The Journal of Alatáriel, Missionary by Clodia

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Darkness falls upon Valinor

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The Journal of Alatáriel, Missionary

 

 

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DARKNESS FALLS UPON VALINOR

 

JAN. 10. My dear Teleporno has commenced building the ship that is to carry us to Middle-earth. The ship’s keel has been laid down and he is selecting wood for the hull. He says that it will be several months before we may put to sea. I continue to improve as a sailor and eagerly anticipate whatever the future may bring. Praise be to the Valar, in Whose service I pass my days! “Blessings spill from Elbereth’s uplifted hands, from the Star-Kindler’s white palms tumble blessings uncounted!”[1]

JAN. 30. To-day letters arrived from Tirion,[2] bringing the painful intelligence of further dissension among the Noldor. Melkor has proven an enemy to Elves and Valar, and Fëanor has been banished from Tirion for drawing his sword upon my father’s brother Fingolfin before my grandfather, King Finwë. Now the shadow that I long perceived over Fëanor’s heart has become plain to all;[3] indeed, the light of the very Trees seems fainter; and yet my grandfather has gone with Fëanor and his sons into exile. O, that this may not lead to the estrangement of my people from the Valar!

When I communicated this intelligence to Teleporno, he was naturally very much perturbed. Nevertheless, seeing my distress, he said to me, “Surely the Valar will not hold a people in despite for the actions of a few?” And through these few words, my mind was comforted.

FEB. 15. The ship grows by daily increments. Yesterday I sailed again with Teleporno in the neighbourhood of Tol Erëssea. No swans flew down from the cliffs to greet us, which seemed to me ominous in the extreme, for we have recently received tidings that Fëanor is making for himself a stronghold at Formenos:

“Where wing the wand’ring wights, keen-eyed,
there watching well be keener eyes.”[4]

Teleporno, however, tells me that the swans of Ossë are very often absent and that Ossë would not send them to spy out my kinsman’s business, as He does not concern Himself with the doings of the Noldor.

MAR. 1. The last fortnight I have been with the goldsmiths, overseeing the construction of the ship’s figurehead. It is shaped in the likeness of a swan, with eyes of black jet and a golden beak, as are those of all Telerin ships. The ship itself is still little more than half-built, but Teleporno says that there is no reason why the figurehead should remain unmade until all the other tasks have been completed. Thus, I have been attempting to share the wealth of Aulë’s wisdom with the craftsmen of Alqualondë, although few are as receptive to my instruction as I had at first expected. The Telerin character is fundamentally unsuited to metalwork, with the exception of silver, which is a very uninteresting material, and lacks the seriousness required to understand the subtleties of precious stones.[5]

There has been no news from Tirion since my father’s last letter. I fear that Lord Tulkas has not been able to discover the whereabouts of Melkor, which causes me great anxiety. Still, it cannot be doubted that the Valar will at the last prevail. How honoured we are to live in Their service!

MAR. 20. Letters have come at last from Tirion. Melkor has been seen – at Formenos! He wished to make an ally of Fëanor, or so my grandfather Finwë’s messengers informed Lord Manwë. Fëanor would have nothing to do with such an alliance and Melkor fled once more into the wilderness. So it is that the light of the Trees is once again unclouded. If only I could believe that Fëanor rejected Melkor because he has rediscovered his faith in the Valar, and not because he perceived Melkor’s desire for the Silmarilli! My mother’s letter tells me that there are those in Tirion, and among the Vanyar most especially, who fear that Fëanor is secretly in league with Melkor. This I cannot believe; for although Fëanor’s heart lies in shadow, he is too envious of the light of the Silmarilli to ally himself with one who desires them as does Melkor. If Fëanor is determined to be Melkor’s enemy, it is not for any admirable reason.

My attempts to communicate the gravity of the situation to King Olwë have met with little success. The Teleri are wholly uninterested in any event that might take place beyond the mountains and they give no thought to anything but the sea. I well recall one occasion when I had spent an hour instructing a young woman of my acquaintance on the significance of the various constellations, and had anticipated that, upon leaving me, she would meditate for a time upon all that I had taught her; only to observe her shortly afterwards walking among the waves and singing the simpleminded ditties of her people! It affords considerable gratification to me that my dear Teleporno is of a more sober and serious disposition than the greater part of his kin.[6]

APR. 4. At Teleporno’s suggestion, I am to sit with the women who will weave the sails for our ship. I have not previously been required to engage in such tedious and domestic activity, but Teleporno tells me that it is usual for the wives and daughters of the Teleri to perform this function. I cannot imagine that it will prove difficult for one such as myself to swiftly master so womanly an art.[7]

Such messages as we have received from Tirion reveal that Melkor’s whereabouts remain unknown. Were it not for the ship and my dear Teleporno, I would feel myself obligated to return to Tirion, that I might share with my kin the benefit of my counsel.

