Cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium

{{good article}} {{Short description|Theme in J. R. R. Tolkien's writing}} {{Use British English|date=May 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}} The fictional [[cosmology]] of [[J. R. R. Tolkien|J.{{nbsp}}R.{{nbsp}}R. Tolkien]]'s [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]] combines aspects of [[Christian theology]] and [[metaphysics]] with pre-modern cosmological concepts in the [[flat Earth]] paradigm, along with the modern [[spherical Earth]] view of the [[Solar System]].

The created world, ''Eä'', includes the planet Arda, corresponding to the [[Earth]]. It is created flat, with the dwelling of the godlike [[Valar]] at its centre. When this is marred by the evil Vala [[Melkor]], the world is reshaped, losing its perfect symmetry, and the Valar move to [[Valinor]], but the [[Elves in Middle-earth|Elves]] can still sail there from [[Middle-earth]]. When [[Men in Middle-earth|Men]] try to go there, hoping for immortality, Valinor and its continent of Aman are removed from Arda, which is reshaped as a round world. Scholars have compared the implied cosmology with that of Tolkien's religion, [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]], and of medieval poetry such as ''[[Pearl (poem)|Pearl]]'' or [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[Paradiso]]'', where there are three parts, Earth, [[Purgatory]] or the [[Earthly Paradise]], and [[Heaven]] or the [[Paradise|Celestial Paradise]]. Scholars have debated the nature of [[evil in Middle-earth]], arguing whether it is the absence of good (the [[Boethius|Boethian]] position) or equally as powerful as good (the [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] view).

== Ontology ==

{{anchor|Secret Fire|Eru Ilúvatar}} === Creation and destruction ===

Eru is introduced in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' as the [[God|supreme being]] of the universe, creator of everything, including the world, Arda, and its central continent, [[Middle-earth]]. In Tolkien's invented [[Elvish languages (Middle-earth)|Elvish]] language [[Quenya]], ''Eru'' means "The One", or "He that is Alone" and ''Ilúvatar'' signifies "[[List of names of Odin|Allfather]]".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|pp=329, 336, 356, 358}}</ref>

Eru first created a group of godlike or [[angel]]ic beings, the [[Ainur in Middle-earth|Ainur]], consisting of the powerful [[Valar in Middle-earth|Valar]] and their assistants, the [[Maiar in Middle-earth|Maiar]]. These assisted in the creation of the universe through a holy music and chanting called the ''[[Ainulindalë]]'' or "Music of the Ainur".<ref group=T name="Ainulindalë"/>

{{Quote box | width = 30% | quote = I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the shadow! You cannot pass. | source = – [[Gandalf]], speaking to the [[Balrog]]<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}} book 2, chapter 5, "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm"</ref>}}

Tolkien stated that the "Flame Imperishable" or "Secret Fire" represents the [[Holy Spirit]] in Christian theology,<ref>[[Clyde S. Kilby|Kilby, Clyde S.]] ''Tolkien & The Silmarillion''. [[Harold Shaw Publishers|Harold Shaw]], 1976, p. 59. "Tolkien admitted to Clyde Kilby in the summer of 1966 that this was the Holy Spirit. The nature of the Second Person of the Trinity, the Logos, appears only in the abstract in the story "Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth"{{nbsp}}[...] anticipat[ing] the Incarnation. 'They say that the One will enter himself into Arda, and heal Men and all the Marring from the beginning to the end'". [[Bradley J. Birzer]], "Eru" in [[Michael D. C. Drout]] (ed.), ''[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', 2007, p. 171.</ref> the creative activity of Eru, inseparable both from him and from his creation. In the interpretation of [[Christopher Tolkien]], it represents "the mystery of [[authorship]]", the author both standing outside of his work and indwelling in it.<ref name="Dickerson 2013 Hröa and Fëa"/> In the [[First Age]], Eru alone created [[Elves in Middle-earth|Elves]] and [[Men in Middle-earth|Men]], the "Children of Ilúvatar".<ref group=T name="Beginning"/> The race of the [[Dwarves in Middle-earth|Dwarves]] was created by [[Aulë]], a powerful Vala, and given [[sapience]] by Eru.<ref name="Of Aulë and Yavanna" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, chapter 2, "Of Aulë and Yavanna"</ref> Animals and plants were fashioned by [[Yavanna]] during the Music of the Ainur after the themes set out by Eru.<ref group=T name="Beginning"/>

Arda ends in the apocalyptic battle of [[Dagor Dagorath]], which Tolkien stated owed something to the [[Norse mythology|Norse myth]] of [[Ragnarök]].<ref name="Letter 131" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#131 to [[Milton Waldman]], late 1951 }}</ref>

