A breakdown of Tolkien’s ‘Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië’, Chapter 5 in The Silmarillion. As usual I share a mini summary with my thoughts, 10 tidbits and 5 quotes!

A Mini Summary and Some Personal Thoughts

In my previous readings of The Silmarillion (all 2 of them), this is where things have started to get a bit complicated for me. (Yes, I am aware this is only Chapter 5 out of 24+ chapters). There’s just so much to take in, and I find it easy to get lost in the details.

However, this time around, while working to pull out tidbits for this blog post, I feel like I’ve gotten a much better understanding and appreciation for what’s happening in this chapter. There’s really a lot!

Did you know that the Eldar were brought to Valinor on an island (I wouldn’t mind traveling by Island sometime myself)? Or that the Teleri tarried cause they were looking for their lost King and didn’t want to leave without him, but he was actually lost in the woods enchanted by Melian (in Chapter 4!)? We also learn that the Teleri came to love the sea thanks to Ulmo, Ossë and Uinen’s, and that Círdan was the leader of the group of Teleri Elves who stayed behind in Middle-Earth. There was an original White Tree long before the White Tree of Gondor, and some super cool inspiration behind the swan ships we see the Elves using in Lothlorien. Plus loads more.

What Do Eldamar and Eldalië Mean?

Before we cover the tidbits, I thought I’d give a quick definition of Eldamar and the Eldalië – in case, like me, you read this chapter several times and still didn’t really know what these were.

Eldamar: Eldamar can be translated to ‘Elvenhome’ in Quenya. It refers to the land of the Elves in Aman, which includes both Valinor and Eldamar.

Eldalië: Eldalië is a Quenya term referring to Elven-folk in general.

Helpful? Ok, now let’s get into the tidbits!

Ten Tidbits About ‘Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië‘

1. The Eldar take a trip to Valinor via Island, courtesy of Ulmo

If there’s one thing not to miss in this chapter (and there’s really a number of things you shouldn’t miss in this chapter) it’s the fact that Ulmo uses an Island to transport the Eldar to Valinor. I love how it’s put so casually in the text, you could almost miss it:

Therefore Ulmo uprooted an island which long had stood alone amid the sea, far from either shore, since the tumults of the fall of Illuin; and with the aid of his servants he moved it, as it were a mighty ship, and anchored it in the Bay of Balar, into which Sirion poured his water.

2. The Teleri tarried in Middle-earth before going to Valinor, and ended up falling in love with the sea.

Meanwhile, the Teleri were back in Middle-Earth, still searching for their leader Elwë and unwilling to leave without him. They didn’t hear about the summons of Ulmo until it was too late, but when they did hear that the other Elves had crossed over, they moved to the shores of Beleriand ‘in longing for their friends that had departed’. Does that not just make your heart ache?

There on the shores of the sea, they learned to love the water through their friendship with Ossë and Uinen. Remember them from the Maiar we learned about in the Valaquenta?

Ossë instructed them, sitting upon a rock near to the margin of the land, and of him they learned all manner of sea-lore and sea-music. Thus it came to be that the Teleri, who were from the beginning lovers of water, and the fairest singers of all the Elves, were after enamoured of the seas, and their songs were filled with the sound of waves upon the shore.

3. Some of the Teleri never made it to Valinor, and you may recognise their leader.

Finwë of the Noldor greatly missed the Teleri elves (my heart!), and in sympathy Ulmo brought over a group of the Teleri elves who were quite willing to make the move. But this made Ossë sad. He only looked after the seas in Middle-earth and he felt ‘ill-pleased that the voices of the Teleri should be heard no more in his domain’.

Ossë managed to convince some of the Teleri to stay. They were the Falathrim, the Elves of the Falas, the first mariners in Middle-earth and the first makers of ships. Círdan the Shipwright was their lord. Does he sound familiar? We see him again in LOTR!

4. The Teleri Elves called themselves the Forsaken People, but they were wanted by Middle-earth and Valinor!

Elwë’s people remained in the Hither Lands, still looking for him – even though they would have quite liked to go to Valinor. They called themselves the Forsaken People, which makes me sad to think they felt that way. But I think they were unknowingly actually really loved! Finwë over in Valinor desperately wanted them to come over, while Ossë was so grieved to see them leave Middle-earth.

Elwë finally wakes up from his trance, and he and Melian dwell in the woods. Even though he longed to see the light of the Trees again, he was content to look in Melian’s face where he saw the light of Aman. I find that pretty sweet.

One final quick note on languages: Because the Teleri dwelled apart from the other Elves, so ‘was caused the sundering of their speech from that of the Vanyar and the Noldor.’

5. The Elves had some pretty…interesting names for their dwelling places.

1. The Teleri dwelled in Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle in Middle-earth.
2. The Vanyar and the Noldor dwelled in Tirion upon Túna in Valinor.

You can’t even make these names up (Tirion upon Túna always gives me a little giggle). But Tolkien apparently can, and did!

6. You know the White Tree of Gondor? It began here, with the growing of Galathilion.

And since of all things in Valinor they loved most the White Tree, Yavanna made for them a tree like to a lesser image of Telperion, save that it did not give light of its own being; Galathilion it was named in the Sindarin tongue. This tree was planted in the courts beneath the Mindon and there flourished, and its seedlings were many in Eldamar. Of these one was afterwards planted in Tol Eressëa, and it prospered there, and was named Celeborn; thence came in the fullness of time, as is elsewhere told, Nimloth, the White Tree of Númenor.

