Chapter 3 – The War of the Powers
In all those years of peace, during which Valinor was built and prospered, of the Valar only the great hunter Oromë ventured forth into Middle-Earth. There he hunted the beasts of Melkor, which had multiplied in the dark, and through his reports did the Valar's concerns for Middle-Earth grow.
The damage caused to Arda by Melkor's destruction of the Lamps had been great, so much so that the Valar had wondered whether the Children of the Song would be born at all. But now they came to believe that the Children had indeed survived, and would come forth not within the safety of Valinor but amidst the danger and darkness of Middle-Earth, where Melkor yet ruled.
Thus Varda began a new work. Gathering the silver nectar of the great tree Telperion, she fashioned new stars, brighter and more beautiful than those which had come before, and set them in the sky in great constellations so that when the Firstborn awoke, they would know light. Many of the Ainur were taken with the wonder of Varda's craft, and would journey up to the peak of Taniquetil where the stars were most clear, and there gaze upon their beauty.
The day came when Melian took her turn to climb the mountain and observe the stars. But though she marvelled greatly at the splendour of the night's sky, she found her gaze drifting lower, towards the horizon, where Middle-Earth lay beyond the sea. In the gardens of Varda she lingered, looking ever eastwards, and finally, at the urging of Ilmarë, Effie went to her.
She found her in a wooded glade which ended abruptly in a cliff edge, the trees bending and branching across the gap so as to form a window out across the sea. Before the window Melian stood, her back to the stairs which led up to Varda's halls. Her dark hair gleamed in the starlight, so unlike Effie's, which absorbed all light.
Melian sensed Effie's approach without needing to turn.
"Do you miss them?" she asked. "The lands of Middle-Earth which we made and nurtured, as a mother to a child?"
"Of course," Effie responded. "Often my thoughts turn to the fate of my creations, and to what dark purpose they may now be bent by Melkor. Yet here in Valinor we have made for ourselves a home the equal of Almaren. There is contentment here, for those who wish to find it."
"Then I must be one who does not wish for contentment, for I find none in this place."
Effie stepped forward to stand beside her. "We are alike in that regard, I think. The beauties of Valinor are great, yet I find no lasting pleasure in them. There is a restlessness in me, though I know not its source."
"Ever were you restless, even in our days of youth," Melian said. "Where each of the Ainur had their own dominion, you would flitter and flutter between us, going where you pleased, never finding your rest in one home. Yet I do not wonder at the cause, for though the years have stretched long indeed, I deem that some part of you shall always remember your mortality, ere you crossed the void."
"That may well be so," Effie said. "Though my memories of that life are shrouded as if by a veil, one thing I do recall keenly: that in mine seventeen years of mortal life, I lived more than in a thousand years as one of the Ainur. I loved and hated. I struggled and fought. My actions were of consequence, and my accomplishments earned me both praise and scorn. It seems strange to me now, just how much life those seventeen short years could contain. Among the Ainur, one could spend seventeen years tending and nurturing a single flower to perfection and consider the time well-spent."
Melian took her hand. "It is not so strange to me. For though the Ainur are undying, already we know the bitter taste of loss. How priceless those short years on Almaren now feel, afore Melkor's return. In memory, they have obtained a vitality borne of their shortness, more precious than centuries of still, blissful Valinor."
There was a wistfulness to her voice, and her eyes remained fixed across the sea. It was then that Effie understood.
"You intend to leave? To return to Middle-Earth?"
"There is a longing in me that I may no longer deny. For in Middle-Earth that vitality may yet be found, and there I shall sing among the trees which I nurtured when they were young, and feel the dark soil again beneath my feet, and when the Firstborn awake, there I shall be to witness their song to the stars."
"And your lady will permit it?"
At last, Melian turned and looked Effie in the eye. "Permit it?" she asked. "Was it not you who once argued that we of the Ainur are free to choose our own paths? Or am I now a slave, bound and imprisoned in this land?"
"Nay, you are no slave," Effie replied. "Yet defiance is the path laid by Melkor and those who follow him. I would not see you fall into his thrall."
