Preface: many of you will be familiar with the importance of lighting in the world of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythology; how the Valar built huge lamps to light Arda but Melkor destroyed them, the Two Trees were created in Valinor, while the Elves awoke in Middle-Earth lit only by the stars. The Firstborn prospered in these dusky but calm ages, in which little grew, save in Valinor, and little decayed. Then Morgoth destroyed the Trees and from their last fruit and flower the Valar made the Sun and Moon, just as mortals awoke. Arda was flat and bounded by the "Walls of the Night" until the fall of Númenor, when Middle-Earth became round and Valinor was removed. One was left to imagine that the universe was changed again to be become as it is now.
But "Morgoth's Ring", by Christopher Tolkien, reveals that John Ronald was trying in his later years to radically change the myths to modern astronomy, as well as to extend certain time periods for plausibility. Arda would refer to the solar system; Men appeared during or before the Long March. It's like hearing that Michelangelo was thinking of painting over scenes in the Sistine Chapel to bring them into line with the findings of archaeologists in the Middle East. Yet there was a point; flat-earth cosmology was probably the overwhelming belief among ordinary people until mass education, but scholars in most recorded civilisations knew better. It was always incongruous to see it among the Ñoldor and Númenorians.
It seems Tolkien never managed to make a coherent alternative (in this conception, the original narrative would be the distorted version that came to later generations of Men in ages after). But I was intrigued by the attempt, and I have put together, following the notes published by his son, my own version. Whilst not as neat as the old mythology, it manages to keep the most poetic traits and keep to a more modern world-view.
Story:
Though Ëa is vast, and Ilúvatar alone knows what it may yet give forth, the Valar knew that Arda was to be the special dwelling of the Children. Here they put their finest works, and here they would themselves dwell after the wider realm had been given shape.
Varda hallowed the star that the Earth would circle so that it would shine strongest in the visible spectrum; and its light had brilliance and changing hues that only the Calaquendi have known. This early Sun is named Âs, and a majestic Maiar, Árië, was appointed to run it. And as it was much milder than now they formed the Earth, as yet only a globe of partly-molten rock, in an orbit between those of the Earth and Venus today. The two were then on the same orbit but diametrically opposite.
Melkor then loved and desired light, and the form that he took was exceedingly bright. But he was jealous of all other brightnesses and wished to take all light unto himself.
When at last Melkor discovered the abiding place of Manwë and his friends, he went thither as a blazing fire. And seeing all that had been done without his counsel, he was angered, and wished to undo what was done or refashion it according to his own mind.
Therefore there was war in Arda, and though Manwë had the victory, great hurt was done to the work of the Valar, and the worst was seen in the Sun. For Melkor perceived that in Âs there was a light that had been concealed from him, and a power of which he had not thought. Therefore, afire at once with desire and anger, he spoke to Árië, saying: "Yo, me bright sunny girl! Come with me to be my bride and we'll show this lot who has the glory around here. And our children will be the brightest at school!"
But Árië rejected him, saying "Get your backside out of my photosphere, most powerful and chauvinistic of pigs. And if you come any closer you'll have the first and worst skin rash in Ëa!"
Melkor did not heed her warning, but cried in his wrath: "You are a spirit with spirits. Prepare to be bragged about!" and he ravished Árië. The spirit went away like a flame of anguish and wrath, and departed for ever from Arda; and the Sun was bereft of the light of Varda, and was stained by the assault of Melkor. But even as Árië foretold, Melkor was burnt and his brightness darkened, and now light pained him and he hated it.
In that first battle of Arda, Melkor took a portion of the Earth as his seat of power but it was overthrown by Tulkas. Melkor withdrew to the Void, and the Valar thought him checked. But ever more wrathful, and careless for the labour of others, he brooded on the far reaches of Arda. And the Valar heard nought of him until a massive planetoid the size of Mars was cast in from without the orbit of Pluto. Great was the dismay of Aulë as it hit the nascent Earth that he thought he had stabilised.
