STAR: Albedo 0.65

SUMMARY: Manwë assures Eärendil of the importance of his mission even as the Valar prepare Vingilot for a most remarkable voyage.

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"Your ship is nearly ready," Manwë said as he and Eärendil strolled through the gardens surrounding the Elder King’s mansion in Valmar. Roses bloomed everywhere, along with hydrangeas and crown chrysanthemums. Purple wisteria climbed the arbors and butterflies flitted about. Songbirds sang sweetly in the trees along the garden’s edge or in the hedges lining the path.

"I still do not understand, lord, why I must do this," Eärendil said, feeling somewhat at a loss. So much had happened in so short a time and he had barely had a chance to speak with Elwing.

He grimaced slightly at that thought. He was unsure how he felt about her choice for them. He probably was a fool to let her be the one to choose, but it was too late now. They were counted among the Elves and his Mortal kin were apparently of little importance to anyone.

Manwë smiled gently, well aware of the young man’s inner turmoil. "Your Mortal blood is what saved you, you know," he said and Eärendil stopped and stared at the Elder King in confusion. Manwë nodded. "Yours and Elwing’s. Had you been of pure elven blood you would never have reached Aman. Your Mortal ancestors were the key."

"I’m sorry, I don’t understand," Eärendil said, feeling suddenly stupid and somehow uncouth.

"There’s no reason why you should, child," Manwë said solicitously. He gestured towards a stone bench under a cypress tree and together the two of them sat. For a moment or two they stared out into the garden where sunlight played among the flowers and fountains splashed merrily. Finally, Manwë spoke again. "Elwing made the right choice. You realize, don’t you, that once here we could never allow you to return to Ennorath?"

Eärendil felt himself grow pale at that thought, his expression one of deep loss, and Manwë put a comforting arm around the young man’s shoulders. "You were always meant to come here, child," the Elder King said gently. "It was always your fate to do so, to be the ambassador of both Elves and Men, to be the catalyst for us to take action, but it was never your destiny to return to your people. That road is forever closed to you. So you see, Elwing’s choice was the right one for you both."

"But I don’t want to live forever," Eärendil blurted out, then went white at his own temerity.

Manwë simply grinned. "Forever is a long time, child, even for us. You will share the same lifespan as the Firstborn but no longer than that. When Arda comes to an end, so will you and what happens afterwards only Ilúvatar knows."

That thought did not exactly comfort him, but Eärendil remained silent, not wishing to offend the Elder King any more than he already had. As he continued to sit and think, something Lord Manwë had said caught his attention. "You said something about being a... a catalyst...."

Manwë nodded. "We knew eventually we would act, but we needed to wait until the right moment. We were waiting for you, you see. Your coming here was foretold and long-awaited. Now, we can act and finally put an end to our Fallen Brother’s reign of terror."

Eärendil stared at Manwë in confusion. "Why couldn’t you act sooner? Why do you act at all? You cursed the Noldor and all who have commerce with them, including Men who had nothing to do with their rebellion. You raised your mountains and shut yourselves away and heeded not our cries. Frankly, my lord, I am surprised that Elwing and I were ever allowed safe passage through the Shadowy Seas and now you punish us... punish me by making me fly this ship of yours into the sky, forever doomed to sail among the stars alone."

"Is that what you think, child, that this is a punishment?" Manwë asked, his face etched with sorrow. "I assure you that it is not, and you have not been condemned to eternal solitude. You will voyage only for a short time while we Valar create a more permanent sign for the peoples of Ennorath. After that you are free to do as you wish, to live where you will with your beloved Elwing." He paused and gazed out into the garden for a moment before continuing. "As for the rest... we did not sanction the rebellion of the Noldor but neither did we curse them for it. They, in fact, served a purpose though they would be loath to know that they served as our instruments in spite of everything."

"What purpose did they serve?" Eärendil asked.

"How much of the early history of your Mortal ancestors before they entered Beleriand do you know?" Manwë asked.

Eärendil blinked a few times, caught off-guard by the unexpected question. He was not sure to what history the Elder King referred. He knew some of the legends that were spoken among his Mortal kin but that was all. "They escaped thralldom from... from the Dark One and fled to the West in search of... of paradise. All they found though was war and a curse."

Manwë nodded and, though he knew the truth of the early history of the Edain, he did not contradict the young man’s version. "Just as we did not know the time or place of the awakening of the Firstborn, neither did we know when or where the Secondborn would appear. We knew, though, that at the creation of the Sun and Moon they would arise."

Eärendil frowned. "You just said you didn’t know when...."