7. The Noldor discovered treasure.

The Noldor elves were most beloved of Aulë and from him and his people they gained great knowledge and skill. The masons of the house of Finwë discovered earth gems, crafting tools to cut and shape gems and carving them into different forms. ‘They hoarded them not, but gave them freely, and by their labour enriched all Valinor.’

8. Feanor, Finrod, and Galadriel are all related.

Here we finally come upon a familiar sight – some familiar names!

The Silmarilliom mainly deals with the Noldor, and here it gives us a brief overview of their Kings and Princes:

• Finwë was King of the Noldor
• From Finwë’s first wife, Míriel Serindë, he had Fëanor. Fëanor was mightiest in skill of word and of hand, more learned than his brothers; his spirit burned as a flame (take not of that!)
• From Finwë’s second wife, Indis of the Vanyar, he had Fingolfin, the strongest, most steadfast and most valiant; and Finarfin, the fairest and most wise of heart.
• Finrod and Galadriel were children of Finarfin. They also had three other brothers Orodreth, Angrod, and Aegnor, Galadriel was the most beautiful of all the house of Finwë. ‘Her hair was lit with gold as though it had caught in a mesh the radiance of Laurelin.’

9. The Teleri elves finally made it to the land of Aman, and their journey inspired the making of their Swan Ships!

I’m happy to report that some of the Teleri elves finally did make it to Aman. Ulmo sent the Teleri elves to Ossë, who was grieved to do so (he really loved them and didn’t want to see them go!) but taught them the craft of ship-building. ‘And when their ships were built he brought them as his parting gift many strong-winged swans. Then the swans drew the white ships of the Teleri over the windless sea; and thus at last and latest they came to Aman and the shores of Eldamar.’

I never realized just how amazing Ossë was! The swans brought the white ships of the Teleri over the sea to Aman. Their city was called the Haven of the Swans and their ships were made in the likeness of swans. It’s all so beautiful.

10. There was another sundering of the Elves within Valinor.

The Vanyar came to love the land of the Valar and the light of the Trees. I mean, who wouldn’t? So they ‘forsook the city of Tirion upon Túna, and dwelt thereafter upon the mountain of Manwë, or about the plains and woods of Valinor, and became sundered from the Noldor.’

The Noldor remembered Middle-earth under the stars and so they stayed closer to the shores.

Finwë was king in Tirion and Olwë in Alqualondë; but Ingwë was ever held the High King of all the Elves. He abode thereafter at the feet of Manwë upon Taniquetil.

Feanor and his sons lived in various places, including often the halls of Aulë (which is interesting and good to also keep in mind!)

5 Fav Quotes from ‘Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië‘

But the island was not moved again, and stood there alone in the Bay of Eldamar; and it was called Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle. There the Teleri abode as they wished under the stars of heaven, and yet within sight of Aman and the deathless shore.

To these the Valar had given a land and a dwelling-place. Even among the radiant flowers of the Tree-lit gardens of Valinor they longed still at times to see the stars; and therefore a gap was made in the great walls of the Pelóri, and there in a deep valley that ran down to the sea the Eldar raised a high green hill: Túna it was called. From the west the light of the Trees fell upon it, and its shadow lay ever eastward; and to the east it looked towards the Bay of Elvenhome, and the Lonely Isle, and the Shadowy Seas. Then through the Calacirya, the Pass of Light, the radiance of the Blessed Realm streamed forth, kindling the dark waves to silver and gold, and it touched the Lonely Isle, and its western shore grew green and fair. There bloomed the first flowers that ever were east of the Mountains of Aman.

They were torn between the love of the music of the waves upon their shores, and the desire to see again their kindred and to look upon the splendour of Valinor; but in the end desire of the light was the stronger.

There they dwelt, and if they wished they could see the light of the Trees, and could tread the golden streets of Valmar and the crystal stairs of Tirion upon Túna, the green hill; but most of all they sailed in their swift ships on the waters of the Bay of Elvenhome, or walked in the waves upon the shore with their hair gleaming in the light beyond the hill. Many jewels the Noldor gave them, opals and diamonds and pale crystals, which they strewed upon the shores and scattered in the pools; marvellous were the beaches of Elendë in those days. And many pearls they won for themselves from the sea, and their halls were of pearl, and of pearl were the mansions of Olwë at Alqualondë, the Haven of the Swans, lit with many lamps. For that was their city, and the haven of their ships; and those were made in the likeness of swans, with beaks of gold and eyes of gold and jet.

But the memory of Middle-earth under the stars remained in the hearts of the Noldor, and they abode in the Calacirya, and in the hills and valleys within sound of the western sea;

Further Study

I love listening to podcasts to gain more insights and thoughts on Tolkien’s works. Here a couple I listened to about this chapter:

• The Prancing Pony Podcast Episode 012 – All in the Family
• The Tolkien Professor’s Silmarillion Seminars

The Silmarillion Second Breakfast Book Club

That’s Chapter 5, ‘Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië’! If you’ve missed any previous posts on The Silmarillion in our Second Breakfast Book Club, then check out the Reading Schedule. You can find updates on future chapters there as well. Next up, Chapter 6!