=== Eru's direct interventions ===

In the [[Second Age]], Eru buried King [[Ar-Pharazôn]] of [[Númenor]] and his army when they invaded [[Aman (Tolkien)|Aman]], trying to reach the [[Valinor|Undying Lands]], which they wrongly supposed would give them [[immortality]]. He caused the Earth to take a spherical shape, drowned Númenor, and caused the Undying Lands to be taken "outside the spheres of the earth".<ref name="Shippey 2005 p324"/> When [[Gandalf]] died in the fight with the [[Balrog]] in ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', it was beyond the power of the [[Valar]] to resurrect him; Eru himself intervened to send Gandalf back.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#156 to [[Robert Murray (priest)|R. Murray, S.J.]], November 1954 }}</ref>

Discussing [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo's]] failure to destroy the Ring in ''[[The Return of the King]]'', Tolkien indicates in a letter that "the One" does intervene actively in the world, pointing to Gandalf's remark to Frodo that "[[Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo]] was meant to find the [[One Ring|Ring]], and {{em|not}} by its maker", and to the eventual destruction of the Ring despite Frodo's failure to complete the task.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#192 to Amy Ronald, December 1956 }}</ref>

=== Fëa and hröa ===

''Fëa'' and ''hröa'' are the "[[soul]]" and "body" of Elves and Men.<ref name="Dickerson 2013 Hröa and Fëa"/> Their ''hröa'' is made out of the matter of Arda; for this reason ''hröar'' are [[original sin|marred]] or, as Tolkien wrote, contain a "[[Melkor]] ingredient".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993}}, p. 400</ref> When an Elf dies, the ''fëa'' leaves the ''hröa'', which then dies. The ''fëa'' is summoned to the [[Halls of Mandos]] in Valinor, where it is judged; however, as with death, their free will is not taken away, and they could refuse the summons.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993}}, p. 339</ref> If allowed by Mandos, the ''fëa'' may be re-embodied into a new body identical to the previous ''hröa''. The situation of Men is different: a Mannish ''fëa'' is only a visitor to Arda, and when the ''hröa'' dies, the ''fëa'', after a brief stay in Mandos, leaves Arda completely.<ref name="Dickerson 2013 Hröa and Fëa">{{cite book |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Dickerson |chapter=The Hröa and Fëa of Middle-earth: Health, Ecology and the War|title=The Body in Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on Middle-earth Corporeality |editor=Christopher Vaccaro |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |year=2013 |pages=64–82}}</ref>

{{anchor|Unseen World}} === Unseen world ===

In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Tolkien justifies the nature of the Ring by explaining that [[Elves in Middle-earth|Elves]] and other immortal beings dwell in "both worlds" at once (the physical and the spiritual, or Unseen world) and have great power in both, especially those who have dwelt in the light of the [[Two Trees of Valinor]] before there was a Sun or Moon. The powers associated with 'magic' were spiritual in nature.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}} book 2, chapter 1, "Many Meetings". "you saw him for a moment as he [is] upon the other side:{{nbsp}}[...] for those who have dwelt in the [[Blessed Realm]] live at once in both worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they have great power."</ref><ref name="Mirror of Galadriel" group=T/>

The [[Sundering of the Elves|Elves who stayed in Middle-earth]] where Melkor once was dominant, being in bodies and surrounded by things that are themselves marred and subject to decay by the influence of Melkor, created the Elven Rings out of a desire to preserve the physical world unchanged; as if it were in the Undying Lands of Valinor, home of the Valar. Without the rings they are destined to eventually "fade", eventually becoming shadows in the physical world, prefiguring the concept of Elves as dwelling in a separate and often-underground (or [[Tír na nÓg|overseas]]) plane in historical European mythology.<ref name="Mirror of Galadriel" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}} book 2, chapter 7, "The Mirror of Galadriel". "yet if you succeed, then our power is diminished, and [[Lothlórien]] will fade, and the tides of Time will sweep it away. We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten."</ref>

Mortals who wear a [[Rings of Power|Ring of Power]] are destined to "fade" more rapidly, as the rings unnaturally preserve their life-span, turning them into [[ghost|wraiths]]. Invisibility is a side effect of this, as the wearer is temporarily drawn into the spirit world.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}} book 1, chapter 2, "[[The Shadow of the Past]]". "if [a mortal] often uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he {{em|fades}}: he becomes in the end invisible permanently, and walks in the twilight under the eye of the dark power that rules the Rings."</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}} book 2, chapter 1, "Many Meetings". "You were in gravest peril while you wore the Ring, for then you were half in the wraith-world yourself."</ref>