Melian smiled. "And whence comes this newfound caution? If mine memory still serves, across all the choirs of the Ainur, only two sought to compose their own song during the Music. One rules in Middle-Earth, and the other stands before me now, warning me of the dangers of defiance. Perhaps the mystery of thine nature is solved, and thou art the spirit of irony."
Her voice was light and teasing, yet the rebuke clear.
"You are right, of course," Effie said, abashed. "Of all the Maiar, you are the last who would fall to Melkor. I speak selfishly, for long and lonely have been the years since we parted, and now we shall be sundered also by the Great Sea."
"Not even the Great Sea may sunder our friendship, no matter how wide or deep its waters," Melian said. "Forever you shall be in my heart, and I in yours. Yet I am awaited in Middle-Earth, by whom I know not, and to them I must now depart."
"Then go in peace," Effie said. "And carry with you my faith."
And thus Melian of the Maiar shed her form and departed Valinor, and crossed the Great Sea as a sweet breeze from the west, and many years would pass before she and Effie would be reunited.
Yet though news of Melian would come slow to Valinor, word of the awakening of the Firstborn came sooner. It was Oromë who found them, having stumbled across them on one of his hunts, and grave tidings he brought on his return. For the Elves had awoken in the far east of Middle-Earth, on the shores of the inland sea of Helcar, which lay beneath the shadow of Melkor. Late had the Valar learnt of their emergence, and already Melkor and his servants had taught the Elves a fear of outsiders. The world around them was beset with dangers, and more than a few of their number had gone missing, never to be seen again. Thus they viewed Oromë with suspicion, deeming him to have some role in the disappearance of their kindred, and would not listen to his pleas that they return with him to Valinor, where they might be safe.
Upon receiving this news, Manwë became wroth indeed, in a manner which Effie had never seen, for his kind heart came to anger slowly. Yet even that paled before the fury upon his face when news reached Valinor of Melkor's most vile work: the creation of a new race, twisted in both heart and appearance, which would later be called the Orcs. Upon that day, Manwë Súlimo summoned all to the Ring of Doom in Valmar, and there he pronounced his judgment from his great throne.
The voice of the Elder King brooked no disagreement.
"Arise, my brethren! Arise, all ye faithful of the Ainur! For his desecration of life, for his crimes unnumbered, and for the protection of the Firstborn, judgment is cast upon Melkor! Henceforth he shall be known only as the Enemy of the Valar, and all bonds of brotherhood are forsaken! Mountains shall tremble! Oceans shall rise! Let Melkor shake in his fortress, for today the Valar return to Middle-Earth!"
The coming of the Host of the Valar to Middle-Earth was as a hurricane. Never again would such might be gathered, with the Valar themselves joining battle. On the back of the great eagle Thorondor, whose wings spanned mountains, came Manwë, Lord of Arda, and with him was Eönwë, his herald and master of arms. On his right was Ulmo, whose towering form reached the clouds, and on his left was Oromë the hunter atop his steed Nahar, whose hooves shook the earth. Tulkas came also, running barefoot across the hills, and countless of the Maiar in fresh raiment made for war.
Yet for all their might, the Valar knew they must conduct their war carefully, for this was no longer a virgin world whose lands might be rearranged on a whim. The Firstborn now inhabited it, and thus the Valar kept their power veiled, and fought by means of arms, lest the world be unmade by their wrath.
In the north of Middle-Earth they met the enemy, and before the walls of Angband a great battle was fought, where the Host of the Valar struggled mightily against the corrupted Maiar of Melkor, and his orcs and trolls and beasts unnumbered. When the battle was done, and the forces of Melkor fled to the east, and the halls of Angband sacked, Manwë held a war council.
"Let us pause here," was the counsel of Ulmo, whose nature was caution. "For the pits of Angband are deep, and it shall take many months to cleanse them of the filth of Melkor, and many of his followers are yet unaccounted for."
"Nay," disagreed Tulkas, whose hatred of Melkor ran deepest. "For every day we spend here, Melkor regroups and musters greater strength. Let us go east to Utumno with haste, and there cut off the serpent's head."
Manwë considered. "Tulkas speaks wisely," he decided. "The Enemy is Melkor, whose power is the root of these evils. Once he is defeated, his thralls shall fall, or scurry away to the deep places of the world, from which they shall never again show their faces."
