Eärendil and Elwing

"Elwing" redirects here. For the German ice hockey goaltender, seeSebastian Elwing.

"Eärendel" redirects here. For other uses, seeEarendel (disambiguation).

Eärendil
Tolkiencharacter
In-universe information
Aliases	Eärendil the Mariner originally "Eärendel"
Race	Half-elven
Book(s)	The Silmarillion(1977) Unfinished Tales(1980)

Elwing
Tolkiencharacter
In-universe information
Aliases	Elwing the White
Race	Half-elven
Book(s)	The Silmarillion

Eärendil(IPA:[ɛ.aˈrɛn.dil]) the Mariner and his wifeElwingare characters inJ. R. R. Tolkien'sMiddle-earthlegendarium.They are depicted inThe SilmarillionasHalf-elven,the children of Men and Elves. He is a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried theMorning Star,a jewel called aSilmaril,across the sky. The jewel had been saved by Elwing from the destruction of theHavens of Sirion.The Morning Star and the Silmarils are elements of the symbolism of light, for divine creativity,continually splinteredas history progresses. Tolkien took Eärendil's name from theOld EnglishnameEarendel,found in the poemCrist 1,which hailed him as "brightest of angels"; this was the beginning of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology. Elwing is the granddaughter ofLúthien and Beren,and is descended fromMeliantheMaia,while Earendil is the son ofTuor and Idril.Through their progeny, Eärendil and Elwing became the ancestors of theNúmenorean,and laterDúnedain,royal bloodline.

Eärendil is the subject, too, ofthe songinThe Lord of the Ringssung and supposedly composed byBilboinRivendell,described byTom Shippeyas exemplifying "an elvish streak... signalled... by barely-precedented intricacies "of poetry.

Etymology

Eärendilmeans 'Lover of the Sea' in Tolkien's invented language ofQuenya.However, Tolkien borrowed the name fromOld English literature,in particular from the line "Eala Earendel, engla beorhtast"(Hail, Earendel, brightest of angels) of the poemCrist 1.Tolkien stated that the name came from theOld EnglishnameĒarendel;he was struck by its "great beauty" c. 1913, which he perceived as "entirely coherent with the normal style ofA-S,buteuphonic to a peculiar degreein that pleasing but not 'delectable' language. ".Elwing means "Star-spray" in the Elvish languageSindarin."Eärendil" was originally spelled by Tolkien as "Eärendel", before being modified.

Fictional history

Background

Further information:The Silmarillion

Middle-earthwas peopled in theFirst Ageby immortalElves,later followed byMen.The Elvesbecame dividedon their migrations, some settling in the Northwestern region calledBeleriand.Fëanor,son ofFinwë,the King of theNoldor,one branch of the Elves, had unique skill in craftsmanship, and forged three brilliant and highly prized jewels, theSilmarils,that shone like bright stars. The Dark LordMorgothdesired the Silmarils for himself, and managed to seize them to put in his crown. There was enmity between Morgoth and the free peoples, Elves and Men.

Eärendil

Eärendil was the half-elvenson of a Man,Tuor,and an Elf,Idril,daughter ofTurgon,the King of the hidden Elvish city ofGondolin.He was raised in Gondolin; when he was seven years old, he escaped thesacking of Gondolinwith his parents. Eärendil was almost killed by his mother's treacherous cousin Maeglin, who had betrayed Gondolin toMorgoth;he was saved when his father killed Maeglin. Eärendil and his parents lived afterwards inArvernienby the mouth ofSirion.

Eärendil became the leader of the people who lived there, and married Elwing, the half-elven daughter of Dior and theSindarelf-maid Nimloth. Another alliance between Man and Elf, the heroBerenand his Elvish brideLúthien,were Elwing's paternal grandparents. Eärendil and Elwing had two sons,Elrondand Elros.

