Editing Two Trees of Valinor (section)

=== Medieval Trees of the Sun and the Moon ===

{{further|Tolkien and the medieval|Tolkien and the Celtic}}

The Tolkien scholar [[John Garth (author)|John Garth]] traces the mythology and symbolism of the Two Trees to the medieval [[Trees of the Sun and the Moon]]. Tolkien stated in an interview{{efn|Garth states (in a footnote, no. 43) this was a radio interview with Denys Geroult, [[BBC]], 1965.<ref name="Garth 2020"/>}} that the Two Trees derived from them, "in the great Alexander stories"<ref name="Garth 2020"/> rather than from the World Tree [[Yggdrasil]] of Norse myth. Garth notes that the ''[[Wonders of the East]]''<!--Garth names ''Wonders'' specifically, and mentions in passing "and a letter supposedly written by Alexander to his tutor Aristotle" but does not suggest that the letter was Tolkien's source.-->, an [[Old English]] manuscript in the same Codex as ''[[Beowulf]]'', tells that [[Alexander the Great]] travelled beyond India to [[Paradise]], where he saw the two magical trees. They drip down a wonderful [[balsam]], and have the power of speech. They tell Alexander that he will die in [[Babylon]]. Garth writes that Tolkien's trees emit light, not balsam; and instead of prophesying death, their own deaths bring Arda's era of immortality to an end.<ref name="Garth 2020">{{cite book |last=Garth |first=John |title=The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth |title-link=The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien |date=2020 |publisher=[[Frances Lincoln Publishers]] & [[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-7112-4127-5 |pages=40–41 |chapter=Four Winds |author-link=John Garth (author) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMjgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |quote=... the lakes of sun and moon from the Old English ''[[Wonders of the East]]''.}}</ref>