The Wise do not know if Melkor intended only to destroy what was not his, or if he had foreseen the next step; but as it was, while the Valar set themselves anew to both defend and repair their planet, Melkor and his minions were free to make use of the debris thrown in orbit about the Earth. They shaped it into a smaller planetoid, one that was barren of any life; and in that age it was dark as ebony, and gave back no light. This served as the refuge of Melkor when he assaulted the Earth.
Yet this was the least of the Valar's concerns as they made to seed their world with life. For the Sun had become difficult and unruly as its infancy drew to an end; it would flare and storm, and each year became brighter, far more than Yavanna had intended for her flowers. Unable to douse it, the Valar had to move the Earth further. At the same time they moved Venus closer in so the two would not conflict. Here as ever Melkor's servants frustrated their plans, but with each brightening of the Sun the Earth was moved back, to where it is now, then to share its orbit with Mars, then slightly beyond it, at which point the Sun ceased to wax and the Earth could settle for many ages. Careful as the Valar were, there were ages of heat and others of ice, and bursts of high-energy radiation that laid waste to much that grew on the face of the Earth.
In the eons that were to come before the arrival of the Firstborn, the Valar laboured to grow ever more diversity of life, while Melkor, acting from his orbital stronghold, sought to mar or destroy it. Yet a settlement was now reached and there were no more great changes, not merely of cosmological scale but also in the balance of power between the Valar and Melkor. For the host of Melkor and his corrupted spirits, once footloose, were now tied down, and he no longer kept the initiative; he had to give as much thought to his own defence as to the offence. And so the fortress he had himself made proved to be a strange sort of hindrance. And though life had to endure through afflictions far more terrible than the Valar had imagined, and they could but watch her fairest works die from the vagaries of the weather or the disharmony of the ecosystems, still there were hardy samples that lived through heat and cold and surprised even Yavanna when they prospered in what she feared would be utter wasteland. In time, the marring of Melkor would bring forth a variety of life beyond what the Valar had conceived of.
Meanwhile the Valar fashioned their own stronghold that Melkor could not breach from without, blissful Valinor rising on the shores of Aman. Girthed by the highest mountains of the Earth, here alone was life unblemished, where the Valar could rest from the weariness of stewarding Arda. And here it was that Varda summoned what was left of the light of Âs and with with Nienna and Yavanna created the two Trees.
Silver-leaved Telperion and Golden Laurelin gave light of marvellous hue to the home of the Valar, so much that the Sun was unwelcome there. These made Valinor the fairest place in Arda, yet they also brought the Valar to neglect the lands without.
So Arda prospered after a fashion for countless years; yet as the arrival of the Firstborn drew nigh, the Sun dimmed in the visible spectrum whilst it gave out an ever greater flow of radiation from the high ultra-violet to the shortest wavelengths of gamma rays. This must have been the work of Melkor, as he acted hastily and before the Valar to take advantage of the happening; but the neglect of the Valar is also to be seen in this, as they were content with the Trees and gave little thought to the wider world they should have been stewarding.
As it happened, with the Earth darkened Melkor, willing as was seldom seen in him to leave an asset for a strategic gain, forsake his orbital base and descended with his host to the Earth. Here he delved the dark and vast fortress of Utumno. The Valar contained his offences but did not try to attack his fastness, for Melkor was the mightiest of the Ainur and none as yet dared to face the fullness of his strength.
The Valar gathered in counsel, and Yavanna said: "Guys, you know I plant some hardy perennials, but if we let the Sun continue to sulk like this it's not a garden the Kids will see, not even the compost corner. Basically it'll be a barbecue gone wrong."
And Tulkas cried: "No way! We'll put the Sun right then we take a crack at him. I've had enough of him acting like he's boss, and I only wish Ilúvatar had given him bigger ears, to listen to reason and for me to clip!"
