I was a bit confused after I read about the sun in the Silmarillion. When I first read that book, I didn't give it a second notice, but now (third reading) I noticed it said that the sun rose from Valinor, i.e West. Then I read carefully, but still didn't understand. Did the Valar rearrange it or something after Moon started chasing around the Sun? Or doest the Sun in Middle-Earth rise from the West?

This post was inspired by Rynos' reply to the Transportation thread in the Questions forum, where this topic does not belong.

From the Encyclopedia of Arda:

After the Darkening of Valinor, with the aid of Yavanna and Nienna, the dying Trees of the Valar produced a last single flower, and a last single fruit. Of these, the fruit was borne by Laurelin, the Golden Tree. Filled with radiant fire, it was hallowed by Manwë, and set in a vessel made by Aulë and his people. To pilot the vessel, the Valar chose a fire-spirit of the Maiar: the maiden known as Arien, who took on the form of a naked flame before guiding the newly made Sun aloft.

The sun-maiden guided her charge into the skies above Valinor beyond the Western Sea, and so the first sunrise was in the West, not the east as it is today. In Middle-earth, the Elves had dwelt in darkness beneath the stars since Melkor destroyed the Lamps of the Valar long ages before. Now at last the Hither Lands were filled with brilliant light, bringing new life to the lands, and new hope to the Elves. As the Sun rose in the West, the first Men awoke in the eastern lands of Middle-earth, and the first thing they saw was the shining new light. Many of them followed the light across the Earth towards the western lands, and some eventually found their way into Beleriand to become the fathers of the Edain. Because of the time of their awakening, Men were known to the Elves as the Children of the Sun.

While Middle-earth stirred under the new light, Melkor was dismayed by it, and for a while his power was checked. Even in the Third Age, most of the Orcs could not venture abroad in sunlight, and it was even powerful enough to turn trolls to stone, though eventually both Sauron and Saruman found ways to overcome this.

After the first sunrise in the West, Varda had planned for the Sun, and its companion the Moon, to remain forever in a nightless sky. She was persuaded against this by Lórien and Estë, and at last called the Sun back into Valinor: for those east of the Great Sea, this was the first sunset. From that time onward, the Sun descended each evening into the depths of the Outer Sea, and passed beneath the World, to rise again in the eastern sky as she does to this day.

Thanks, that cleared it up. The Silmarillion was a bit confusing, especially as English is not my native language, but I read Tolkien in English.

Well done for struggling through a foreign-written text. You have my admiration, indeed. I've found that translations lose more than a fair amount of nuance and meaning originally implanted by any given author.

Wow, I feel very lucky to have English as my Native Language. Though, I am a bit disapointed in the School Systems here in the US. I had a friend who visited Italy, and she said that the Students over there learn at least three to four different languages (including English). Over here, we are only required to take two years of a foreign language of our own choice. I did Spanish, but I got stuck with a bad teacher, so I can understand what people are saying pretty much, but I cannot respond back to them.

I can understand why some European countries dislike our tourists, since they almost never take the time to learn the langauge of the country that they are staying in. It's one of those, 'I'm American and that means you owe me' kind of thought that makes me disappointed in our Culture, diverse and multicultural as it is...

I don't think that tourists should learn the language of the country they are visiting. I myself live in a small country called Estonia, and I don't expect any tourist knowing Estonian. Most people outside Europe have never even heard of it. As for school, we are obliged to learn English and Russian, and I'm additionally taking German classes.

It might be difficult to communicate without a basic understanding of key phrases. Language is a tremendous aid and opens limitless possibilities. Plus, being armed with even a smattering of useful words could very well help to ingratiate one with a culture/society that might otherwise dismiss said person for a rude stereotype.

i am learning latin and i have spent 10 years in greek school the latin is not only for my intrest sp? in ancient cultures but most languages are based at least aomewhat on them allowing me to latter learn more languages but ill have some trouble with any germainic language due to very few similarites... anyway good job and good thinking ...

*sig copying daerks from a while ago...

Apologies to all if I inadvertantly steered this topic off course. It seems that SimVig already received his answer, so congratulations to all students of non-native tongues! (Foreign seems a rather alienating term to me)