=== Men, Elves, and Paradise ===

Men live only in the world (Arda), are able to die from it, have souls, and may ultimately go to a kind of Heaven, though this is left vague in the [[legendarium]]. The case of Elves is different. They may inhabit the "undying lands" of Valinor, home of the Valar, effectively, according to the Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]], an "[[Earthly Paradise]]" as envisaged for Elves in the Middle English ''[[South English Legendary]]''. Other Elves are in Middle-earth; the Elf-queen [[Galadriel]] indeed is expelled from Valinor, much like the fallen Melkor, though she is clearly good, and much like an angel. Shippey considers whether Elves have souls. He reasons that, since they are unable to leave the world, the answer must be no; but, given that they do not disappear completely on death, the answer must be yes. In Shippey's view, the ''Silmarillion'' resolves the puzzle, letting Elves go not to Heaven but to the halfway house of the Halls of Mandos on Valinor.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=270–273}} The problem arises again with apparently wholly [[Evil in Middle-earth|evil]] beings such as [[Orc]]s. Since evil cannot make, only mock, Orcs cannot have an equal and opposite morality to that of Men; but since they speak and have a moral sense (though they are unable to keep to it), they [[Tolkien's moral dilemma|are neither wholly evil nor lacking sentience]].<ref name="Tally 2010">{{cite journal |last=Tally |first=Robert T. Jr. |author-link=Robert Tally |title=Let Us Now Praise Famous Orcs: Simple Humanity in Tolkien's Inhuman Creatures |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=2010 |volume=29 |issue=1 |at=article 3 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol29/iss1/3 |access-date=17 November 2022 |archive-date=17 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117120033/https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol29/iss1/3/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=362, 438 (chapter 5, note 14)}} All of this implies, as various scholars have commented, a [[Tolkien and race|hierarchy of races]] comparable with the Medieval [[great chain of being]].<ref name="Chandler Fry 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Chandler |first1=Wayne A. |last2=Fry |first2=Carrol L. |title=Tolkien's Allusive Backstory: Immortality and Belief in the Fantasy Frame |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=2017 |volume=35 |issue=2 |at=article 7 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol35/iss2/7 |access-date=16 November 2022 |archive-date=16 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116172402/https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol35/iss2/7/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Stuart 2022">{{cite book |last=Stuart |first=Robert |chapter=Tolkien, Race, and the Critics: Debating Racism in Middle-earth |title=Tolkien, Race, and Racism in Middle-earth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0hrEAAAQBAJ |year=2022 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-3-030-97475-6 |location=Cham, Switzerland |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-97475-6 |oclc=1312274691 |s2cid=248207455 |page=46 |access-date=16 November 2022 |archive-date=16 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116171504/https://books.google.com/books?id=t0hrEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Tally |first=R. T. Jr |author-link=Robert Tally |year=2022 |chapter=More Dangerous and Less Wise: Race, Class, and the Geopolitical Order |title=J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Hobbit'' |series=Palgrave Science Fiction and Fantasy: A New Canon |pages=65–84 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-11266-9_5 |isbn=978-3031112669 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;" |+ [[Great chain of being|Hierarchy of beings]]<ref name="Chandler Fry 2017"/><ref name="Stuart 2022"/> |- ! Tolkien !! Catholicism / Medieval world |- | Eru, the creator || [[God]] |- | [[Valar in Middle-earth|Valar]], immortal, participating in the creation || [[Angel]]s (or pantheon of [[Æsir|Norse gods]]) |- | Fallen Vala, [[Morgoth|Melkor]] || Fallen Angel, [[Satan]] |- | [[Elves in Middle-earth|Elves]] ("functionally immortal"<ref name="Chandler Fry 2017"/>) || |- | [[Men in Middle-earth|Men]] (mortal) || Men (with souls) |- | [[Orc]]s (possibly evil)<ref name="Tally 2010"/> || |- | Beasts || Animals (no soul) |}

