Editing Two Trees of Valinor (section)

=== Elves and Men ===

[[Matthew T. Dickerson|Matthew Dickerson]] writes that in the [[Second Age|Second]] and [[Third Age]]s, the White Trees of [[Númenor]] and of [[Gondor]], whose likeness descends from that of Telperion, have a mostly symbolic significance, standing both for the kingdoms in question, and also as reminders of the ancestral alliance between the [[Dúnedain|Men who had lived on Númenor]] and the Elves. The destruction of one of these trees precedes trouble for each kingdom in question.<ref name="Dickerson 2013"/><!--"Trees" article-->

[[Martin Simonson]] describes the destruction of the Two Trees as setting a "mythical precedent" for the transfer of the stewardship of Arda (Earth) from the Valar to Elves and Men. In his view, this stewardship is central to the moral battle, as the Two Trees, like Men and Elves, are composed of both matter and spirit.<ref name="Simonson2018">{{cite journal |last=Simonson |first=Martin |title=The Arboreal Foundations of Stewardship in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion |journal=English Studies in Africa |volume=60 |issue=2 |year=2018 |pages=12–22 |doi=10.1080/00138398.2017.1406735 |s2cid=165620730 }}</ref>
Dickerson and [[Jonathan Evans (scholar)|Jonathan Evans]] note that Tolkien calls the Elves "stewards and guardians of [Middle-earth's] beauty"; they are constantly preoccupied with maintaining the beauty of nature, something they inherited from Yavanna's making of the Two Trees.<ref name="Dickerson Evans 2006">{{cite book |last1=Dickerson |first1=Matthew T. |author-link=Matthew T. Dickerson |last2=Evans |first2=Jonathan Duane |author2-link=Jonathan Evans (scholar) |title=Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8131-2418-6 |page=99ff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwidpxMe-AIC&pg=PA99}}</ref>