.
The sinless servants of Melkor, the Pen-úgarth, were placed on Tol Úpahtëa, and began to speak again, and to sing again. Nienna and Yavanna were their sponsors and only voice in the rest of Aman. But still, ever they remained the Servants of Melkor.
Amongst themselves was laid the ban from leaving the island, save any mission of the Valar who watched over them. They requested Yavanna and Nienna to let them build a temple upon Tol Úpahtëa to honor Melkor.
This desire gave great disquiet to the Ainur. But in the unfolding of this First Song Within the World, it was clearly voiced in a manner harmonious with the voice of Eru Ilúvatar. So came about the Land of the Quorin in Tol Úpahtëa.

The Time of Turning.
Long after the greatest of ages had passed, and mighty kingdoms and fell prison castles had risen and fallen under wicked hands, and great strife and sorrow had stricken the Children of Ilúvatar, the Council of the Wise in Valinor met and agreed to send a small group of Ainur under the guise of inhabitants of Middle Earth. These emissaries would be called the Istari, or Wizards. Their mission was to check the damaging and poisoning of Middle Earth by the rise of Sauron, the Maia of Morgoth.
One of the Maia, in the family of Yavanna, had long been struggling under great danger and peril in a certain duty long before the mission of the Istari.
Even to the ages of the Two Trees, this Maia was the chieftain of the bravest of the family of Yavanna to tread Middle Earth for unnumbered years and redress the wickedness of Morgoth.
Aiwendil the Keeper of the Beasts, he was to be called in days to come. His life on Middle Earth was held by many to be ineffectual and simple, perhaps even foolish and irrelevant to his charge to oppose Sauron.
But few knew of his true duties, throughout the ages as well as in the days of the rise of the Necromancer. For he was leader of the Walkers for many ages, and the duties of the Walkers was vast and terrifying.

1 The names of the people of Tol Úpahtëa, Quorin, Orvlann and Pen-úgarth, differ only in custom but not in significance.

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