Editing Two Trees of Valinor

{{good article}}
{{short description|Symbols in Tolkien's legendarium}}
{{redirect|The Two Trees|W. B. Yeats's 1893 poem|The Rose (Yeats)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2022}}
In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]], the '''Two Trees of Valinor''' are '''Telperion''' and '''Laurelin''', the Silver Tree and the Gold Tree, which bring light to [[Valinor]], a [[Paradise|paradisiacal]] realm where the Valar and Maiar, angel-like divine beings, and many of the Elves live. The Two Trees are of enormous stature, and exude dew that is a pure and magical light in liquid form. The Elf craftsman [[Fëanor]] makes the unrivalled jewels, the [[Silmarils]], with their light. The Two Trees are destroyed by the evil beings [[Ungoliant]] and [[Morgoth|Melkor]], but their last flower and fruit are made into the [[Moon]] and the [[Sun]]. Melkor, now known as Morgoth (as a result of his slaying Fëanor’s father, Finwë), steals the Silmarils, provoking the disastrous War of the Jewels. Descendants of Telperion survive, growing in [[Númenor]] and, after its destruction, in [[Gondor]]; in both cases the trees are symbolic of those kingdoms. For many years while Gondor has no King, the [[White Tree of Gondor]] stands dead in the citadel of Minas Tirith. When [[Aragorn]] restores the line of Kings to Gondor, he finds a sapling descended from Telperion and plants it in his citadel. 

Commentators have seen mythic and [[Christianity in Middle-earth|Christian symbolism]] in the Two Trees; they have been called the most important symbols in the entire legendarium. Their origins have been traced to the [[medieval]] Trees of the Sun and the Moon. Parallels have also been identified [[Tolkien and the Celtic|with Celtic mythology]], where several pairs of trees appear. The White Tree of Gondor, too, has been traced to the medieval [[Dry Tree]], a symbol of [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]]. [[Verlyn Flieger]] has described the [[Christianity in Middle-earth#Light|progressive splintering of the light]] of the Two Trees through Middle-earth's troubled history, noting that light represents the [[Logos (Christianity)|Christian ''Logos'']]. [[Tom Shippey]] links the [[sundering of the Elves]] into different groups to the Two Trees and to the ''[[Prose Edda]]'' which speaks of [[Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar|light and dark Elves]]; Tolkien treats the difference between these as whether they have made the journey to Valinor and seen the light of the Two Trees.

== Narrative ==

=== Prelude ===

The first sources of light for all of Tolkien's imaginary world, [[Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda]], are [[Years of the lamps|two enormous Lamps]] on the central continent, [[Middle-earth]]: Illuin, the silver one to the north, and Ormal, the golden one to the south. They are created by the [[Valar]], powerful spirit beings, but are cast down and destroyed by the Dark Lord [[Morgoth|Melkor]].<ref name="Of the Beginning of Days" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 1 "Of the Beginning of Days"</ref>

=== Creation ===

The Valar retreat to [[Valinor]] to make their home on the western continent, and there one of them, [[Yavanna]] the Vala of living things, sings into existence the Two Trees to provide a new pair of light-sources. Of the two, Telperion is male and silver, while the other, Laurelin, is female and golden. The Trees stand on the hill Ezellohar, outside Valimar, the city of the Valar. They grow in the presence of all the Valar, watered by the tears of the Vala of pity and mourning, [[Nienna]].<ref name="Of the Beginning of Days" group=T/> Telperion's leaves are dark green above and silver below.<ref name="Of the Beginning of Days" group=T/> His flowers are white like cherry blossom,<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987}}, p. 209</ref> and his silvery dew is collected as a source of water and of light. Varda used the dew to form stars in the sky, in preparation for the arrival of the Elves. Laurelin has leaves of a young green, like newly opened beech leaves trimmed with gold, and her dew is collected by the Vala of light [[Varda (Middle-earth)|Varda]].<ref name="Of the Beginning of Days" group=T/>