APR. 19. To-day I sailed alone for the first time. Laurelin, that glorious dispenser of light and comfort, was in flower and Her brilliance streamed through Calacyra, the Pass of Light, so that the darkness of the waves was transformed to molten gold. The wings of the small vessel that bore me hither shone with an inly glow and my heart was moved to cry out, “How wondrous are the Valar! how mighty Their deeds! how numerous Their marvels! Who can behold Their works and not sing Their praises?”[8]

MAY 11. Our ship is almost ready to set sail. The figurehead has this very day been set in its place, so that the gleam of her black eyes stares out over the harbour. Only the sails remain to be completed. After the fixing of the figurehead, I walked upon the deck with Teleporno at my side; and, recalling the long anticipated labours that await us, I said, “By this vessel shall many good works be accomplished! Your hands should be blessed for all eternity, even were you not to join me in my mission, Teleporno.” “Yet I shall,” said he, “and I hope to be blessed for more than merely the work of my hands.” “So you shall be,” I said. “For there is no one who does the work of the Valar and is not blessed.”

On our return to the halls of King Olwë, we learned that messengers had come from Tirion, and that their purpose was to bid all Elves to attend the Festival of First Fruits in Lord Manwë’s halls upon Taniquetil in three weeks’ time. This year, Lord Manwë is to hold a feast more glorious than any before; and the divisions between the Noldor are to be closed and the lies of Melkor put aside, through the grace and goodwill of the Valar. Even Fëanor and my grandfather Finwë and those who are now established at Formenos have been summoned back from their exile. It shall be a time of great harmony, and greater healing, and the praises of Eru Ilúvatar shall be sung on every side.

To my dismay, King Olwë has no intention of going to the festival, nor will he bid the Teleri to leave their ships and attend upon Lord Manwë and the Valar. He says that he does not care for such lofty matters, and that the Teleri have no need of such healing, for among them there are no divisions. I was at first greatly affronted, for it is impious so to disregard the will of Lord Manwë; yet, after a moment’s reflection, it occurred to me that this will be for the best, although not for any reasons that King Olwë might put forward. For when I am next in the presence of Lord Manwë, I shall request from Him permission to further His works in the wider world, and I would not for all of Arda cause the joyous occasion of the Festival of First Fruits to be marred by the grief that will spring up among the people when my departure from the Blessed Realm is announced. I have therefore decided, with Teleporno’s acquiescence, to travel to Tirion upon the termination of the festival, so that our petition may be presented to Lord Manwë and the Valar in person. O, that we may soon sail freely and with the blessing of the Valar from Alqualondë’s shining harbour!

JUNE 1. I write this by lantern light. Something wholly incredible and without any rational explanation has occurred: no more than an hour ago, the light of the Trees was extinguished by a darkness more total than any I have ever before known. All of my lore fails in the face of such a calamity. Alqualondë is in an uproar and King Olwë has barely been able to calm his people. He has sent messengers to Tirion in order to seek the reasons for this most unprecedented of occurrences. Until their return, we can only wait and trust in the Valar.

JUNE 5. So grave are the tidings brought to Alqualondë by King Olwë’s returning messengers that I can barely bring myself to write these words. Melkor has made an alliance with the Spider Ungoliant and they have destroyed Telperion and Laurelin. This is the cause of the darkness that has fallen upon the land.

I had not realised before now how pleasant were the songs of the Teleri upon the shore. Now they wail instead, and the sound is like the keening of the gulls.

 

 

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[1] This line comes from a very ancient song of anonymous authorship that was current among the Sindar during the earliest days of Eglador, the sylvan kingdom later known as Doriath. It is not wholly impossible that it originated in the songs of the Quendi before the Sundering, in which case a version might have been brought by the Calaquendi to Aman; but the editors consider this unlikely.

[2] Except for Lady Galadriel’s residence in Alqualondë and where otherwise noted, this section’s narrative of reported developments in Valinor is substantially correct – if necessarily partial, being filtered through “Alatáriel’s” experience.

[3] Cf. ‘Introduction’ (n.2).

[4] Another bit of verse anachronistically abstracted from the old songs of Eglador. These lines in fact refer to the nightingales of Queen Melian and were composed by the Sindarin minstrel Ivaeron, who was slain when the Noldor sacked Doriath.

[5] Cf. ‘Alqualondë and Teleporno’ (n.10, 13); compare ‘Introduction’ (n.4). The Teleri of Alqualondë were of course famous for their silverwork, to the extent that even the Noldor smiths consulted them on occasion.

[6] Cf. n.5.

[7] Perhaps the clearest indication yet that Lady Galadriel had no hand in the composition of this Journal, since she has been a keen weaver from her earliest years and would no doubt be less than pleased by the implication that her skills were learned from the Teleri, although she makes no secret of her debts to Queen Melian and the weavers of Menegroth.

[8] These lines come from a popular paean to the Valar originally brought to Middle-earth by the hosts of Valinor during the War of Wrath; the editors have been unable to ascertain either its authorship or date of composition, and it is therefore not impossible that (for once) the author of the Journal has managed to place an appropriate citation in Lady Galadriel’s mouth.