With the aid ofCírdan the Shipwright,Eärendil built a ship,Vingilótë(Quenyafor "foam-flower" ). He often sailed the seas west of Middle-earth, leaving his wife behind in Arvernien.At this time Elwing had in her possession the Silmaril that Beren had wrested fromMorgoth.When Fëanor's sons, who wanted the Silmarils back, heard about this, they attacked Arvernien and killed most of the people living there. Elwing, rather than be captured, threw herself with the Silmaril into the sea.Next, according toThe Silmarillion:

ForUlmobore up Elwing out of the waves, and he gave her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the Silmaril, as she flew over the water to seek Eärendil her beloved. On a time of night Eärendil at the helm of his ship saw her come towards him, as a white cloud exceeding swift beneath the moon, as a star over the sea moving in strange courses, a pale flame on wings of storm. And it is sung that she fell from the air upon the timbers of Vingilot, in a swoon, nigh unto death for the urgency of her speed, and Eärendil took her to his bosom; but in the morning with marvelling eyes he beheld his wife in her own form beside him with her hair upon his face, and she slept.

Hearing of the tragedy that had befallen Arvernien, Eärendil then sought after the home of the godlike and immortalValar,Valinor,aboard theVingilot,and he and Elwing found their way there at last. Eärendil thus became the first of all mortals to set foot on Valinor. Eärendil then went before the Valar, and asked them for aid forMenandElvesin Middle-earth, to fight againstMorgoth;the Valar accepted his plea.

Because Eärendil had undertaken this errand on behalf of Men and Elves, and not for his own sake,Manwë,King of the Valar, refrained from dealing out the punishment of death that was due for entering Valinor. Also, because both Eärendil and Elwing descended from a union of Elves and Men, Manwë granted to them and their sons the gift to choose to which race they would be joined. Elwing chose to be one of the Elves. Eärendil would have rather been one of the Men; however, for the sake of his wife, he chose to be one of the Elves also. His ship, Vingilot (Quenya:Vingilótë), was placed in the heavens, and he sailed it "even into the starless voids", but he returned at sunrise or sunset, glimmering in the sky as theMorning Star.

Eärendil's son Elrond too chose elvish immortality, becoming known asHalf-elven,and in theThird Ageplayed an important role in The War ofthe Ring,as narrated inThe Lord of the Rings.Elros chose mortality, the gift of Men, founding the line of the Kings ofNúmenor;his descendant at the time of The War of the Ring wasAragorn,one of the Fellowship of the Ring, who married Elrond's daughter,Arwen.

The Valar marched into the north of Middle-earth and attacked the Throne of Morgoth in theWar of Wrath.Morgoth set loose a fleet of winged dragons, which drove the Valar back. Eärendil in Vingilot attacked, with Thorondor and his great eagles, and killedAncalagon the Black,greatest of the dragons. Ancalagon fell on to Thangorodrim and broke its towers. The Valar won the battle, destroying the dragons and the pits of Angband, captured Morgoth, and took the two remaining Silmarils from his crown.

Family tree

Half-elven family tree

Melian theMaia Thingol of theTeleri House of Bëor House of Haleth House of Hador Finwë of theNoldor Indis of theVanyar Olwë of theTeleri Barahir Belegund Hareth Galdor Fingolfin Finarfin Eärwen Lúthien Beren Rían Huor Húrin Turgon Elenwë Dior Nimloth Tuor Idril Eluréd Elurín Elwing Eärendil Celeborn Galadriel Elros Elrond Celebrían 22 Kings ofNúmenorand Lords of Andúnië Elendil Isildur Anárion 22 Kings ofArnor and Arthedain 27 Kings ofGondor Arvedui Fíriel 15Dúnedain Chieftains Aragorn Arwen Elladan Elrohir Eldarion daughters Colour key: Colour Description Elves Men Maiar Half-elven Half-elven who chose the fate of Elves Half-elven who chose the fate of mortal Men

Concept and creation

The beginning of Tolkien's mythology

Further information:A mythology for England

Ēala ēarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended( "Hail, Earendel, brightest of angels, Over Middle-earth to men sent", second half of top line, first half of second line) - part of the poemCrist Iin theExeter Book,folio 9v, top, which inspired Tolkien

Imagemap with clickable links.Crist I's influence on Tolkien's legendarium
It has been called "the catalyst for Tolkien's mythology".