"So be it," said Oromë. "But I caution you, my King, that in our haste to make war eastwards we do not forget the Firstborn, who make their home in the east. We must see to it that they are protected."
"Would that we could," Manwë said. "Yet we cannot spare a single one of our number, for Melkor is mighty indeed, and it shall take all our power to contain him."
"Then do not send one of the host," Oromë said. "The protection of the Firstborn is a task which others might fulfil."
Manwë smiled. "Late is the hour for such a change in plans, yet lateness has its own place. Very well. Send word to Valmar that the Late-Comer shall make haste to Cuiviénen and there see to the safety of the Elves."
It was with some reluctance that Effie allowed herself to be summoned to Middle-Earth. She had endured enough of war to last even an immortal's lifetime, and wanted nothing more to do with it. Moreover, she was no warrior in this world, where strength and skill at arms mattered so much more than the world from which she had come. She would have to be subtle.
It was that very subtlety which made her best suited for the role of protecting the Elves, as the Valar had deemed it important that their guard occur in secret, so as to avoid rousing their suspicions. She came to them as a fawn in the woods surrounding their home, and there she worked her enchantments in a great ring around Cuiviénen.
She sang to the dark trees in the forest and taught them to hate orcs. She constructed sentinels of stone, great figures which would come to life in defence of the lands beyond. She filled the woods with a befuddling mist which would turn invaders around in a mess of confusion. She bespelled the rivers and the streams so that they would not permit themselves to be crossed by the beasts of Melkor. She danced on the soil, and everywhere her feet touched would be deadly to orcs and trolls and all manner of foul creatures, who were doomed to be swallowed up by pits and sinkholes. This she accomplished in the space of just two years, and with her every spell, her power further suffused the land, marking it as her own demesne of which she was ruler.
Through her labours, she observed the Elves, fascinated by them. Alike to the humans of her world they were in form, but more beautiful: taller, slighter, more elegant, with pointed ears and far-seeing eyes. They were still in the flush of youth, with a childlike innocence to them, curious and delighted by all that they found, and in language and song they took the most joy, spending their days singing beneath the stars.
Yet they were not so young nor so magical that they were beyond the needs of life. They were not like the Ainur, who took physical form like clothing and who ate and drank only for pleasure. They were living beings who ate and tired and slept, who quarrelled and cried, who loved and bore children. Though immortal, they were of Arda, not from without.
Three groups there were, of which the smallest were the Vanyar, those whose hair was blond and skin pale, and who spent the most time at song and play. Next in size were the Noldor, of dark hair and proud stature, who already puzzled at the workings of the world and sought to build a settlement upon the shores. Greatest in number were the Teleri, also dark of hair, who were the most varied in appearance and who had a tendency to wander.
Though the Elves remained small in number, each group had already chosen for itself a king, and around each king were arrayed high lords of greater standing than the common elf, those who fished and hunted, weaved and built. Yet the Elves of low standing did not appear to resent their place, but instead dedicated themselves to their crafts with love and skill, each determined to become master of his domain. In turn, their lords did not rule cruelly but with compassion and brotherhood.
Effie saw to it that all three groups remained ignorant of her guard upon them, but they each noted the signs of her presence. The land itself flourished under the influence of her power, the trees and bushes bearing forth plump fruit, the bees producing honey of deep amber, and all the animals of the forest multiplying. The Elves ate well beneath her watch, and the Noldor made great sport of hunting in the forest, though they never were able to catch the fawn who danced away from them as if borne by the wind itself.
For seven years she watched over the Elves, and in those years she learnt to love them. There was so much life to them, the vitality of which Melian had spoken, and she dearly wished that she could go amongst them to speak with them and join in their songs and feasts. But she remembered the constraints placed upon her by Manwë, and did her duty, and remained beyond them in the woods.
Finally, word came from the north, brought by Eönwë himself. And just like that, her watch was over. The siege of Utumno was finished, and its gates broken, and all the forces of Melkor defeated and fled, and Melkor himself had been dragged from the depths of the Earth by Tulkas. Before Manwë he had paid obeisance and been bound by the chain Angainor that Aulë had wrought, and would be taken back to Valinor to face judgment in the Ring of Doom.
The War of the Powers was over, and the Valar had won.