Each Tree, in turn, gives off light for seven hours (waxing to full brightness and then slowly waning again), with the ends of their cycles overlapping, so that at one hour each of "dawn" and "dusk" soft gold and silver light are given off together. Each "day" of first silver then gold light lasts twelve hours.<ref name="Of the Beginning of Days" group=T/>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines heights=175px widths=330px>
File:Arda in the Years of the Trees.svg|Arda in the Years of the Trees
File:Jornada arboles de Valinor.png|Tolkien stated that the light from the Two Trees of Valinor alternately waxed and waned, overlapping by an hour.<ref name="Of the Beginning of Days" group=T/>
</gallery>

=== Destruction ===

Countless "days" pass, until Melkor reappears. He enlists the help of the giant spider [[Ungoliant]] to destroy the Two Trees. Concealed in a cloud of darkness, Melkor strikes each Tree and the insatiable Ungoliant devours whatever life and light remains in it.<ref name="Of the Darkening of Valinor" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 8 "Of the Darkening of Valinor"</ref>

=== Aftermath ===

Yavanna and Nienna attempt a healing, but they succeed only in reviving Telperion's last flower (to become the [[Moon]]) and Laurelin's last fruit (to become the [[Sun]]). These are turned into flying ships crossing the sky, and each is steered by spirits of the same 'genders' as the Trees themselves: male Tilion and female Arien. This is why, in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the Sun is called "she" and the Moon "he".<ref name="Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 11 "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"</ref> The true light of the Trees now resides only in the three [[Silmaril]]s, jewels created with the light of the Two Trees before their destruction, by the Elf [[Fëanor]].<ref name="Of the Flight of the Noldor" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 9 "Of the Flight of the Noldor"</ref>

[[File:Escudo Real de Gondor.svg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Coat of arms]] of [[Gondor]] bearing the white tree, Nimloth the fair]]

Because the Elves that first come to [[Valinor]] especially love Telperion, [[Yavanna]] takes a [[Cutting (plant)|cutting]]<!--Curry p. 682--> from the tree and makes a second tree like it to stand in their city of Tirion. This tree, named '''Galathilion''', is identical to Telperion except that it does not emit light. It has many seedlings, one of which is named '''Celeborn''', and grows on the isle of [[Tol Eressëa]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 5 "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"</ref> In the [[Second Age]], a seedling of Celeborn is brought as a gift to the Men who live on the island of [[Númenor]]. It is Nimloth, the White Tree of Númenor. When the dark lord [[Sauron]] takes control of the island, he makes king [[Ar-Pharazôn]] cut it down.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, "Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor"</ref> The hero [[Isildur]] saves a single fruit of Nimloth, and plants seedlings in Middle-earth. During the rule of the Stewards of Gondor, the [[White Tree of Gondor]], a descendant of Nimloth, stands dead in the citadel of Minas Tirith. On Aragorn's return as King at the end of the [[Third Age]], he finds a seedling in the snow on the mountain behind the city, and brings it back to the citadel, where it flourishes.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"</ref>

Tolkien never mentioned any tree made in the likeness of Laurelin, writing that "of Laurelin the Golden no likeness is left in Middle-Earth".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Appendix A, I (i) Númenor</ref> In the First Age, however, the Elvish King Turgon of the city of [[Gondolin]] creates a non-living image of Laurelin, named ''Glingal'', 'Hanging Flame', which stands in his court.<ref name="Of the Noldor in Beleriand" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ch. 15"Of the Noldor in Beleriand"</ref> 

