History of Arda

The History of Arda is a timeline separated into three sections, the Years of the Lamps, the Years of the Trees, and the Years of the Sun (the period names indicating the principal light source of Arda during the era). Meanwhile, the commonly used Ages of the Children of Iluvatar, which is the First Age, Second Age, Third Age, and the Fourth Age, overlaps with the three main periods of Arda. These ages were prevalent in the history and writings of Tolkien, as his tales focused on Elves and Men, the Children of Iluvatar.

The First Age started during the Year of the Trees, at the Awakening of the Elves. The First Age spans extensively until the first six hundred Years of the Sun. The years of the Second through the Fourth Age were all within the Years of the Sun. Most of the events in Middle-earth [1] happened from the First to the Third Age.

The highest being and creator was Eru Iluvatar, and he made the Ainur with whom he built everything through music. Yet one of the Ainur who was Melkor ruined the balance of the music. Then, Iluvatar formed the Third Theme all by himself, which the Ainur could not perceive, and Melkor could not disrupt. The Music of the Ainur transliterated into the history of the Cosmos. Iluvatar brought the Eä or Universe into existence. It also gave way to the predetermined events with the Children of the Iluvatar, the primary inhabitants of the universe.

Then, the Ainur formed the world of Arda (the Earth) surrounded by the vastness of the void. The fifteen mightiest Ainur came down to Arda and called the Valar (this includes Mekor). Meanwhile, the minor Ainur, who later descended, was the Maiar.

The period of the Years of the Lamps began after the birth of Arda. Upon the Valar's arrival into Arda, they found light illuminating the hearth and gathered it into the two gigantic lamps. The names of the Two Lamps of Arda were Ormal and Iluin. Aulë, one of the Valar, raised two enormous columns in Middle-earth to hold the beacons in opposite directions, one high up north and the other far down south. The Valar set their dwelling on the island called Almaren, in between the two lamps. The era of the Years of the Lamps ended with Melkor taking down the great lights.

Upon the fall of the Two Lamps of Arda, the Valar Yavanna created a new light source, the Two Trees. One tree was silver and called Telperion, while the other was gold, named Laurelin. She placed them in the continent of Aman, the new realm of the Valar, illuminating the lands while Middle-earth was in the dark and relying only upon the faint glimmer of the stars.

The Elves awakened in Cuvienen, signifying the beginning of the First Age of the Children of Iluvatar. The Valar came to the Elves (so did Melkor) and invited them to settle in their land of Aman. They called it the Great Journey, the Elves' voyage to the distant land in the west of Middle-earth. The Clans of Vanyar, [2] Teleri, and Noldor arrived and settled in Aman, while the Sindar and Nandor clans delayed.

Then, the Valar caught up with Melkor and kept him in Aman, enchained. He later convinced the Valar of his change of heart, and so they set him free. Upon his release, he then created a rift between Fingolfin and Feanor, sons of the King Finwe of the Noldor. Melkor was tremendously envious of Feanor and his crafted jewels of Silmaril, which bear the light of the Two Trees. He then set out to kill the Two Trees with the aid of the giant spider Ungoliant. After destroying the light source of Aman, Melkor continued to Middle-earth, murdered Finwe, and stole the Silmarils.

This death of their father and the taking of the Silmaril drove Feanor and his sons into wrath. Seeing that the Valar has not retaliated against Melkor, they abandoned Valinor to seek Melkor. They swore to avenge Finwe and take back the Silmarils and called Melkor as Morgoth. They came to Alqualonde, a realm of the Teleri, for ships for them to sail to Middle-earth. But the Teleri refused to let them take their vessels. Feanor and his company slaughtered them and seized their crafts. And so the First Kin-slaying happened, the Noldors overcame the Teleri as they outnumbered them. Feanor voyaged across the sea, and upon reaching Middle-earth, destroyed the Telerin ships with flames. Fingolfin, abandoned by his brother Feanor, followed later on through trekking the Grinding Ice or Helcaraxe, an icy wasteland. Galadriel and Celeborn also left for Middle-earth, leaving their place with the Valar.

The period of the Years of the Sun started when the Valar collected the last golden fruit of Laurelin and the remnant silver flower of Telperion and formed the Sun and Moon. They placed them high above the sky and became the new source of light of Arda. From then on, time in Middle-earth passed similarly to that of the real world. The First Age also resumed in the Years of the Sun.

