Editing Eärendil and Elwing (section)

=== Eärendil ===

Eärendil was the half-[[Elf (Middle-earth)|elven]] son of a Man, [[Tuor]], and an Elf, [[Idril Celebrindal|Idril]], daughter of [[Turgon of Gondolin|Turgon]], the King of the hidden Elvish city of [[Gondolin]]. He was raised in Gondolin; when he was seven years old, he escaped the [[Fall of Gondolin|sacking of Gondolin]] with his parents. Eärendil was almost killed by his mother's treacherous cousin Maeglin, who had betrayed Gondolin to [[Morgoth]]; he was saved when his father killed Maeglin. Eärendil and his parents lived afterwards in [[Arvernien]] by the mouth of [[River Sirion|Sirion]].

Eärendil became the leader of the people who lived there, and married Elwing, the half-elven daughter of Dior and the [[Sindar]] elf-maid Nimloth.  Another alliance between Man and Elf, the hero [[Beren]] and his Elvish bride [[Lúthien]], were Elwing's paternal grandparents. Eärendil and Elwing had two sons, [[Elrond]] and Elros.<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group="T" />

With the aid of [[Círdan|Círdan the Shipwright]], Eärendil built a ship, ''Vingilótë'' ([[Quenya]] for "foam-flower"). He often sailed the seas west of Middle-earth, leaving his wife behind in Arvernien.<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T/><ref name="Larsen">{{cite book |title=Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays |first=Kristine |last=Larsen |editor-first=Jason |editor-last=Fisher |editor-link=Jason Fisher |chapter=Sea Birds and Morning Stars: Ceyx, Alcyone, and the Many Metamorphoses of Eärendil and Elwing |pages=69–83 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7864-6482-1}}</ref> At this time Elwing had in her possession the Silmaril that Beren had wrested from [[Morgoth]]. When Fëanor's sons, who wanted the Silmarils back, heard about this, they attacked Arvernien and killed most of the people living there. Elwing, rather than be captured, threw herself with the Silmaril into the sea.<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T/> Next, according to ''[[The Silmarillion]]'':

{{blockquote|text=For [[Ulmo]] bore up Elwing out of the waves, and he gave her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the Silmaril, as she flew over the water to seek Eärendil her beloved. On a time of night Eärendil at the helm of his ship saw her come towards him, as a white cloud exceeding swift beneath the moon, as a star over the sea moving in strange courses, a pale flame on wings of storm. And it is sung that she fell from the air upon the timbers of Vingilot, in a swoon, nigh unto death for the urgency of her speed, and Eärendil took her to his bosom; but in the morning with marvelling eyes he beheld his wife in her own form beside him with her hair upon his face, and she slept.<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 24 "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"}}</ref>}}

Hearing of the tragedy that had befallen Arvernien, Eärendil then sought after the home of the godlike and immortal [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]], [[Valinor]], aboard the ''Vingilot'', and he and Elwing found their way there at last. Eärendil thus became the first of all mortals to set foot on Valinor. Eärendil then went before the Valar, and asked them for aid for [[Men (Middle-earth)|Men]] and [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] in Middle-earth, to fight against [[Morgoth]]; the Valar accepted his plea.<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T/>

Because Eärendil had undertaken this errand on behalf of Men and Elves, and not for his own sake, [[Manwë (Middle-earth)|Manwë]], King of the Valar, refrained from dealing out the punishment of death that was due for entering Valinor. Also, because both Eärendil and Elwing descended from a union of Elves and Men, Manwë granted to them and their sons the gift to choose to which race they would be joined. Elwing chose to be one of the Elves. Eärendil would have rather been one of the Men; however, for the sake of his wife, he chose to be one of the Elves also. His ship, Vingilot ([[Quenya]]: ''Vingilótë''), was placed in the heavens, and he sailed it "even into the starless voids", but he returned at sunrise or sunset, glimmering in the sky as the [[Venus|Morning Star]].<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T/>

Eärendil's son Elrond too chose elvish immortality, becoming known as [[Half-elven]], and in the [[Third Age]] played an important role in The War of [[One Ring|the Ring]], as narrated in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T/> Elros chose mortality, the gift of Men, founding the line of the Kings of [[Númenor]];<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T/> his descendant at the time of The War of the Ring was [[Aragorn]], one of the Fellowship of the Ring, who married Elrond's daughter, [[Arwen]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: I The Númenórean Kings: (v) ''[[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]''}}</ref>

The Valar marched into the north of Middle-earth and attacked the Throne of Morgoth in the [[War of Wrath]]. Morgoth set loose a fleet of winged dragons, which drove the Valar back. Eärendil in Vingilot attacked, with Thorondor and his great eagles, and killed [[Ancalagon the Black]], greatest of the dragons. Ancalagon fell on to Thangorodrim and broke its towers. The Valar won the battle, destroying the dragons and the pits of Angband, captured Morgoth, and took the two remaining Silmarils from his crown.<ref name="Of the Voyage of Eärendil" group=T/>