== Origins ==

{{anchor|Trees of Sun and Moon}}

=== 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>

=== Trees in Celtic mythology ===

Marie Barnfield, writing in ''[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]]'', states that the male/female pair of trees has numerous [[Tolkien and the Celtic|parallels in Celtic mythology]], including the pine trees of [[Deirdre]] and [[Naoise]], and the paired rose bush of [[Esyllt]] and vine of [[Tristan|Trystan]]. Further, the hill of Ezellohar in front of Valimar's western gate matches the "sacred centre of Ireland", the [[Hill of Uisneach]] "to the west of Tara". The Two Trees of Valinor, in this context, align with the "feminine" Ash tree of Uisnech, and the "masculine" ''[[Lia Fáil]]'', the standing stone on the hill of Tara. Lastly, the dews of Telperion and the rains from Laurelin that served "as wells of water and of light" match up, according to Barnfield, with [[Connla's Well]] and the [[Well of Segais]].<ref name="Barnfield 1991">{{cite journal |last=Barnfield |first=Marie |title=Celtic Influences on the History of the First Age |journal=[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]] |issue=28 |year=1991 |pages=2–6 |jstor=45321637}}</ref>

=== The Sampo in the ''Kalevala'' ===

Tolkien read the Finnish ''[[Kalevala]]'' closely. Its central symbol is the magical [[Sampo]], a device that brought wealth and good fortune to its owner, but whose mechanism is described only vaguely. Jonathan Himes, writing in ''[[Mythlore]]'', has suggested that Tolkien found the Sampo complex, and chose to split the Sampo's parts into desirable objects. Its pillar became the Two Trees of Valinor with their Tree of life aspect, illuminating the world. Its decorated lid became the brilliant Silmarils, which embodied all that was left of the light of the Two Trees, thus tying the symbols together.<ref name="Himes 2000">{{cite journal |last=Himes |first=Jonathan B. |year=2000 |title=What J.R.R. Tolkien Really Did with the Sampo? |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=22 |issue=4 |at=Article 7 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol22/iss4/7}}</ref><ref name="Crawford 1888">{{cite book |last1=Lönnrot |first1=Elias |author1-link=Elias Lönnrot |last2=Crawford |first2=John Martin (trans.) |author2-link=John Martin Crawford (scholar) |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/kvrune10.htm <!--also Gutenberg--> |title=Kalevala |chapter=Rune X |year=1888}}</ref>

=== The Dry Tree ===

{{see also|Dry Tree}}

Cynthia Cohen writes in ''[[Tolkien Studies]]'' that the White Tree of Gondor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' stands for "the deeper history of Men in Tolkien's [[Fictional universe|Secondary World]], reaching back to [its ancestors,] the Two Trees of Valinor".<ref name="Cohen 2009"/> During most of the action of the novel, the tree is dead, and has been for over a century<!--166 years-->, but all the same it serves as a symbol of Gondor's strength and national identity, and of hope for the Kingdom's renewal. She suggests that the White Tree parallels the [[Dry Tree]] mentioned in the 14th century text ''[[Mandeville's Travels]]''. The Dry Tree had been alive in the time of [[Jesus|Christ]], and was prophesied to come to life again when a "great lord from the western part of the world" returned to the [[Holy Land]], just as Aragorn brings the line of Kings back to Gondor. Cohen comments that the dead White Tree's replacement by a living sapling "upholds the metaphor of [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]] and enables Tolkien to draw an implicit connection between Aragorn and Christ".<ref name="Cohen 2009"/> Finally, she remarks on the verse that Aragorn recites when he sees the White Mountains of Gondor: "West Wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree / Fell like bright rain in gardens in the Kings of old," which she states links Telperion, the Silver Tree of Valinor, to the White Tree. Since [[Tolkien's ambiguity|Tolkien has left it ambiguous]] whether the Silver Tree of the verse, the place where the West Wind blew, or where the "bright rain" fell, are [[Time in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction|in long-ago Valinor or present-time Gondor]], the ancestry of the tree and the lineage of the Kings merge into a continuum.<ref name="Cohen 2009">{{cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Cynthia M. |year=2009 |title=The Unique Representation of Trees in 'The Lord of the Rings' |journal=Tolkien Studies |publisher=Project MUSE |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=99–102 |doi=10.1353/tks.0.0041 |issn=1547-3163|hdl=10211.3/157628 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

