Mellyrn don't sing, do they?

[the guy who be short]

Laurelindorenan, the old name for Lothlorien. It breaks down into Quenya components Laure/lin/dor/enan, which correspond to Gold (colour)/Sing/Land/Valley.

And that's how we get Land of the Valley of Singing Gold. Which is all fine and good until you get to the question... what's the singing gold? Mellyrn don't sing. Galadriel's hair doesn't sing. Where is this mysterious, singing, gold... thing?

Perhaps the translation "Land of the Valley of Singing Gold" was only literal, with the direct translations of each component. But here's something interesting; there's a different way to break the name up.

Laurelin/dor/enan = Laurelin/land/valley. Which leaves us with the Land of the Valley of Laurelin, the younger Tree of Valinor. So why would Lothlorien merit such a name?

Could it be that, as the White Tree of Gondor is directly descended from Telperion, the Mellyrn could be directly descended from Laurelin?

It seems unlikely, if not for the evidence.

The other bore leaves of a young green like the new opened beech; their edges were of glittering gold. Flowers swung upon her branches in clusters of yellow flame, formed each to a glowing horn that spilled a golden rain upon the ground...

Above is a description of Laurelin from The Silmarillion, Of the Beginning Days. Below follows a description of the Mallorn from LotR, the Grey Havens:

It had silver bark and long leaves and burst into golden flowers in April...

Note the recurrence of golden flowers. But is that enough to go on? I would say "almost;" the emphasis on the golden flowers is clear; in both cases, this is what makes the tree special. It is the reason Lothlorien is famous; it is often called the Golden Wood. Why would it be famous for anything less than semi-divine trees?

LotR, The Grey Havens:

It was known far and wide and people would make long journeys to see it: the only Mallorn west of the Mountains and east of the Sea.

There are two points to be made here. The first is the description of the Mallorn as the only one west of the Mountains. Along with Lothloriel's fame for the Trees, it can be implied that the only place to find Mellyrn in Middle-Earth is in Lothlorien.

The second is the point that Mellyrn exist in Valinor. Which is important, because it makes sense to compare the descendants of Laurelin with the descendants of Telperion.

The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power:

Many treasures and great heirlooms of virtue and wonder the exiles had brought from Numenor; and of these the most renowned wre the Seven Stones and the White Tree. The White Tree was grown from the fruit of Nimloth the Fair that stood in the courts of the King at Armenelos in Numenor, ere Sauron burned it; and Nimloth was in turn descended from the tree of Tirion, that was an image of the Eldest of Trees, White Telperion which Yavanna caused to grow in the land of the Valar.

So the White Tree was descended directly from Telperion. And the descendants of Telperion, such as the tree of Tirion, lived in Numenor.

It is therefore safe to assume that a descendant of Laurelin was also planted in Valinor. The quote from LotR, The Grey Havens, claims that Mellyrn exist in Valinor. So, we can make a link: The Mellyrn were the descendants of Laurelin.

How came they then to Endor? Why not in the same manner as Elendil brought the White Tree to Middle-Earth; by the taking of a fruit. Galadriel could have taken one, loving the trees, and taken it to plant it in Middle-Earth. When she moved to Lorien, it is fair to assume she took it there too.

In Lorien, the tree flourished and spread. Simple.


Well, there's the theory. I now fully expect LMP to come along with a quote from The Letters to prove how wrong I truly am.

[Guinevere]

The answers to some of your questions can be found in Unfinished Tales.

1) How did the Mellyrn come to Middle-earth?

In "A description of Númenor" there is a description of the trees brought by the Elves of Tol Erëssea to Eldalondë in Númenor.

It's fruit was a nut with a silver shale; and some were given as a gift by Tar-Aldarion, the sixth King of Númenor, to King Gil-galad of Lindon. They did not take root in that land; but Gil-galad gave some to his kinswoman, Galadriel, and under her power they grew and flourished in the guarded land of Lothlórien beside the River Anduin, until the high Elves at last left Middle-earth; but they did not reach the height or girth of the groves of Númenor.

So the Mellyrn came to ME already in the second age, long before the Downfall of Númenor.
When I read this, it made me think of Galadriel's song :

I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree.
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone,
In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion.
There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years,
While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears.

At my first reading, I didn't know the meaning of these words, but now they make more sense!
It seems plain, that the Mellyrn came originally from Valinor.
But apparently Haldir doesn't know this, since he says to Frodo:

Alas for Lothlórien that I love! It would be a poor life in a land where no mallorn grew. But if there are Mallorn-trees beyond the Great Sea, none have reported it.