"That is true. We did not know when. Your early ancestors came into existence before the first rising of Anor, but it was with the coming of the Sun that some of them threw off the yoke of thralldom to the Dark One, as you call him. At that moment, your ancestors rose out of the ignorance that had enslaved them and sought us and Ilúvatar, though you knew it not until you came to Beleriand and were tutored by the Noldor, the same Noldor who unwittingly were your protectors, keeping Morgoth at bay, virtually besieged and fully occupied on the northern fringes of Ennorath. And they did so without provoking him to a frenzy of nihilistic destruction, giving your ancestors time to reach Beleriand so you might join in the war against him."

Eärendil remained silent, trying to assimilate all that the Elder King had told him. "And now you would go to war at the last?"

Manwë shook his head. "The Valar will not, for that would bring total destruction to Arda. We will send the Maiar and those Elves who are willing to go. I know Arafinwë is anxious to lead the Noldor and many of the Vanyar will also answer the call to arms though the Teleri will not."

"And my role in all this?"

Manwë smiled. "Your role is to bring hope to the beleaguered peoples of Ennorath, to be a sign that the Valar have not forsaken them in their hour of need. It will take time for us to prepare for war, so your task will be to offer solace to those of Beleriand who must endure until the host of the Valar can reach them."

Eärendil nodded, then looked somewhat abashed. "I... I’m not... I mean... flying...."

"I will have one of my people accompany you this first time," Manwë said with a gentle smile. "I realize that this must be somewhat frightening for you, but I think you’ll get used to it soon enough." He rose and Eärendil stood as well. Manwë took the young man in his embrace and kissed him on the brow. "Go with the blessings of the Valar and Ilúvatar."

"What about Elwing?" Eärendil asked suddenly. "Could she not come with me?"

Manwë shook his head. "She is with Aulë and Yavanna learning how better to control her shapeshifting abilities which she inherited from Lúthien. When you come back this way after your maiden voyage she will meet you. Ah, and here is Fionwë to see you to your ship."

Eärendil turned to see one of the Maiar approaching, one wearing the sky-blue tabard with the embroidered eagle that was the Elder King’s emblem. The Maia bowed and gave Eärendil a smile. "Your ship awaits you, Lord Eärendil."

Eärendil sighed, still not sanguine about any of this, but he gave Manwë a bow and dutifully followed the Maia out of the garden. Manwë watched the young man go, a wistful smile on his face. Even as he stood there, Varda, Ulmo and Námo appeared. He turned and gave them a warmer smile in greeting. "So, have you determined the parameters for the planet yet?" he asked as he gestured for them to follow him through the garden.

Ulmo nodded. "Based on the Silmaril’s luminosity we’ve decided Tancol — that’s the name we’ve given the planet," Manwë nodded and gestured for Ulmo to continue, "should have the following characteristics: mean radius of 0.949 Ardas... mass of 0.857 Ardas...semi-major axis of 0.723332 astronomical units... eccentricity of 0.0068... orbital period of 0.615 years... sidereal rotation period of 243.0185 days... albedo of 0.65...."

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Ennorath: (Sindarin) Middle-earth.

Edain: (Sindarin) Men; specifically the Men of the Three Houses associated with the Eldar in their war against Morgoth.

Tancol: (Quenya) Signifer, i.e. Venus. The name literally means ‘sign-bearer’ and is attested.

Arda: (Quenya) In this instance, meaning 'Earth' rather than the solar system as a whole.

Notes:

1. The discussion about the ultimate role of the Noldor in the war against Morgoth is taken from Tolkien’s ‘Notes on Motives in the Silmarillion', HoME X, Morgoth’s Ring.

2. Manwë’s assertion that Men rose before the rising of the Sun is based on some of Tolkien’s later writings where he decided that Men awakening with the first rising of the Sun was too late chronologically speaking. It is something that he never fully resolved to his own satisfaction (or ours). I have decided that Men did indeed arise under the stars but it was with the rising of the Sun that some of them rejected Melkor’s thralldom and came westward into Beleriand. These Men became the Edain. Keeping in mind that the Silmarillion is a collection of Mannish tales twice removed from the original source, it stands to reason that legends about the ancestors of the Edain shaking off Melkor’s shadow at the creation of the Sun would be conflated with other tales describing the first awakening of Men in Middle-earth.

3. Albedo: The fraction of the total light striking a surface that gets reflected from that surface. An object that has a high albedo (near 1) is very bright; an object that has a low albedo (near 0) is dark. The Earth’s albedo is about 0.37. Venus’ albedo is the highest of all the planets in our solar system.