Several scholars have likened the implied cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium to that of his religion, [[Roman Catholicism]], and that of Medieval poetry.<ref name="Drout 2007">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Drout |first=Michael D. C. |author-link=Michael D. C. Drout |chapter=Eldamar |title=The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia |title-link=The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia |page=145 |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0 |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-last=Drout |publisher=[[CRC Press]]}}</ref><ref name="Kelly 2009">{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=A. Keith |last2=Livingston |first2=Michael |title='A Far Green Country: Tolkien, Paradise, and the End of All Things in Medieval Literature |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=2009 |volume=27 |issue=3 }}</ref><ref name="Dickerson 2007">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew T. |author-link=Matthew T. Dickerson |chapter=Paradise |title=The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia |title-link=The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia |pages=502–503 |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0 |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-last=Drout |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |publisher=[[CRC Press]] }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;" |+ Cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium compared to Catholicism and Medieval poetry<ref name="Drout 2007"/><ref name="Kelly 2009"/><ref name="Dickerson 2007"/> ! Tolkien !! [[Catholicism]] !! ''[[Pearl (poem)|Pearl]]'', [[Paradiso|Dante's ''Paradiso'']] |- | "that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be"<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, book 6, chapter 4, "The Field of Cormallen"</ref> || [[Heaven]] || [[Paradise|Celestial Paradise]], "beyond" |- | Undying lands of Aman, Elvenhome in [[Valinor]] || [[Purgatory]] || [[Earthly Paradise|Earthly Paradise, Garden of Eden]] |- | [[Middle-earth]] || [[Earth]] || [[Earth]] |}

=== Evil in Middle-earth ===

Tolkien used the first part of ''The Silmarillion'', the ''Ainulindalë'' or creation account, to describe his thoughts on the origin of evil in his fictional world, which he took pains to comport with his own beliefs on the subject, as accounted in his ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien|Letters]].''

In the ''Ainulindalë'', evil represents a rebellion against the creative process set in motion by Eru. Evil is defined by its original actor, Melkor, a [[Lucifer]]ian figure who falls from grace in active rebellion against Eru, out of a desire to create and control things of his own.<ref group=T name="Ainulindalë"/> Melkor creates Orcs in mockery of Elves, or by corrupting Elves he had captured in his northern Middle-earth fortress of Udûn.<ref group=T name="Coming of the Elves"/>

Shippey writes that Tolkien's Middle-earth writings embody the ancient Christian debate on the nature of [[evil]]. Shippey notes [[Elrond]]'s [[Boethian]] statement that "nothing is evil in the beginning. Even [the Dark Lord] [[Sauron]] was not so",<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, book 2, chapter 2, "[[The Council of Elrond]]"</ref> in other words all things were created good; but this is set alongside the [[Manichean]] view that good and evil are equally powerful, and battle it out in the world.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=160-161}} Tolkien's personal war experience was Manichean: evil seemed at least as powerful as good, and could easily have been victorious, a strand which Shippey notes can also be seen in Middle-earth.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=169-170}} [[Brian Rosebury]], a humanities scholar, interprets Elrond's statement as implying an [[Augustinianism|Augustinian]] universe, created good.<ref name="Rosebury 2003">{{cite book |last=Rosebury |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Rosebury |title=Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon |title-link=Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon |date=2003 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] |isbn=978-1403-91263-3 |pages=35–41}}</ref>

== The physical universe ==

{{anchor|Arda|Stars|Eä}} === Flat-earth cosmology ===

<gallery mode=packed heights=200px> File:Arda Ambarkanta.jpg|Sketch of one of Tolkien's conceptions of Arda within the Void, ''Kúma'', showing the Encircling Ocean, ''Ekkaia'' around the Flat Earth, ''Ambar'', the Air, ''Vista'', and the Starry Heaven, ''Ilmen'', before the creation of Sun and Moon.|alt=A diagram of a version of Tolkien's flat-earth cosmology File:Arda in the Ages of the Lamps.svg|Arda as a flat disc in the [[Years of the Lamps]]|alt=A diagram of Arda's flat-earth cosmology early in its history </gallery>

''Eä'', "that which is", is the material [[universe]] as a realisation of the vision of the Ainur. The Quenya word is from the existential {{em|to be}} in its [[aorist]] form. ''Eä'' was the word spoken by Eru Ilúvatar to bring the universe into actuality.<ref group=T name="Ainulindalë">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=''[[Ainulindalë]]''}}</ref>

The Void (''Kúma'', the Outer Dark) is the nothingness outside Arda. From Arda, it is accessible through the Doors of Night. The Valar exiled Melkor to the Void after his defeat in the [[War of Wrath]]. Legend foretells that Melkor will return to Arda just before the apocalyptic battle of Dagor Dagorath. The void is not to be confused with the state of non-being that preceded the creation of Eä.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993}}, "Myths Transformed", section VII</ref>