But at the bidding of Manwë, Mandos spoke: "We can't change the Sun, instead we must shove the Earth again. Because it's part of the Setup, you see, that the little ones come out in the dark, and look to the stars. The Sun is not going to get fixed for some time yet, and when it will it'll be a reminder of a bummer of a loss to Arda, and both cause and effect of the Firstborn's fading."
And so the Valar moved the Earth to its furthest and most elliptical orbit that took it beyond the asteroid belt. Its path was not level with the other planets, but rather took it far above or below the plain of Arda when it was nearest the Sun, and its axis was set so that the poles would take the fell radiation. When the belt of the world was turned to the Sun, it was at its furthest, beyond the asteroid belt. The orbit was set in a harmonic with that of Jupiter so the two would not meet.
In this towing Melkor gave them little trouble, as he was now building the outpost of Angamando, which is called Angband in the Grey-Elven. And mayhap he took their act as acknowledging his victory, and certainly with all the face of the Earth but Valinor darkened he and his servants could tread it at their ease.
In the following years few of the Valar came to the Outer Lands, save Oromë, who would hunt with his host the fell creatures of the dominion of Melkor even unto the outskirts of Utumno, and Yavanna, who came to slow the metabolism of all living things so that they might live with the little light given by the Sun and the stars. For the Earth was not very much colder in that time, being bathed in the strong short-wave rays when its poles faced the Sun; the rays were dissipated by the atmosphere and the heat from them spread. But little light there was for photosynthesis, and all food chains were strained. Mammals hibernated for much of the year, and birds, and reptiles and amphibians were little active, fish floated at the whims of the currents and seldom swam, insects might be fifty years as larva, and many high-end predators were seen but every few years.
So it was that when the Elves awoke at Cuiviénen, the Sun was dim and small, and was seen for only part of the year. And the Moon was but a black stain against the sky. And they said: "Mates, we must thank the stars for the light of our world. But that bigger star in the North seems rather a bodge. It's spoiling the stars about it. And I wish that big hole would move, it's hiding my favourite constellation. We'll call that one Wilwarin?" So it is that the songs of old speak not of the Sun or the Moon, though they were in that time.
For many ages would the Earth lie in darkness; but passing was the reign of Melkor. For after seven years, Oromë came to Valinor telling of the Firstborn in Middle-Earth, and the Valar are roused to battle for the sake of the Children.
Grimly did they set out to storm Utumno. For they forbade the hurts that would come to the world of that strife, but also Melkor was the mightiest of the Ainur and even together against him, they held little hope of defeating his host and breaching his fortress.
Eonwë said: "Look, if we can't actually throw the bugger off his seat, at least we can try to keep his attention off the Kids and create a safe haven for them somewhere. Well, they'll certainly have some pyrotechnics to watch."
And so the Valar and their following of lesser spirits set out against the shadow on Arda. And here came the surprise for both sides; for though the host of Melkor was as fell and strong as it should be in its every part, the will and power that drove the whole was lacking. It was routed in many battles in the North and driven back to Utumno. There the Valar set siege, and again the strength that should have held it failed. They stormed the fortress, in a battle that knocked mountains and moved rivers, and at last the gates were broken and the halls unroofed.
Tulkas, as champion of the Valar, was the first to breach the walls and enter the keep. But when he came before the throne of Melkor, he stayed, and Manwë himself took form to address the Ainu that had been his fellow creature before the world.
And he said to Melkor: "Bra, it looks like you've stretched yourself a tad too much. You put a bit of your power into everything you touched, hoping you could order it about. But what you put into the substances of Arda, you lost from yourself. It's still your might, but you can't use it. And you're not going to get it back while you stay here on the marred Earth. Come on over to Valinor, and maybe you'll recover somewhat. Otherwise you'll remain Valar-lite."
Melkor then wavered, and nearly made a genuine repentance; but finally he refused, and instead feigned and surrendered, taking pleasure in secretly mocking his siblings. He was taken to Valinor, where Manwë asked that he be released, but the other Valar would not suffer it. He was bound with the chain Angainor and kept in the halls of Mandos for three ages to repent and meditate. However strong must have been the temptation to arise in flames, he swallowed the bitter pill and prepared his plans.