2. The connection with singing in the name "Laurelindorenan"

In the "History of Galadriel and Celeborn" (also in UT) Christopher Tolkien writes in Note #5:

In a note to the text it is explained that Lorinand was the Nandorin name of this region (afterwards called Lórien and Lothlórien), and contained the Elvish word meaning "golden light": "valley of gold". The Quenia form would be Laurenandë, , the Sindarin Glornan or Nan Laur. Both here and elsewhere the meaning of the name is explained by reference to the golden mallorn-trees of Lothlórien; but they were brought there by Galadriel, and in another, later, discussion the name Lórinand is said to have been itself a transformation, after the introduction of the mallorns, of a yet older name Lindórinand, "Vale of the Land of the Singers". Since the Elves of this land were in origin Teleri, there is here no doubt present the name by which the Teleri called themselves, Lindar, "the Singers".
From many other discussions of the names of Lothlorien, to some extent at variance among themselves, it emerges that all the later names were probably due to Galadriel herself, combining different elements: laurë "gold", nan(d) "valley", ndor "land", lin- "sing"; and in Laurelindórinan "Valley of the Singing Gold" (which Treebeard told the Hobbits was the earlier name) deliberately echoing the name of the Golden Tree that grew in Valinor, "for which, as is plain, Galadriel's longing increased year by year to, at last, an overwhelming regret".

[the guy who be short]

Sorry to bump this thread, but I have to take some responsibility for it, and it was a topic that interested me (and I'm sure Tolkien meant us to think about, considering his love of all things green and growing).

I have just found a note in LotR, Appendix A, Page 1 which says:

No likeness remained in Middle-earth of Laurelin the Golden.

So that's settled.

If a Mod would kindly close this topic, it can slip into oblivion and be used as reference by anybody else who has enough spare time to consider the nature of the flora of Middle-earth.

[mark12_30]

there is here no doubt present the name by which the Teleri called themselves, Lindar, "the Singers".

Nice tidbit! And why should any Tolkien-oriented thread about singing (in any remote sense) ever be closed?? Sing on, I say.

[HerenIstarion]

Well, since question of singing gold 'things' seems settled (my compliments, Guinevere ), let us turn to mellyrn and their origin.

There were two waves of 'expansion' of mallorns to Middle-Earth, and both came from Valinor:

Second Age, through Númenor and Galadriel to Lothlórien

First Age, through exiled Noldor.

This latter has indirect evidence for a support:

Silm77, Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië

For all living things that are or have been in the Kingdom of Arda, save only the fell and evil creatures of Melkor, lived then in the land of Aman; and there also were many other creatures that have not been seen upon Middle-earth, and perhaps never now shall be, since the fashion of the world was changed

and

UT, Christopher Tolkien's notes to 'Of the Coming of Tuor To Gondolin'

A description of Gondolin was to follow, of the stairs up to its high platform, and its great gate; of the mounds (this word is uncertain) of mallorns, birches, and evergreen trees; of the Place of the Fountain, the King's tower on a pillared arcade, the King's house, and the banner of Fingolfin

The theory hence:

Since 'living things' include trees, and since only mention of mellyrn in Beleriand is in Gondolin, it is to be assumed that Noldor brought them originally. So, 'First Wave' - Valinor - Noldor - Gondolin. M-E mellyrn become extint with the drowning of Beleriand, and the 'Second Wave' comes again from Valinor though Tol Eressea and than Númenor

It would have been interesting to speculate about seeds that may have been saved by Tuor and been brought in time to Númenor, whence they would have been re-introduced to Middle-Earth through Tar-Aldarion and Galadriel, but quote provided by Guinevere (Trees brought by Elves of Tol Erëssea to Eldalondë) above forbids speculations of the kind

[Mithalwen]

Valley of the singing gold is a little poetic but if you think that Lorian elves actually lived in the trees and all elves love to sing it isn't that fanciful.

The use of singing and music as a expression of (for want of a better term though I think it unsatisfactory) magical power has been exprlored elsewhere but I would just say that Arwen the actual and symbolic heir of Luthien, the most notable proponent of this skill, sings while the sapling of the White Tree makes its unnaturally speedy growth and the mallorn seed, gift of the lady who sang of leaves of gold makes similarly freaky progress when Sam plants it in the Party Field.

Mallorns my be a more generic memory of Laurelin than the more specific likeness that the White trees of Numenor and Gondor are of Telperion but I think it is clear that they are the heirs in fact if not intention. It is possible that Tolkien wrote it without noticing the significance, and the mallorn was no more than a gift to a gardener and lover of trees, but if so it is the most beautiful and fitting coincidence that the final destruction of Melkor's servant, Sauron, is marked by the flourishing of two trees of silver and gold.