When Arda (the Earth) was created, "innumerable [[star]]s" were already in existence.<ref group=T name="Ainulindalë"/> To provide greater light, the Valar later created the Two Lamps in Middle-earth, and when these were destroyed they created the [[Two Trees of Valinor]]. These gave rise to the Ages of the Lamps and the [[Years of the Trees]], however the Ages of the Stars did not conclude until the creation of the Sun and Moon.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 13 "Of the Return of the Noldor"}}</ref> During the Years of the Trees, shortly before the [[Awakening of the Elves]], [[Varda (Middle-earth)|Varda]] created the Great Stars: "new stars and brighter" and constellations.<ref group=T name="Coming of the Elves">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc= chapter 3, "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"}}</ref>

Ilúvatar created Arda according to a [[flat Earth]] cosmology. This disc-like Arda has continents and the seas, and the moon and the stars revolve around it. Arda was created to be the "Habitation" (''Ambar'') for Elves and Men.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Arda |last=Bolintineanu |first=Alexandra |pages=24–25 |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |editor=Drout, Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=2013}}</ref> This world was lit by two lamps created by the Valar: Illuin ('Sky-blue') and Ormal ('High-gold'). To support the lamps, Aulë forged two enormous pillars of rock: Helcar in the north of the continent Middle-earth, and Ringil in the south. Illuin was set upon Helcar and Ormal upon Ringil. Between the columns, where the light of the lamps mingled, the Valar dwelt on the island of [[Almaren]] in the midst of a Great Lake.<ref group=T name="Beginning">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc= chapter 1, "Of the Beginning of Days"}}</ref> When Melkor destroyed the lamps, two vast inland seas (Helcar and Ringil) and two major seas (Belegaer and the Eastern Sea) were formed, but Almaren and its lake were destroyed.<ref group=T name="Coming of the Elves"/> The Valar left Middle-earth, and went to the newly formed continent of Aman in the west, where they created their home called [[Valinor]]. To discourage Melkor from assailing Aman, they thrust the continent of Middle-earth to the east, thus widening Belegaer at its middle, and raising five major mountain ranges in Middle-earth: the Blue, Red, Grey, and Yellow Mountains, plus the Mountains of the Wind. This act disrupted the symmetrical shapes of the continents and seas.<ref name="Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, chapter 11, "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"</ref>

Ekkaia, also called the Enfolding Ocean and the Encircling Sea, is a dark sea that surrounds the world before the cataclysm at the end of the Second Age. During this flat-Earth period, Ekkaia flows completely around Arda, which floats on it like a ship on a sea. Above Ekkaia is a layer of atmosphere. Ulmo the Lord of Waters dwells in Ekkaia, underneath Arda. Ekkaia is extremely cold; where its waters meet the waters of the ocean [[Belegaer]] on the northwest of Middle-earth, a chasm of ice is formed: the [[Helcaraxë]]. Ekkaia cannot support any ships except the boats of Ulmo. The Sun passes through Ekkaia on its way around the world, warming it as it passes.<ref group=T name="Beginning"/><ref group=T name="Sun and Moon"/>

Ilmen is a region of clean air pervaded by light, before the cataclysm at the end of the Second Age. The stars and other celestial bodies are in this region. The Moon passes through Ilmen on its way around the world, plunging down the Chasm of Ilmen on its return.<ref group=T name="Sun and Moon">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc= chapter 11, "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"}}</ref>

{{anchor|Straight Road}} === Spherical-earth cosmology ===

<gallery mode=packed heights=300px class=skin-invert-image> File:Downfall of Númenor.svg|The Downfall of [[Númenor]] and the Changing of the World.{{pb}}[[Valinor|Aman]] is removed from Arda.<ref group=T name="Letter 154">"Actually in the imagination of this story we are now living on a physically round Earth. But the whole 'legendarium' contains a transition from a flat world{{nbsp}}[...] to a globe" {{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#154 to [[Naomi Mitchison]], 25 September 1954 }}</ref><ref name="Shippey 2005 p324">{{harvnb|Shippey|2005|pages=324–328, "The Lost Straight Road"}}</ref>{{pb}}Shapes of continents are purely schematic.|alt=An infographic of the transition of Arda from a flat-earth to a modern cosmology File:Tolkien's Imagined Prehistory.svg|Tolkien imagined Arda as the [[Earth]] in the distant past.<ref name="Kocher 1974">{{cite book |last=Kocher |first=Paul |author-link=Paul H. Kocher |title=Master of Middle-earth: The Achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien |title-link=Master of Middle-earth |date=1974 |orig-year=1972 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0140038779 |pages=8–11}}</ref> With the loss of all its peoples except Man, and the reshaping of the continents, all that is left of Middle-earth is a dim memory in [[folklore]], [[legend]], and [[Etymology|old words]].<ref name="Lee Solopova 2005">{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Stuart D. |author1-link=Stuart D. Lee |last2=Solopova |first2=Elizabeth |author2-link=Elizabeth Solopova |title=The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature Through the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien |title-link=The Keys of Middle-earth |date=2005 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] |isbn=978-1403946713 |pages=256–257}}</ref>|alt=Arda as an imagined Earth in the distant past </gallery>