Then the Valar, against the advice of some, such as Ulmo, invited the Children to dwell in Valinor. And so began the Long March, during which the Elves were sundered many times, as some tarried or turned at every step. At last the Vanyar, the Ñoldor and the Teleri came to Valinor. There they saw the bloom of the two Trees that Varda had hallowed with the last of the Primeval Light.
The three ages progressed, whilst Melkor was in chains and his servants scattered and weak. The Elves would not harken to them, and gave them little heed. So passed the noontide of the Firstborn.
As the third of those ages came, the Atari awoke. Mortal they were, yet in that time of slow metabolism, their lives drew out for centuries. And they were unfallen when they first met the Elves in the East. For millennia, they spread and became varied peoples.
Certainly when Melkor returned to the Outer Lands he corrupted Mortals to his purposes; yet mayhap they were already under the shadow of servants such as Sauron, who was hid in the tunnels of Angband yet at times walked abroad.
And at the end of those three ages, Melkor killed the Trees, stole the jewels, was renamed Morgoth and fled to Middle-Earth with the Ñoldor just behind. And then Varda, having failed to heal them, took their last fruit and flowers and carefully drew out the sap. These she gave to Aulë, and together with the rain and dew that was left from the trees, he fashioned substances that kept some of the essence of the Trees.
One was golden and translucent, the other silver and reflective. They did not make any light of their own, but all light that came to them was tamed so that even gamma radiation was brought down unto the visible spectrum. And with the skill that is peculiar to the Valar, who have shaped the universe yet take form as the Children, he made it in huge vats, enough to fill seas; yet even when spread to the thinnest of layers they lost little of their power.
And Varda declared to the Valar and the Elves that remained in Valinor: "Well, with this I can get the Sun to go back to some of that good old-fashioned we had when I was a girl. But only one, and I think the gold, I can use. I can't put in both, they would clash horribly."
"Then we'll smear the other onto that rock above us" Manwë said. "The dark side of the Earth will get some light, just enough to keep the servants of Morgoth a tad subdued. The sky will go from direct sunlight, to reflected moonlight, to starlight with enough precision to set a calendar by."
And so the Valar, for the last time until the end of days, set out to change the ordering of Arda. They set the flower of Laurelin in the Sun and it shines brightly with the strength of light that Yavanna had wished, and now they moved the Earth to that path it has been following since. And they coated the Moon with the fruit of Telperion so that it returns some of that light, so the stronghold that Melkor built to threaten the Earth now made him withdraw his host even at night. As great as the dismay of Morgoth was at seeing the light he hated now flooding the world, he could not hinder the Valar as he had become ever more earthbound in his new fortress of Thangorodrim.
All the life that had been delayed or asleep during the three ages of darkness now burst forth into bloom. In the light of the Sun plants bore fruit all over every year, and fed the food chains of the world. Animals awoke, and life teemed on the soil, and the air grew heavy with growth and maturity; and with it came decay, which is the bane of the Elves, and makes them fade from mortal lands.
Anyway, the Ñoldor set a four-hundred year siege to Angband, Mortals came to dwell in Beleriand, Morgoth burst forth and assaulted the Elven Lands, Beren stole a Silmaril, Nargothrond fell, and Doriath fell, and Gondolin fell, and Eärendil sailed into the West with the Silmaril on his brow and called upon the Valar to overthrow Morgoth and he was thrust into the void that is without Arda. Then the Valar sent Vingilot the boat of Eärendil lit by the Silmaril to sail the currents of the Sun, guided by spirits that seldom visit the Earth. They keep a ceaseless watch on the borders of Arda against Morgoth that will not be broken until the end of days. Venus is where Eärendil comes to rest, and there his spouse Elwing dwells. They keep the face of the planet lit by the Silmaril, to shine down on the Earth as a token of hope to all oppressed by the servants of evil.