Editing Eärendil and Elwing (section)

=== Splintered light ===

{{further|Christianity in Middle-earth#Light}}

The Tolkien scholar [[Verlyn Flieger]] writes in her 1983 book ''[[Splintered Light|Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World]]'' that a central theme of Tolkien's writing is the progressive fragmentation of the light from the moment of the creation; light symbolises both the divine creation and the author's [[subcreation]].{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=44–49}}

The light begins in ''The Silmarillion'' as a unity, and in accordance with the splintering of creation is divided into more and more fragments as the myth progresses. Middle-earth is peopled by the angelic [[Valar]] and lit by two great lamps; when these are destroyed by the fallen Vala [[Melkor]], the world is fragmented, and the Valar retreat to [[Valinor]], which is lit by [[The Two Trees]]. When these too are destroyed, their last fragment of light is made into the [[Silmaril]]s, and a sapling too is rescued, leading to the White Tree of [[Númenor]], the living symbol of the Kingdom of [[Gondor]]. Wars are fought over the Silmarils, and they are lost to the Earth, the Sea, and the Sky.{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=6-61, 89–90, 144-145 and passim}}

The last of the Silmarils, carried by Eärendil the Mariner, becomes the [[Venus|Morning Star]] as he sails across the sky with the shining jewel in his ship Vingilot. By the time of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', in the [[Third Age]], that is all that is left of the light. Some of the star's light is captured in [[Galadriel]]'s Mirror, the magic fountain that allows her to see past, present, and future; and some of that light is, finally, trapped in the Phial of Galadriel, her parting gift to Frodo, the counterbalance to Sauron's evil and powerful [[One Ring|Ring]] that Frodo is also carrying. At each stage, the fragmentation increases and the power decreases. Thus the theme of light as Divine power, fragmented and refracted through the works of created beings, is central to the whole mythology.{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=6-61, 89–90, 144-145 and passim}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" | Age
! scope="col" | [[Christianity in Middle-earth#Light|Splintering of the Created Light]]{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=6-61, 89–90, 144-145 and passim}}<ref name="Bassham Bronson 2013"/>
|-
| [[Years of the Lamps]] || Two enormous lamps, [[Illuin]] and [[Ormal]], atop tall pillars, give light to [[Middle-earth]], but [[Melkor]] destroys them.
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[Years of the Trees]] || The lamps are replaced by the [[Two Trees of Valinor]], [[Telperion]] and [[Laurelin]], lighting the blessed realm of [[Valinor]] for the [[Elves (Middle-Earth)|Elves]], leaving Middle-earth in darkness. 
|-
| [[Fëanor]] crafts 3 [[Silmaril]]s with light of the two Trees. 
|-
| Melkor and the giant spider [[Ungoliant]] kill the Two Trees; their light survives only in the Silmarils.
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[First Age]] || There is [[Silmarils#Fictional history|war over the Silmarils]]. 
|-
| One is buried in the Earth, one is lost in the Sea, one sails in the Sky as Eärendil's Star, carried in his ship Vingilot.
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[Third Age]] || [[Galadriel]] collects light of Eärendil's Star reflected in her fountain mirror. 
|-
| A little of that light is captured in the [[Phial of Galadriel]]. 
|-
| The [[Hobbit]]s [[Frodo Baggins]] and [[Sam Gamgee]] use the Phial to defeat the giant spider [[Shelob]].
|}