Tolkien's legendarium addresses the [[spherical Earth]] paradigm by depicting a catastrophic transition from a flat to a spherical world, in which Aman, the continent where Valinor lay, was removed "from the circles of the world".<ref name="Shippey 2005 p324"/> The only remaining way to reach Aman was the so called [[Old Straight Road]], a hidden route leaving Middle-earth's curvature through sky and space which was exclusively known and open to the Elves, who were able to navigate it with their ships.<ref name="Shippey 2005 p324"/>

This transition from a flat to a spherical Earth is at the centre of Tolkien's "[[Atlantis]]" legend. The Númenóreans, growing arrogant, tried to reach Valinor, thinking that being there would confer immortality; but Eru destroyed their island and reshaped the world to prevent Men from ever reaching it. Tolkien's unfinished ''[[The Lost Road]]'' suggests a sketch of the idea of historical continuity connecting the Elvish mythology of the First Age with the classical Atlantis myth, the [[Germanic migrations]], [[Anglo-Saxon England]] and the modern period, presenting the Atlantis legend in [[Plato]] and other [[deluge myth]]s as a "confused" account of the story of Númenor. The cataclysmic re-shaping of the world would have left its imprint on the cultural memory and [[collective unconscious]] of humanity, and even on the [[Genetic memory (psychology)|genetic memory]] of individuals. The "Atlantis" part of the legendarium explores the theme of the memory of a 'straight road' into the West, which now only exists in memory or myth, because the physical world has been changed.<ref group=T name="Letter 154"/><ref name="Shippey 2005 p324"/> The ''[[Akallabêth]]'' says that the Númenóreans who survived the catastrophe sailed as far west as they could in search of their ancient home, but their travels only brought them around the world back to their starting points.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977}}, ''[[Akallabêth]]''</ref>

A few years after publishing ''The Lord of the Rings'', in a note associated with the story "[[Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth]]", Tolkien equated Arda with the Solar System; because Arda by this point consisted of more than one heavenly body, with Valinor on another planet, while the Sun and Moon were celestial objects in their own right.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Larsen |first=Kristine |title=A Little Earth of His Own: Tolkien's Lunar Creation Myths |journal=The Ring Goes Ever on: Proceedings of the Tolkien 2005 Conference |volume=2 |editor=Sarah Wells |publisher=[[The Tolkien Society]] |pages=394–403 |date=2008}}</ref>

=== Planets and constellations ===

[[File:Emblema Durin.svg|thumb|upright|[[Durin]]'s emblem includes the "Seven Stars" of the ''Valacirca'', which Tolkien identified as [[The Plough]].<ref name="Manning 2003"/>|alt=Drawing of an emblem with seven stars]]

Tolkien developed a list of names and meanings called the ''[[Qenya Lexicon]]''. Christopher Tolkien included extracts from this in an appendix to ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'', with mentions of specific stars, planets, and constellations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Larsen |first=Kristine |chapter=Sea Birds and Morning Stars: Ceyx, Alcyone, and the Many Metamorphoses of Eärendil and Elwing |title=Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays |editor-last=Fisher |editor-first=Jason |editor-link=Jason Fisher |publisher=[[McFarland Publishing]] |pages=69–83 |year=2011}} The index entries are Gong, Ingil, Mornië, Morwinyon, Nielluin, Silindrin, and Telimektar.</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Larsen |first=Kristine |title=Red Comets and Red Stars: Tolkien, Martin, and the Use of Astronomy in Fantasy Series |conference=Proceedings of the 2nd Mythgard Institute Mythmoot |volume=2 |editor-last=Swank |editor-first=Kris |publisher=[[Mythgard Institute]] |year=2014 |url=http://www.mythgard.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Mythmoot2_Larsen_Astronomy-in-Fantasy1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321023845/http://www.mythgard.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Mythmoot2_Larsen_Astronomy-in-Fantasy1.pdf |archive-date=21 March 2015 }}</ref> The Sun was called Anor or Ur.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|loc="The Coming of the Valar"}}</ref><ref name="RotK" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} Tolkien defines Anor and Durin's Crown (under 'Star') in Index IV and Menelvagor and Ithil in Appendix E.I in the entries for 'H' and 'TH' consonant sounds respectively.</ref> The Moon was called Ithil or Silmo.<ref name="Parma-Eldalamberon" group=T/><ref name="RotK2" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}} Appendix E. I, TH</ref> Eärendil's Star denotes the light of a Silmaril, set on [[Eärendil]]'s ship ''Vingilot'' as it flew across the sky, identified as the planet [[Venus]]. The English use of the word "earendel" in the Old English poem ''[[Christ I]]'' was found by 19th century philologists to be some sort of bright star, and [[Eärendil and Elwing#Origins|from 1914 Tolkien took this to mean the morning-star]]; he still thought so late in his life, in 1967.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984b|p=266}}</ref> The line ''éala éarendel engla beorhtast'' "Hail, Earendel, brightest of angels" was Tolkien's inspiration.<ref name="Lee Solopova 2005"/> Tolkien created [[Sindarin]] names for the other planets in the solar system, as recorded in ''[[Morgoth's Ring]]'', but did not use these elsewhere. The names were Silindo for [[Jupiter]], Carnil for [[Mars]], Elemmire for [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], Luinil for [[Uranus]], Lumbar for [[Saturn]], and Nenar for [[Neptune]].<ref name="MR index" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993}}, Index</ref> ''The Book of Lost Tales'' lists Morwen as a name for Jupiter.<ref name="BoLT-Appendixmorn" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|loc=Appendix, "Mornie"}}</ref>

