The Light

A term used in Middle-earth to refer to the shining glory of the land of Aman when it was lit by the Two Trees, Telperion and Laurelin. In the time long before the making of the Moon and Sun, these Trees stood in Valinor and filled the land of the Valar with light, while Middle-earth lay darkened under starlight. It was in this time that many of the Eldar made the journey across the Sea to Aman, and so became known as the Calaquendi, the Elves of the Light.

Also known more fully as the Light of Aman or Light of the Trees, the Light was not to survive forever. The Two Trees were destroyed by Melkor, and Valinor was plunged into darkness, but from the dying Trees the Moon and Sun were made and set in the sky by the Valar. Meanwhile, Fëanor led many of his people, the Noldor, in pursuit of Melkor (who had not only darkened the Two Trees, but also slain Fëanor's father and stolen the Silmarils, which now contained the last remnant of the Light). Thus some of the Elves of the Light returned out of the West into Middle-earth as the new great lights ascended into the heavens. Though these Eldar were exiled from the land of the Valar, nonetheless they had looked on the Light in the West, and this still shone in their eyes.

With the loss of the Two Trees, the Light of Valinor was also lost, except within the Silmarils that Melkor had stolen. As the First Age came to an end, one of these was borne into the sky by Eärendil, so that his Star still represents a fragment of the lost Light. The other two Jewels were cast into the Sea and into the raging fires of the Earth. According to prophecy, all three Silmarils will one day be recovered, and, after the Last Battle, they will be used to rekindle the Two Trees and return their Light to the world.