[[Patrick Curry]], in the ''J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia'', writes that the importance that Tolkien gives to the Two Trees shows "the [[Trees in Middle-earth|iconic status of trees]] in both his work and his life."<ref name="Curry2013">{{cite book |last=Curry |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Curry (author) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA682 |chapter=Two Trees |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael Drout |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |page=682|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref> Richard Goetsch adds that the Two Trees are "central to many of the crucial plot developments of the entire saga, from the beginning of the First Age to the end of the Third Age", and further that they "function as the ultimate expression of the natural world in Tolkien's mythos."<ref name="Goetsch 2012">{{cite web |last=Goetsch |first=Richard A. |title=Environmental Stewardship in the Works of J. R. R. Tolkien |url=https://www.academia.edu/1825597 |publisher=Trinity Evangelical Divinity School |access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=200 heights=240>
File:Alexander and followers praying at Trees of Sun and Moon England 1333.jpg|[[Alexander the Great]] and followers kneeling in prayer at the Trees of the Sun and the Moon, under the guidance of a high priest. England 1333-c. 1340
File:Stone of Destiny 2018-07-24.jpg|Celtic symbol: The ''[[Lia Fáil]]'' on the hill of Tara
File:Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Sammon ryöstö.jpg|upright=0.5|Magical symbol in the ''[[Kalevala]]'': ''The Theft of the [[Sampo]]'' by [[Akseli Gallen-Kallela]], 1897
File:Trees of Sun and Moon and Dry Tree Rouen 1444.jpg|The [[Dry Tree]] with the [[Phoenix (mythology)|Phoenix]], flanked by the Trees of the Sun and the Moon. [[Rouen]] 1444-1445
</gallery>

== Analysis ==

=== The Elder Days ===

[[Matthew Dickerson]] writes in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'' that the Two Trees are "the most important mythic symbols in all of the legendarium".<ref name="Dickerson 2013"/> He quotes Tolkien's words in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' that "about their fate all the tales of the Elder days are woven".<ref name="Dickerson 2013"/><!--also https://www.jstor.org/stable/24351037--> They have that central place because they are the source of the light for the world of Arda while they live, and they are the ancestors of the various trees that symbolise the Kingdoms of Númenor and later of Gondor. Further, they contain the "thought of things that grow in the earth", placed in them by the Vala Yavanna when she sang them into being.<ref name="Dickerson 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Dickerson |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Trees |encyclopedia=[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA678 |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0 |pages=678–679}}</ref> Angelica Varandas likewise comments that the Two Trees are "the most significant symbols of peace, prosperity and order" in the legendarium, and calls them ''[[axis mundi]]'' trees, like those in the [[Garden of Eden]] or the Norse world-tree, [[Yggdrasil]].<ref name="Varandas 2015">{{cite book |last=Varandas |first=Angelica |chapter=The Tree and the Myth of Creation in J.R.R. Tolkien |editor-last=Fernandes |editor-first=Ana |title=The Power of Form |publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]] |date=2015 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eaDzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 |isbn=978-1-4438-7594-3 |pages=197–212}}</ref>

=== Light ===

{{further|Christianity in Middle-earth#Light}}<!--both #Resurrection and #Light-->

Tolkien, as a [[Catholicism|Roman Catholic]], knew the significance of light in [[Light of the World|Christian symbolism]]; he equated it with the [[Logos (Christianity)|Christian ''Logos'']], the Divine Word.{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=44–49}} The scholar Lisa Coutras states that transcendental light is an essential element of his subcreated world. In it, the Two Trees embody the light of creation, which in turn reflects God's light.<ref name="Coutras2016">{{cite book |last=Coutras |first=Lisa |title=Tolkien's Theology of Beauty |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-137-55344-7 |pages=47–64 |chapter=The Light of Being |doi=10.1057/978-1-137-55345-4_4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrLIDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47}}</ref> 