A few individual stars have been identified as names of real stars, whether by Tolkien, his son Christopher, or by scholars. Tolkien indicates in "Three is Company" in ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' that Borgil is a red star which appears between Remmirath (the Pleiades) and before Menelvagor (Orion). Larsen and others write that [[Aldebaran]] is the only major red star to fit the description.<ref name="Larsen 2005">{{cite journal |last=Larsen |first=Kristine |title=A Definitive Identification of Tolkien's 'Borgil': An Astronomical and Literary Approach |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |year=2005 |volume=2 |pages=161–170 |doi=10.1353/tks.2005.0023 |s2cid=170378050}}</ref><ref name="Manning 2003"/> Helluin (also Gil, Nielluin and Nierninwa) is the dog star, [[Sirius]], while Morwinyon is [[Arcturus]].<ref name="Manning 2003"/>

As with the planets, a few major constellations are named in the Legendarium, and can be equated with real constellations seen in the Northern hemisphere. Eksiqilta (also Ekta) is [[Orion's Belt]].<ref name="Parma-Eldalamberon" group=T>{{cite journal |title=[[Qenya Lexicon]] |journal=[[Parma Eldalamberon]] |volume=12}} This includes star names omitted from ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'' appendix, on its pages 35, 43, 63, and 82.</ref> Menelvagor (also Daimord, Menelmacar, Mordo, Swordsman of the Sky, Taimavar, Taimondo, Telimbektar, Telimektar, Telumehtar) is [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]] the hunter<ref name="Manning 2003"/> and was meant to represent [[Túrin Turambar]]. Remmirath (also Itselokte or Sithaloth), "the Netted Stars", is the [[Pleiades]] or Seven Sisters.<ref name="Manning 2003"/> Valacirca, "the Sickle of the [[Valar]]",<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc= Of the Coming of the Elves}} (also Durin's Crown, Burning Briar, Edegil, Otselen, Seven Stars, Seven Butterflies, Silver Sickle, Timbridhil)</ref> is [[Ursa Major]] (the Plough or Big Dipper)<ref name="Manning 2003"/> which [[Valar in Middle-earth#Varda|Varda]] set in the Northern sky as a warning to Melkor. Wilwarin, meaning "Butterfly", is taken to be [[Cassiopeia (constellation)|Cassiopeia]].<ref name="Manning 2003">{{cite journal |last1=Manning |first1=Jim |last2=Taylor Planetarium |title=Elvish Star Lore |journal=The Planetarian |issue=14 |year=2003 |url=https://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/86966363/32134794/name/elvish+star+lore.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220121759/https://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/86966363/32134794/name/elvish+star+lore.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Analysis ==