The Balrogs of Morgoth killed Feanor, yet his sons endured and reunited with the House of Fingolfin in their established realms. Then came the Long Peace, which persisted for many centuries, the same time when the race of Men arrived and settled in the Blue Mountains.

However, Morgoth eventually returned to decimate the Elven realms, taking down even the concealed kingdoms of Doriath and Gondolin. By the end of the First Age, only a portion of the former Elf kingdoms and Men of Beleriand endured. The survivors fled to the River Sirion, and some lived in the Isle of Balar.

Meanwhile, Earendil held one of the Silmarils through Elwing, his wife. She was the granddaughter of Beren and Luthien, who retrieved the jewel from Morgoth many years before. Yet the remaining House of Feanor continued on their oath and forced to acquire the Silmaril from them, resulting once more to a Kinslaying. Earendil and Elwing delivered the Silmaril to the Valar after sailing through the Great Sea. They asked for their help against the enemy and their forgiveness to their clan. They waged war with Morgoth, defeated him at last, casting him out of the void. Their triumph came with a tremendous loss as Beleriand's ruin caused the land to collapse under the seas.

After the Valar's War of Wrath, they admitted the Elves back to dwell in Aman while the Men who remained faithful to them received the island of Numenor as their great realm amidst the Great Sea. The Numenoreans turned into exceptional mariners, yet they envied the Eldar for their everlasting life. Around this time, Sauron, who was a prominent follower of Morgoth, came to Middle-earth. He deceived the Elves of Eregion to create rings of power, then forged the One Ring to control them. The Elves realized Sauron's intention and refrained from using the Elven rings.

By the end of the Second Age, the Numenoreans, ruled by King Ar-Pharazon, [3] rose to exceptional power. They subdued Sauron and kept him captive in their kingdom. But the Dark Lord deceived them to place his influence and became a persuasive cult leader of the worship of Morgoth. He convinced Ar-Pharazon to war against Aman and obtain neverending life just as the Elves. Hence, the King's men prepared to sail west. The King's Men reached Aman, the Valar surrendered their control of Arda and entreated Iluvatar to take over. Iluvatar buried the King's men into the depths, he isolated Aman from the reach of Men forever, and sank the land of Numenor, with it was Sauron's physical body.

Elendil established the new kingdoms Gondor and Arnor and reigned along with his sons. But Sauron's spirit endured and later emerged to bring havoc again to Men and Elves in their realms in Middle-earth. The two races united as the Last Alliance fought and overcame Sauron when Isildur removed his One Ring, stripping off his power from him.

The kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor emerged with surpassing influence in the Third Age. Arnor separated into three sub-kingdoms, which all failed. Meanwhile, Gondor continued as a kingdom of its own, enduring several conflicts. The Kin-strife troubled the realm for a time. Then, the plague decimated its people and later withstood attacks from the Corsairs of Umbar as well as the Easterling Wainriders.

The Dark Lord Sauron returned to recover the One Ring and gain back his power. He found it in the hands of a Baggins, a Hobbit from the Shire, and set forth his Black Riders to take it. Then the council of all inhabitants of the Middle-earth resolved to destroy it. They formed the Fellowship of the Ring, eight members of different races and realms accompanying the ring-bearer towards the scorching cracks of Mount Doom, to have the One Ring unmade once and for all. After an extensive, strenuous quest, with great battles of realms and surprising outcomes, Frodo and his primary companion Samwise Gamgee finally triumphed in their journey and destroyed the One Ring and vanquished Sauron forever. The Hobbits returned home as celebrated heroes, and Aragorn claimed the throne from the Stewards of Gondor and crowned King of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor.

The Elves passed on from Middle-earth as the time of Men had come in the Fourth Age. For a while, Legolas established one of the last remaining Elf realms close to Gondor. But most of the Eldar eventually sailed to the Undying Lands in the west. Some Elves who decided to stay in Middle-earth waned with time and ultimately receded. The Dwarves re-established Khazad-dum, Gimli founded a realm within the Ered Nimrais or the White Mountains, and the kingdom of Erebor began an alliance with the Reunited Kingdom of Men. The Dwarves, later on, withdrew and vanished, sharing the same fate as the Middle-earth Elves. The Fourth Age concludes with the enduring civilization of Men. Eventually, their knowledge of their Numenorean origins faded, the events of the former Ages turned into ancient stories and then into myths. Tolkien narrated that time sped up from then on. The ages continued, and around the sixth and seventh ages came the time of the twentieth century of our world.

1. ^The History of Middle-Earth.
2. ^Clans of Vanyar.
3. ^The last King of Númenor.