The Two Trees

Christmas tree is all about light, they say. I must say I agree; I’m not a big fan of overdone, glitter-and-elf-faces-all-over -type decorations but I do love the lights. My perspective, however, is slightly different – in my opinion trees are not light-bearers only but also producers of it. Does anyone sense a Tolkien-leap coming? Yes, I know I’m very predictable.

Laurelin and Telperion. The Two Trees of Valinor, light-makers, followers of the Lamps, predecessors of Sun and Moon. It was the dew of Telperion, the silver tree, that Varda used to create stars that once were so beloved by the Eldar. The myth of the Trees in Tolkien’s legendarium has always been one of my favourites and I find it remarkably fascinating. It is a story of great beauty but also very sad: it tells how the fairest and most treasured things on earth were destroyed, and how their light vanished beyond recall and never again was seen in its full glory if not in the Silmarils of Fëanor. The light of the Trees was drunk by Ungoliant the Gloomweaver, mother of all spiders, whose presence was darkness itself.

Picture: Ralph Damiani, http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Category:Images_by_Ralph_Damiani

Since I love (or nearly worship) stars I find the silvery flowers of Telperion even fairer than the golden fruits of Laurelin. But both Trees are dear to me and somehow I find them (and their story) unbelievably inspiring. It is not seldom that I find myself indulging in stories about things that are lost or perished: somehow I believe that utter beauty and goodness are always to be beyond our reach, brought to existence in words but not in life. Some may say it’s a sad thought. I find it comforting: even in the fictional universe of Arda ultimate fairness is unreachable.

Tomorrow it’s time to decorate a beautiful spruce (I have to admit that I always feel somehow bad cutting them down). I must say I rather enjoy it – but still my number one tree will always be Telperion.