=== Theological basis ===

In his 2020 book ''Tolkien's Cosmology'', the scholar of English literature Sam McBride suggests a new category, "monotheistic polytheism", for the theological basis of Tolkien's cosmology, insofar as it combines a [[polytheistic]] pantheon with the Valar, Maiar, and beings such as [[Tom Bombadil]], alongside an evidently [[monotheistic]] cosmos created by one god, Eru Ilúvatar.{{sfn|McBride|2020|p=14}} In his view, the Valar "cannot be reduced either to spirit-beings or earth-forces; they encompass both simultaneously".{{sfn|McBride|2020|p=35}} McBride shows how Eru's actions can be seen in the creation of the world (Eä) and the Valar through which he acts, and [[Tolkien's ambiguity|more ambiguously]] in the Third Age where the divine will is at most hinted at.<ref name="Dickerson 2020">{{cite journal |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Dickerson |year=2020 |title=[Review] Tolkien's Cosmology: Divine Beings and Middle-earth (2020) by Sam McBride |journal=[[Journal of Tolkien Research]] |volume=11 |issue=1 |at=Article 5 |url=https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol11/iss1/5 |access-date=23 September 2021 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512030736/https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol11/iss1/5/ |url-status=live }} reviewing {{harvnb|McBride|2020}}</ref>

The theologian Catherine Madsen writes that Tolkien found it impossible to make his many drafts and revisions of ''The Silmarillion'' consistent with ''The Lord of the Rings'', leaving it unpublished at his death. Its cosmology is glimpsed: she notes that the tale of Earendil is recited, and it serves as background to Frodo and Sam's use of the [[Phial of Galadriel]], which contains some of the light of Earendil's star. In contrast, the creation myth of the ''Ainulindalë'' is not even mentioned in ''The Lord of the Rings'', though she notes that it could have been: ''[[Beowulf]]'' offered a suitable model familiar to Tolkien, in the minstrel's telling of a creation story. By having ''The Lord of the Rings'' told from the hobbits' point of view, Madsen writes, cosmology is pushed still further into the background: the hobbits know even less of the Valar than Men do, and Eru is not mentioned at all.<ref name="Madsen 2010">{{cite book |last=Madsen |first=Catherine |chapter=Eru Erased: The Minimalist Cosmology of ''The Lord of the Rings'' |editor-last=Kerry |editor-first=Paul E. |title=The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and the Lord of the Rings |date=2010 |publisher=[[Fairleigh Dickinson University Press]] |isbn=978-1-61147-065-9 |pages=152–169 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32FODDQdKLIC&pg=PA152 |access-date=16 November 2021 |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219021939/https://books.google.com/books?id=32FODDQdKLIC&pg=PA152#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Round world version ===

Scholars have noted that Tolkien seems in later life to have hesitated and drawn back from the flat earth cosmology of Arda [[Tolkien's round world dilemma|in favour of a round world version]], but that it was so deeply embedded in the entire Legendarium that recasting it in what Deirdre Dawson, writing in ''[[Tolkien Studies]]'', calls "a more rational, scientifically plausible, global shape", proved unworkable.<ref name="Madsen 2010"/><ref name="Dawson 2008 pp. 205–209">{{cite journal | last=Dawson | first=Deidre A. | title=[[The Evolution of Tolkien's Mythology]]: A Study of the History of Middle-earth (review) | journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] | volume=5 | issue=1 | year=2008 | issn=1547-3163 | doi=10.1353/tks.0.0028 | pages=205–209| s2cid=170596445 }}</ref>

The Tolkien scholar [[Janet Brennan Croft]] states in ''[[Mythlore]]'' that the races of Middle-earth, Hobbits, Men, Elves, and Dwarves, all believe that there is "a literal cosmological battle between Good and Evil", all expecting a "final cataclysmic battle". Readers may, she writes, consider interpreting the ''Ainulindalë'' metaphorically, so that Melkor's attempts to destroy Arda, "raising the valleys, throwing down the mountains, spilling the seas—could be read as a symbolic representation of [[Geology|geological]] forces", but there is no suggestion of this in the text.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Croft |first=Janet Brennan |authorlink=Janet Brennan Croft |year=2010 |title=The Thread on Which Doom Hangs: Free Will, Disobedience, and Eucatastrophe in Tolkien's Middle-earth |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=29 |issue=1 |at=Article 9 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol29/iss1/9 |access-date=23 September 2021 |archive-date=3 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203012843/https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol29/iss1/9/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Tolkien's maps]]

==References==

===Primary===

===Secondary===

=== Sources ===

* {{ME-ref|Letters}}  * {{cite book |last=McBride |first=Sam |title=Tolkien's Cosmology: Divine Beings and Middle-earth |publisher=[[Kent State University Press]] |publication-place=Kent, Ohio |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-60635-396-7 |oclc=1121602421 }} * {{ME-ref|ROAD}}  * {{ME-ref|FOTR}} * {{ME-ref|ROTK}} * {{ME-ref|Silm}} * {{ME-ref|MR}} * {{ME-ref|BOLT}} * {{ME-ref|BOLT2}}

[[Category:Middle-earth theology| ]] [[Category:Fictional philosophies]]