Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Silmarillion, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Unity vs. Division
Fate, Doom, and Free Will
Pride and Arrogance
Greed, Jealousy, and Obsession
Inevitable Loss
Myth and Memory
Summary
Analysis
The Valar mourn both the Trees and Fëanor, who is corrupted by Morgoth’s influence. Manwë weeps to hear Fëanor’s response to his warning but accepts Fëanor’s declaration that he’ll be remembered in songs; beauty will come from evil, like Ilúvatar promised. Mandos predicts that Fëanor will soon join the Houses of the Dead.
Morgoth’s attack on Valinor destroyed both the Trees and Fëanor, who is now banished and permanently estranged from the Valar. Still, Manwë recognizes that Fëanor was right about his future fame. The elves will remember his deeds, though they will lead him to his death soon, and even acts of rebellion will eventually result in beauty.
Themes
Yavanna and Nienna use all their power to try to revive the two Trees. Telperion grows one last silver flower, and Laurelin grows a last golden fruit. Aulë makes vessels to hold the flower and fruit, then gives them to Varda, who places them in the sky as lamps and gives them the power to travel on appointed paths. The Valar resolve to bring light to Middle-earth to hinder Melkor’s plans and prepare for the arrival of men.
Light in Arda is fractured into increasingly smaller pieces, from the lamps to the Trees which produce the stars, the Silmarils, and now the sun and moon. The Valar decide to light not only Valinor, but all of Arda, since men are not fated to awaken in darkness. Light in Middle-earth will allow the arrival of men and thwart Morgoth, who prefers to work his evil in darkness.
Themes
Telperion’s flower, steered through the sky by the Maia Tilion, becomes the moon, and Laurelin’s fruit, led by Arien, becomes the sun. Arien, a spirit of fire, cared for Laurelin before its destruction and didn’t fear its heat. Tilion was a hunter of Oromë. The moon (named Isil) rises first, to the amazement of Morgoth’s servants and the delight of the elves. As it rises, Fingolfin marches into Middle-earth.
Though most of the Maia associated with fire join Morgoth and become the Balrogs, Arien remains loyal to the Valar and aids them in lighting the world. The arrival of the moon, the first light brighter than the stars to touch Middle-earth, gives hope and clarity to Fingolfin’s Noldor and dismays Morgoth’s dark creatures.
Themes
When the sun (named Anar) rises, Morgoth is dismayed. Varda planned for the sun and moon to remain constantly in the sky, but Tilion, straying from his path, is burned by Anar. Irmo and Estë argue that Middle-earth should be allowed a period of sleep when the stars are visible, so Varda decides that the sun and moon will descend beneath the earth in the west and rise again in the east. Tilion still doesn’t have a consistent pace, though he always follows Arien.
The sun brings harsh clarity to Middle-earth, forcing light down on all of Morgoth’s hidden plans. After all his trouble to destroy the light of Valinor, the Valar respond initially by making light inescapable. Still, the elves love the twilight and revere the stars, so Varda hides the sun and moon for a number of hours, creating day and night.
Themes
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The light of the sun and moon isn’t the same as the light of the Trees before they were touched by Ungoliant—that light exists only in the Silmarils. Morgoth hates the lights and sends spirits of shadow to attack Tilion, but Tilion defeats them. Morgoth fears to attack Arien and hides from her.
Light is now impure, forever tainted by the evil of Morgoth and Ungoliant. Even the Silmarils, which contain the still-untainted light of the trees, sit in Morgoth’s crown. Morgoth hates light, repeatedly stealing and destroying it, but Arien is powerful enough that he doesn’t even attempt to touch her.
Themes
The Valar raise their mountains higher and set guards in the gap where the city of Tirion is. They position islands full of “shadows and bewilderment” in front of Valinor to divert ships and hide from Middle-earth. None of the messengers that sail towards Valinor ever arrive, except for one.
After the creation of light over Middle-earth, the Valar retreat again into their own land, using enchantments to enforce its separation from the rest of the world. The estrangement is long-lasting; the narrator alludes to the future, in which the barrier between Valinor and Middle-earth will be upheld with only one exception.
Themes