[[Verlyn Flieger]] describes the progressive splintering of the first created light, down through successive catastrophes. After the destruction of the twin lamps of Arda, Yavanna recreates what she can of the light in the Two Trees; Varda catches some of the light, and Fëanor creates the Silmarils, filled with the light. They are the unrivalled jewels that give ''The Silmarillion'' its name, and serve as the centrepiece of its narrative.{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=60-63}}<ref name="Curry2013"/> The whole of the history of Tolkien's [[First Age]] is strongly affected by the desire of many characters, including the dark lord Morgoth (as Melkor is now known) to possess the Silmarils that contain the only remaining unsullied light of the Trees. Morgoth desires them for himself, and manages to steal them, provoking the world-changing War of the Jewels.<ref name="Curry2013"/><ref name="Fisher 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Fisher |first=Jason |author-link=Jason Fisher |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Silmarils |encyclopedia=[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA678 |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0 |pages=612–613}}</ref> One of the Silmarils survives, and Varda puts it in the sky to symbolise hope: it is [[Venus]], the Morning and Evening Star.<ref name="Curry2013" />

[[Tom Shippey]], like Tolkien a [[philologist]], analyses Tolkien's treatment of the light and dark elves mentioned <!--by [[Snorri Sturluson]]-->in the 13th century ''[[Prose Edda]]'': in [[Old Norse]], [[Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar|''Ljósálfar'' and ''Dökkálfar'']]. Tolkien makes the distinguishing feature between these two groups whether the Elves had seen the light of the Two Trees of Valinor, or not. To make this work, Tolkien creates a story in which the Elves awaken in Middle-earth, and are called to undertake the long journey to Valinor. The Elves of the Light, Tolkien's Calaquendi, are those who successfully complete the journey, while the Elves of the Darkness, the Moriquendi, are those [[Sundering of the Elves|Elves who, for whatever reason, do not arrive in Valinor]].<ref name="Shippey 2001">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |date=2001 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0261-10401-3 |pages=228–231 |chapter=''The Silmarillion'': The Work of His Heart |author-link=Tom Shippey |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F23AAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT265}}</ref><ref name="Quendi and Eldar" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1994|loc="Quendi and Eldar"}}</ref><ref name="Dickerson 2013b">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2013 |title=Elves: Kindreds and Migrations |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA152 |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Dickerson |orig-year=2007 |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |pages=152–154 |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1}}</ref>

[[File:Sundering of the Elves diagram.svg|thumb|center|upright=3|Diagram of the [[Sundering of the Elves]], showing Tolkien's overlapping classifications. The main division is into Calaquendi and Moriquendi, Light-Elves and Dark-Elves, meaning those who had or had not seen the light of the Two Trees. These names correspond to those in [[Old Norse]], [[Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar|''Ljósálfar'' and ''Dökkálfar'']].<ref name="Shippey 2001"/> ]]

=== 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>

== See also ==

* [[Galadriel]]
* [[Tolkien's legendarium]]
* [[Cosmology of Middle-earth]]

== Notes ==

{{notelist}}

== References ==

=== Primary ===

{{reflist|group=T|28em}}

=== Secondary ===

{{reflist|28em}}

== Sources ==

* {{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |title=Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World |title-link=Splintered Light |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |year=1983 |isbn=0-8028-1955-9}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|Silm}}
* {{ME-ref|LROW}}
* {{ME-ref|WJ}}

{{Middle-earth}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Trees Of Valinor}}
[[Category:Fictional trees]]
[[Category:Cherry blossom]]
[[Category:Middle-earth locations]]
[[Category:Literary duos]]
[[Category:Moon in culture]]
[[Category:Fiction about the Sun]]

[[pl:Rośliny Śródziemia#Drzewa Valinoru]]