Everyone Dies (Except Galadriel)

The Quenta Silmarillion: The Beginning of Days, Pt. 2

You know what guys, it's been a rough month. I keep getting sick, my rabbit dies...

Short chapter right now because I'm running to rehearsal but I'm hoping to add another tonight when I'm supposed to be paying attention in my history lecture.

Anyway. We left off with all the Valar running away from their problems and Manwë yelling into the wind. If you think that's weird, then you really aren't prepared to read this book. 

Aren't the Valar so relatable, though? Running away from your problems is ALWAYS the answer. I'm a certified procrastinator, trust me. 

So. The Valar run away to build some cities and houses and whatnot, during which Yavanna--yep, that's Earth Lady--does a ton of singing. It's a "song of power" if that makes it sound any more useful to you folks out there. This singing makes grass and whatever grow and it's nice and pretty like the rest of Valinor. 

Meanwhile, Melkor is hiding. In another fortress, I want to say; Tolkien just says, "But he came to Utumno ere Tulkas could overtake him; and there he lay hid." Tolkien does not tell us what in Juno's name we're talking about, but from what I know about Arda's geography, Utumno was like, the first city/citadel/thingy that Melkor built. 

And yes, I'm swearing on the Roman Goddess Juno (Hera for all you plebians out there. JK. Sorta.) because my fiercely religious mother keeps getting on my case about "using the Lord's name in vain" and how that's a bad thing. Out of pettiness, when she scolded me after saying "goddamnit" or something, I snarkily snapped that I was going to "swear like an ancient Roman, on their gods" and she rolled her eyes and walked away. 

I didn't PLAN on actually following through, but she was convinced I was messing around. Even if I was actually messing around, I'm not about to give her the satisfaction. No way in Tartarus. In fact, I'll be as bold to swear on the Queen of the Gods herself, from my lips to Juno's ears. 

Ahem. We're getting waaaaay off topic.  

So. Yavanna was singing. The Valar finished up whatever they were doing and then they all came and sat on thrones in this place called Máhanaxar, which Tolkien tells us is a ring of doom.  Yeah. He said that. Ring of doom.

Seems legit. 

The Valar sit creepily and watch Earth Lady sing, and then BOOM. MAGICAL TREES START GROWING. We're told that it takes them exactly seven hours to do this growing, because for some reason, even though everything else happens in a vague timeline, we need to know that it takes the trees seven hours. It's IMPORTANT. LIFE CHANGING information. 

Tolkien describes the trees in really beautiful detail but I'm here to sum stuff up, so sum it up I will do. They were pretty. Sparkly. One was gold and the other one was silver. So shiny. Yay. They're really bright and you can't not see them because their light soaks into the earth or whatever. 

EXCEPT. Middle Earth. It's nighttime there and there are lots of stars. Apparently, and I'm still going off the book here, the Valar totally forgot that they made Middle Earth even after the whole Melkor-digging-a-hole fiasco. Melkor walks around in this dark, nighttime-y place and looks scary a lot. I mean, did everyone just forget he exists? 

They Thought Their Brother Had Left. But What He Built Underground Will Leave You Speechless. 

Clickbait headlines amuse me. 

And here's where logic gets kinda shaky here. Tolkien said that everyone just totally loved Valinor and Middle Earth never even crossed their minds. He also says that Manwë hung out at the border to Middle Earth for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on Melkor so...

Honestly, why am I not surprised? This guy reads like teenage Tolkien's Mary Sue in a bad fanfiction. He's perfect. Flawless. Tolkien goes on to say stuff like, "Manwë has no thought for his own honour, and is not jealous of his power, but rules all to peace." 

Barf. 

Yeah, ok, Tolkien, you get the point. What a great place to stop. Sarissë out.