#hildorien

“In the East the sun rises over the lands where the first Men once awoke…”

When we speak of Middle-earth, we often think of the Shire, Rivendell, or Mordor. But the East holds its own ancient mysteries — Rhovanion and Hildórien.

🏔️ Rhovanion — the Wilderland

Rhovanion (the Wilderland) stretches far to the east of the Misty Mountains. Here flows the Great River Anduin, here lie the dark woods of Mirkwood, and to the north rises the Lonely Mountain — Erebor.

These lands have witnessed many tales: — the journey of Thorin and his company, — the rebirth of Dale, — and the distant roots of the Rohirrim, whose forefathers once called Rhovanion home.

Rhovanion is the wild heart of Middle-earth, where Men, Elves, and beasts have shared the long song of the land beneath the shadow of ancient trees.

☀️ Hildórien — the Place of Awakening

Far beyond the Sea of Rhûn, past mountains and winds, lies Hildórien — the place where Men first awoke. There, as the first sunlight touched their faces, they beheld a world still young and strange.

But Morgoth, the first of the fallen Valar, came there too — whispering fear and deceit into their hearts. Since then, the East of Middle-earth has carried a double memory: of awakening, and of corruption.

“Few in the West remember the names of those elder lands. Yet the wind from beyond the mountains still carries faint echoes of their forgotten songs…”

So one bit of Tolkien's legendarium that most people miss, because it's only talked about in a rather obscure story, and never actually shown, is the thematic connection between Morgoth and Sauron's respective corruptions of humanity.

Sauron greatest "achievement" when he got to Numenor and corrupted the people there, was to get them to abandon Eru, and build an enormous temple dedicated to worshipping Morgoth, where they sacrificed Human beings in real, pagan sacrificial style.

It was in short, the ultimate defilement of the holy Island, far greater and more devastating to the Numenoreans than anything Morgoth did to Beleriand, for it brought the Numenoreans down to Sauron's level of their own free will.

The funny thing is though, Morgoth did the exact same thing. To such a degree that it's safe to assume that Sauron deliberately modelled his corruption of the Numenoreans in their blessed Island paradise, on the corruption of the Human race in their birthplace of Hildórien(this universe version of/inspiration for the Garden of Eden).

Like Sauron, Morgoth sought out the Human race when they were young, back when they were were still blessed by their inborn gifts of Illuvatar, and possessed a capacity/potential for creation that the King of Nargothrond would later describe as greater than the Valar.

And like Sauron, through lies and displays of power, he tricked the early Humans into abandoning Eru's words and teachings, culminating in them building a great temple to Morgoth in the great holy valley, in which either out of fear or genuine belief, every single human being alive at the time passed through at least once.

This all culminated when Humanity in it's folly, finally crossed a line, and on Morgoth's orders, began to sacrifice their fellow men in that great temple of stone they had used their godgiven powers of creation to make.

What followed was the entire Human race being stripped of that godgiven ability, and a lot of their blessings going with it. The true understanding of the "gift of man" aka natural death, that was humanity's great blessing and doom was broken, and ever after Humanity would need to face it with uncertainty and fear.

And where once the Human race was one, hereafter as Morgoth fled back west, the diminished Humankind splintered into many different parts, becoming the ancestors of all the various tribes and ethnicities that would follow.

men of middle-earth ϟ the first men ϟ headcanon disclaimer

The Path of Dreams

Deep in his caverns, Túvon felt a stirring: the movement of a breath that should not yet be.

Back to Middle-earth Month | 3/24/22 Shades of Sauron: Túvon | Landscapes of Arda: Hildórien | G-89: Create a fanwork relating to any geographical area or peoples in Arda that you think we do not get enough information about in canon.

Rating: G | No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Túvon & Nuin, Nuin & Elmir & Ermon Characters: Túvon, Nuin, Elmir, Ermon Word count: 1,700 (exactly!)

edit requests ⚝ the families of elrond + elros ⚝ for Loraliell + @hildorien​

Now Elros and Elrond his brother were descended from the Three Houses of the Edain, but in part also both from the Eldar and the Maiar; for Idril of Gondolin and Lúthien daughter of Melian were their fore-mothers. The Valar indeed may not withdraw the gift of death, which comes to Men from Ilúvatar, but in the matter of the Half-elven Ilúvatar gave to them the judgement; and they judged that to the sons of Eärendil should be given choice of their own destiny. And Elrond chose to remain with the Firstborn, and to him the life of the Firstborn was granted. But to Elros, who chose to be a king of Men, still a great span of years was allotted, many times that of the Men of Middle-earth; and all his line, the kings and lords of the royal house, had long life even according to the measure of the Númenóreans. But Elros lived five hundred years, and ruled the Númenóreans four hundred years and ten.

—The Silmarillion, “Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath”

In all the days of the Third Age, after the fall of Gil-galad, Master Elrond abode in Imladris, and he gathered there many Elves, and other folk of wisdom and power from among all the kindreds of Middle-earth, and he preserved through many lives of Men the memory of all that had been fair; and the house of Elrond was a refuge for the weary and the oppressed, and a treasury of good counsel and wise lore. In that house were harboured the Heirs of Isildur, in childhood and old age, because of the kinship of their blood with Elrond himself, and because he knew in his wisdom that one should come of their line to whom a great part was appointed in the last deeds of that Age. And until that time came the shards of Elendil’s sword were given into the keeping of Elrond, when the days of the Dúnedain darkened and they became a wandering people.

@ataniweek day one | men with the sun, eru, and two dark lords