Humphrey Carpenter,in his biography of Tolkien, remarked that Eärendil "was in fact the beginning of Tolkien's own mythology".In 1914, Tolkien wrote a poemThe Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star,inspired by theCrist Ipoem.While studying at Oxford, Tolkien developed aconstructed languagethat later became known asQuenya.Already around 1915 he had the idea that this language needed an internal history and was spoken by Elves whom his invented character Eärendil meets during his journeys.The next step in the creation of the underlying mythology was theLay of Earendel,a work composed of several poems that describes the mariner Earendel and his voyages and how his ship is turned into a star. The mysterious land ofValinorand itsTwo Treesshining gold and silver across the land were first described in this cycle.Thepoemwas published inThe Book of Lost Tales 2.

Tolkien was aware of the name'sGermaniccognates(Old NorseAurvandill,LombardicAuriwandalo); the question why the Old English rather than the Lombardic orProto-Germanicform should be taken up in the mythology is alluded to inThe Notion Club Papers.The Old Norse together with the Old English evidence point to an astronomical myth, the name referring to a star, or a group of stars; the Old English in particular points to themorning staras the herald of the rising Sun,Christianizedto refer toJohn the Baptist.Tolkien stated in a 1967 letter that the Old English uses ofēarendel"seem plainly to indicate that it was a star presaging the dawn... that is what we now callVenus:the morning star as it may be seen shining brilliantly in the dawn, before the actual rising of the sun. That is at any rate how I took it [when creating Eärendil as a mariner and "a herald star" ]. "

Tolkien was particularly inspired by theCristlines:

éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended
Hail Earendel, brightest of angels, over Middle-earth to men sent

ThePhial of GaladrielthatFrodocarried containeda tiny fraction of the lightof Eärendil's star. It helped the hobbits to defeatShelob.

The first of theCristlines is parallelled byFrodo Baggins's exclamation inThe Two Towers,Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!,which in Tolkien'sinvented languageofQuenyameans, "Hail Eärendil, brightest of stars!" Frodo's exclamation was in reference to the "Star-glass" he carried, thePhial of Galadriel,which containeda little of the lightof Eärendil's star, theSilmaril.

These lines fromCristcan be taken as the inspiration not only for the role of Eärendil in Tolkien's work from as early as 1914, but for the termMiddle-earth(translatingOld EnglishMiddangeard) for the inhabitable lands (c.f.Midgard). Accordingly, the medievalistsStuart D. LeeandElizabeth Solopovastate thatCrist Awas "the catalyst for Tolkien's mythology".

Splintered light

Further information:Christianity in Middle-earth § Light

The Tolkien scholarVerlyn Fliegerwrites in her 1983 bookSplintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's Worldthat a central theme of Tolkien's writing is the progressive fragmentation of the light from the moment of the creation; light symbolises both the divine creation and the author'ssubcreation.

The light begins inThe Silmarillionas a unity, and in accordance with the splintering of creation is divided into more and more fragments as the myth progresses. Middle-earth is peopled by the angelicValarand lit by two great lamps; when these are destroyed by the fallen ValaMelkor,the world is fragmented, and the Valar retreat toValinor,which is lit byThe Two Trees.When these too are destroyed, their last fragment of light is made into theSilmarils,and a sapling too is rescued, leading to the White Tree ofNúmenor,the living symbol of the Kingdom ofGondor.Wars are fought over the Silmarils, and they are lost to the Earth, the Sea, and the Sky.

The last of the Silmarils, carried by Eärendil the Mariner, becomes theMorning Staras he sails across the sky with the shining jewel in his ship Vingilot. By the time ofThe Lord of the Rings,in theThird Age,that is all that is left of the light. Some of the star's light is captured inGaladriel's Mirror, the magic fountain that allows her to see past, present, and future; and some of that light is, finally, trapped in the Phial of Galadriel, her parting gift to Frodo, the counterbalance to Sauron's evil and powerfulRingthat Frodo is also carrying. At each stage, the fragmentation increases and the power decreases. Thus the theme of light as Divine power, fragmented and refracted through the works of created beings, is central to the whole mythology.

