Editing Eärendil and Elwing (section)

== Analysis ==

=== Splintered light ===

{{further|Christianity in Middle-earth#Light}}

The Tolkien scholar [[Verlyn Flieger]] writes in her 1983 book ''[[Splintered Light|Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World]]'' that a central theme of Tolkien's writing is the progressive fragmentation of the light from the moment of the creation; light symbolises both the divine creation and the author's [[subcreation]].{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=44–49}}

The light begins in ''The Silmarillion'' as a unity, and in accordance with the splintering of creation is divided into more and more fragments as the myth progresses. Middle-earth is peopled by the angelic [[Valar]] and lit by two great lamps; when these are destroyed by the fallen Vala [[Melkor]], the world is fragmented, and the Valar retreat to [[Valinor]], which is lit by [[The Two Trees]]. When these too are destroyed, their last fragment of light is made into the [[Silmaril]]s, and a sapling too is rescued, leading to the White Tree of [[Númenor]], the living symbol of the Kingdom of [[Gondor]]. Wars are fought over the Silmarils, and they are lost to the Earth, the Sea, and the Sky.{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=6-61, 89–90, 144-145 and passim}}

The last of the Silmarils, carried by Eärendil the Mariner, becomes the [[Venus|Morning Star]] as he sails across the sky with the shining jewel in his ship Vingilot. By the time of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', in the [[Third Age]], that is all that is left of the light. Some of the star's light is captured in [[Galadriel]]'s Mirror, the magic fountain that allows her to see past, present, and future; and some of that light is, finally, trapped in the Phial of Galadriel, her parting gift to Frodo, the counterbalance to Sauron's evil and powerful [[One Ring|Ring]] that Frodo is also carrying. At each stage, the fragmentation increases and the power decreases. Thus the theme of light as Divine power, fragmented and refracted through the works of created beings, is central to the whole mythology.{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=6-61, 89–90, 144-145 and passim}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" | Age
! scope="col" | [[Christianity in Middle-earth#Light|Splintering of the Created Light]]{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=6-61, 89–90, 144-145 and passim}}<ref name="Bassham Bronson 2013"/>
|-
| [[Years of the Lamps]] || Two enormous lamps, [[Illuin]] and [[Ormal]], atop tall pillars, give light to [[Middle-earth]], but [[Melkor]] destroys them.
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[Years of the Trees]] || The lamps are replaced by the [[Two Trees of Valinor]], [[Telperion]] and [[Laurelin]], lighting the blessed realm of [[Valinor]] for the [[Elves (Middle-Earth)|Elves]], leaving Middle-earth in darkness. 
|-
| [[Fëanor]] crafts 3 [[Silmaril]]s with light of the two Trees. 
|-
| Melkor and the giant spider [[Ungoliant]] kill the Two Trees; their light survives only in the Silmarils.
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[First Age]] || There is [[Silmarils#Fictional history|war over the Silmarils]]. 
|-
| One is buried in the Earth, one is lost in the Sea, one sails in the Sky as Eärendil's Star, carried in his ship Vingilot.
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[Third Age]] || [[Galadriel]] collects light of Eärendil's Star reflected in her fountain mirror. 
|-
| A little of that light is captured in the [[Phial of Galadriel]]. 
|-
| The [[Hobbit]]s [[Frodo Baggins]] and [[Sam Gamgee]] use the Phial to defeat the giant spider [[Shelob]].
|}

=== Wade ===

{{further|Wade (folklore)}}

The Tolkien scholar Tibor Tarcsay writes that Eärendil is based not only on Old English but also Indo-European and universal myths. [[Wade (folklore)|Wade]] has power over the sea and superhuman strength, while numerous other mythical Indo-European figures share Eärendil's conjunction of water, boat or horse, and herald or star, such as [[Surya]], the sun-god of the [[Vedas]], or Apollo with his horse-drawn chariot which pulls the sun across the sky.<ref name="Tarcsay 2015">{{cite journal |last=Tarcsay |first=Tibor |title='Chaoskampf', Salvation, and Dragons: Archetypes in Tolkien's Earendel |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=33 |issue=2 (126) |year=2015 |pages=139–150 |jstor=26815994 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol33/iss2/12/}}</ref> Vingilot is mentioned in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Merchant's Tale]]'' as the name of Wade's ship; Wade is in turn mentioned in the Old English poem ''[[Widsith]]'', while [[Sir Gawain]]'s horse has a name similar to Vingilot, Gryngolet.<ref name="Tarcsay 2015"/> 
[[Christopher Tolkien]], too, noted the matching boat-names, [[Guingelot]] for Wade and Wingelot for Earendel, and stated that the link between Wade and [[Tuor and Idril|Tuor]] was "not casual", which Flieger takes to mean, certainly intentional. Flieger notes further that in ''[[Parma Eldalamberon]]'' 15, Tolkien unambiguously wrote "Wade = Earendel".<ref name="Flieger 2022">{{cite journal |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |year=2022 |title=A Lost Tale, A Found Influence: Earendel and Tinúviel |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=40 |issue=2 |at=Article 7 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol40/iss2/7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien |title=Sí Qente Feanor & Other Elvish Writings |journal=[[Parma Eldalamberon]] |issue=15 |year=2004 |page=97}}</ref>

=== Echoes of other legends ===

Tolkien's legend of Eärendil has elements resembling the ''[[Mabinogion]]'' or the Christian legend of [[Brendan the Navigator|St. Brendan the Navigator]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Stephens |first=Charles |title=Shakespeare's Island: Essays on Creativity |page=88 |year=1994 |publisher=[[Birlinn (publisher)|Polygon Books]] |isbn=978-0-74866-139-8}}</ref>

=== The long-suffering woman ===

Elwing's staying at home waiting for her husband to return from his vain voyages across the ocean echoes the literary motif of the "long-suffering woman". The choice of fate offered by the Valar to Eärendil and Elwing, resulting in both of them becoming immortal Elves, has been interpreted as a move of Tolkien to solve "several untidy plot points in one fell swoop": being Half-elven, neither of the two would have been allowed to set foot in the land of the Valar, nor was their eventual fate determined since in Tolkien's legendarium Men are mortal, while Elves will live until the world is undone. The metamorphosis of the couple continues as Eärendil's ship is transformed into a flying vessel, so he can continue his journeys in the sky rather than at sea. Still now, Elwing will remain at home, but she is granted a white tower to dwell in.<ref name="Larsen"/>

{{anchor|Eärendillinwë}}