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InThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy, one of the conflicts we see between Elrond and Arwen is about Arwen sailing to the Undying Lands. Apart from showing viewers that the Undying Lands, otherwise called Valinor, is home to the Elves and they are returning, not much else is mentioned about it in the trilogy.
However, in the beginning ofThe Rings of Power, a lot more is revealed about Valinor than is shown inThe Lord of the Rings. Before the Elves lived in Middle Earth, Valinor was the only home they knew. Until the day came that they had toleave the Undying Lands.
In the show, it’s revealed that the Elves left Valinor to fight an ancient evil, Morgoth. But this is only scraping the surface of why they left the Undying Lands. The reasoning goes much deeper than this, and even involves a curse placed on the Elves by theValar, deities who lived in Aman.
Why Do The Elves Leave The Undying Lands?
Valinor is a country located far West of Middle Earth on the continent of Aman that is the Elves’ ancestral home. However, before the First Age, the Elves left the Undying Lands to fight Morgoth. But why were they engaging in battle with him to begin with?
To fully understand why theElves were fighting against Morgothand left Valinor, it’s important to know a bit of history about the Valar.
Who Is Melkor?
As mentioned, the Valar are deities of Aman, who serve Ilúvatar, the only god in Tolkien’s world responsible for creation. Ilúvatar created the Valar to follow his will, however one of them,Melkor, was filled with envy and hate, which led to him rebelling against Ilúvatar and the Valar.
The rest of the Valar united together and faced Melkor in Middle Earth. Here they attacked and defeated him. The Valar bound him to his fortress in Middle Earth, where he was imprisoned. After the battle against Melkor, the Valar then invited the Elves to make Valinor their home.
How Did Melkor Deceive The Elves?
Eventually, Melkor’s sentence came to an end, and at that point he feigned a change of heart. The Valar invited him back to Aman, where Melkor was able to plant lies and turn different Elven groups against each other, without anyone noticing.
However, Melkor’s deceptions went further than just planting lies. He was plotting for his own gain. Melkor ended up stealing from the Elves something extremely precious and powerful, the Silmarils, which led to one group of them, the Noldorin Elves going against the will of the Valar. Once everyone was able to see Melkor for who he truly was, theElves started calling him Morgothinstead, meaning “dark enemy.”
Because Morgoth stole something extremely valuable to the Elves, the Noldorin vowed they would reclaim the stolen item and defeat Morgoth, leading them to chasing after him when he left Middle Earth.
What Is The Doom Of Mandos?
Whilenot all Elves left Valinorto defeat Morgoth and reclaim what is rightfully theirs, those that did directly defied the Valar and became cursed. The curse on the Elves that left the Undying Lands was known as the Doom of Mandos. But they weren’t simply cursed because they left Valinor.
Instead, they were cursed because these Elves committed a horrible crime against their own kind.
What Is The First Kinslaying?
Before Melkor stole the Silmarils and became known as Morgoth, he was able to corrupt Fëanor, the Elf who created theSilmarils, extremely rare gemsthat were coveted by many different people and species. The Silmarils were extremely important to the Elves as a whole, because they were the source of light of the Two Trees of Valinor. But through Melkor’s deception, Fëanor thought all the Valar wanted the Silmarils for themselves.
Eventually, Melkor’s deception came to light, but by then it was too late. Melkor had stolen the Silmarils for himself, destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor, and fled Valinor to Middle Earth. This was when the Elves started calling him Morgoth.
Fëanor, enraged by the deception, led the Noldorin Elves against Morgothto reclaim the Silmarils. However, he couldn’t very well travel to Middle Earth without ships to carry all of the Noldorin Elves. Fëanor and his Elves went to Alqualondë, an Elven city in Valinor, where they had hoped the Teleri Elves would allow them to take their ships across the sea to follow Morgoth. When the Teleri refused because it was against the will of the Valar, Fëanor took his Elves to the harbor and started boarding the ships without permission.
This caused a battle to erupt, where Fëanor raised his sword against his own kind, killing many Teleri Elves. The Noldorin then took the ships and sailed for Middle Earth. They swore an oath to defeat Morgoth and recover the Silmarils. This later became known as theFirst Kinslaying among the Elves.
How Did This Result In The Doom of Mandos?
The Doom of Mandos, also called the Curse of Mandos or the Prophecy of the North, was a judgment the Valar passed on the Noldorin Elves after the First Kinslaying, and any other Elves who joined their cause. Many viewed it as a curse on the Elves who left Valinor for Middle Earth. It got it’s name from Mandos, one of the Valar, who is said to have pronounced this judgment on them.
The Doom of Mandos said that the Elves who left to fight Morgoth were exiled because they killed their own kin. The doors of Valinor would be shut to them by the Valar. This included all the Elves that left Valinor to fight Morgoth, even if they didn’t kill their own kind, such asGaladriel and her brothers. On the other hand, it also prophesied that any Elves, although immortal, that are killed in Middle Earth, will return to Mandos in spirit.
Why Don’t All Elves Return To Valinor Once Morgoth Is Gone?
Although the Elves are cursed and exiled from Valinor, inThe Rings of Powerit’s learned that Elves can be granted the right to return to the Undying Lands.
The Rings of Powertakes place during the Second Age of Middle Earth, after the Elves have defeated Morgoth. This means if the Valar forgive the Elves, they can be granted passage to Valinor. The series even shows that some Elves have already been granted this huge honor, among them Galadriel and her company (althoughGaladriel chooses not to returnto the Undying Lands just yet).
But just because Morgoth was gone doesn’t mean all Elves had earned the right to return to Valinor. Simply put, an Elf was granted passage to return to the Undying Lands when their work in Middle Earth was finished, and many were granted this honor in the Second Age, but not all were. On the other hand, some Elves, like Galadriel, were givenpassage back to Valinorduring the Second Age, but chose to reject it.
However, come the beginning of the Fourth Age inThe Lord of the Rings, all Elves were granted passage to return to the Undying Lands. Even if they had previously rejected passage like Galadriel, the time of the Elves was over and if any remained in Middle Earth they were choosing a mortal life.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic names in entertainment. The franchise started with novels from J. R. R. Tolkien before being adapted onto the big screen by Peter Jackson in one of the most critically-acclaimed film trilogies of all time. There have also been numerous The Lord of the Rings video games of varying quality.