Age	Splintering of the Created Light
Years of the Lamps	Two enormous lamps,IlluinandOrmal,atop tall pillars, give light toMiddle-earth,butMelkordestroys them.
Years of the Trees	The lamps are replaced by theTwo Trees of Valinor,TelperionandLaurelin,lighting the blessed realm ofValinorfor theElves,leaving Middle-earth in darkness.
	Fëanorcrafts 3Silmarilswith light of the two Trees.
	Melkor and the giant spiderUngoliantkill the Two Trees; their light survives only in the Silmarils.
First Age	There iswar over the Silmarils.
	One is buried in the Earth, one is lost in the Sea, one sails in the Sky as Eärendil's Star, carried in his ship Vingilot.
Third Age	Galadrielcollects light of Eärendil's Star reflected in her fountain mirror.
	A little of that light is captured in thePhial of Galadriel.
	TheHobbitsFrodo BagginsandSam Gamgeeuse the Phial to defeat the giant spiderShelob.

Wade

Further information:Wade (folklore)

The Tolkien scholar Tibor Tarcsay writes that Eärendil is based not only on Old English but also Indo-European and universal myths.Wadehas power over the sea and superhuman strength, while numerous other mythical Indo-European figures share Eärendil's conjunction of water, boat or horse, and herald or star, such asSurya,the sun-god of theVedas,or Apollo with his horse-drawn chariot which pulls the sun across the sky.Vingilot is mentioned inGeoffrey Chaucer'sThe Merchant's Taleas the name of Wade's ship; Wade is in turn mentioned in the Old English poemWidsith,whileSir Gawain's horse has a name similar to Vingilot, Gryngolet. Christopher Tolkien,too, noted the matching boat-names,Guingelotfor Wade and Wingelot for Earendel, and stated that the link between Wade andTuorwas "not casual", which Flieger takes to mean, certainly intentional. Flieger notes further that inParma Eldalamberon15, Tolkien unambiguously wrote "Wade = Earendel".

Echoes of other legends

Tolkien's legend of Eärendil has elements resembling theMabinogionor the Christian legend ofSt. Brendan the Navigator.

The long-suffering woman

Elwing's staying at home waiting for her husband to return from his vain voyages across the ocean echoes the literary motif of the "long-suffering woman". The choice of fate offered by the Valar to Eärendil and Elwing, resulting in both of them becoming immortal Elves, has been interpreted as a move of Tolkien to solve "several untidy plot points in one fell swoop": being Half-elven, neither of the two would have been allowed to set foot in the land of the Valar, nor was their eventual fate determined since in Tolkien's legendarium Men are mortal, while Elves will live until the world is undone. The metamorphosis of the couple continues as Eärendil's ship is transformed into a flying vessel, so he can continue his journeys in the sky rather than at sea. Still now, Elwing will remain at home, but she is granted a white tower to dwell in.

Song of Eärendil

Main article:Song of Eärendil

The longest poem inThe Lord of the Ringsis theSong of Eärendilwhich Bilbo sings, and supposedly composed, at Rivendell.This poem has an extraordinarily complex history, deriving through many versions from his light-hearted poem "Errantry".TheSong of Eärendilis described byTom Shippeyas exemplifying "an elvish streak.. signalled.. by barely-precedented intricacies" of poetry, an approach derived from theMiddle EnglishpoemPearl.The song was recorded byThe Tolkien Ensembleon their 2005 CDLeaving Rivendell.

References

Sources

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• Carpenter, Humphrey(2000).J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography.New York:Houghton Mifflin.ISBN978-0618057023.
• Flieger, Verlyn(1983).Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World.Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing.ISBN978-0-8028-1955-0.
• Flieger, Verlyn(2005).Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology.Kent State University Press.ISBN978-0-87338824-5.
• Garth, John(2003).Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth.HarperCollins.ISBN978-0-00711953-0.
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• Tolkien, J. R. R.(1955).The Return of the King.The Lord of the Rings.Boston:Houghton Mifflin.OCLC519647821.
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