This did they at the Shoreland Elves’ behest, yet by no means would the Gods suffer that low place in the hills beneath Taniquetil that lets upon the Bay of Faлry to be piled with rocks as the Solosimpi desired, for there had Oromл many pleasant woods and places of delight, and the Teleri5 would not endure that Kфr shoul1d be destroyed or pressed too nearly by the gloomy mountain walls.
Then spake the Solosimpi to Ulmo, and he would not listen to them, saying that never had they learnt such bitterness of heart of his music, and that rather had they been listening to whispers of Melko the accursed. And going from Ulmo some were abashed, but others went and sought out Ossл, and he aided them in Ulmo’s despite; and of Ossл’s labour in those days are come the Magic Isles; for Ossл set them in a great ring about the western limits of the mighty sea, so that they guarded the Bay of Faлry, and albeit in those days the huge glooms of that far water overreached all the Shadowy Seas and stretched forth tongues of darkness towards them, still were they themselves surpassing fair to look upon. And such ships as fare that way must needs espy them or ever they reach the last waters that wash the elfin shores, and so alluring were they that few had power to pass them by, and did any essay to then sudden storms drove them perforce against those beaches whose pebbles shone like silver and like gold. Yet all such as stepped thereon came never thence again, but being woven in the nets of Oinen’s6 hair the Lady of the Sea, and whelmed in agelong slumber that Lуrien set there, lay upon the margin of the waves, as those do who being drowned are cast up once more by the movements of the sea; yet rather did these hapless ones sleep unfathomably and the dark waters laved their limbs, but their ships rotted, swathed in weeds, on those enchanted sands, and sailed never more before the winds of the dim West.7
Now when Manwл gazing in sorrow from high Taniquetil saw all these things done he sent for Lуrien and for Oromл, thinking them less stubborn of heart than the others, and when they were come he spoke earnestly with them; yet he would not that the labour of the Gods be undone, for he thought it not altogether ill, but he prevailed on those twain to do his bidding in certain matters. And in this manner did they so; for Lуrien wove a way of delicate magic, and it fared by winding roads most secret from the Eastern lands and all the great wildernesses of the world even to the walls of Kфr, and it ran past the Cottage of the Children of the Earth8 and thence down the “lane of whispering elms” until it reached the sea.
But the gloomy seas and all the straits it bridged with slender bridges resting on the air and greyly gleaming as it were of silken mists lit by a thin moon, or of pearly vapours; yet beside the Valar and the Elves have no Man’s eyes beheld it save in sweet slumbers in their heart’s youth. Longest of all ways is it and few are there ever reach its end, so many lands and marvellous places of allurement and of loveliness doth it pass ere it comes to Elfinesse, yet smooth is it to the feet and none tire ever who fare that way.
Such,’ then said Vairл, ‘was and still is the manner of Olуrл Mallл, the Path of Dreams; but of far other sort was the work of Oromл, who hearing the words of Manwл went speedily to Vбna his wife, and begged of her a tress of her long golden hair. Now the hair of Vбna the fair had become more long and radiant still since the days of her offering to Aulл, and she gave to Oromл of its gold1en threads. Then did he dip these in the radiance of Kulullнn, but Vбna wove them cunningly to a leash immeasurable, and therewith Oromл strode swiftly to the gatherings of Manwл on the mountain.
Then calling loudly that Manwл and Varda and all their folk come forth he held before their eyes his thong of gold, and they knew not his purpose; but Oromл bid them cast their eyes on that Hill that is called Kalormл standing hugely in the lands most distant from Valinor, and is held most lofty save Taniquetil, yet seemeth therefrom a dim thing fading afar off. Even as they watched Oromл stepped back, and putting all his cunning and his strength thereto he made a mighty cast, and that golden cord sped in a curve through the sky until its noose caught Kalormл’s topmost pinnacle. Then by the magic of its making and the cunning of Oromл’s hand it stayed a bright golden curve and neither drooped nor sagged; but Oromл fastened its hither end to a pillar in Manwл’s courts, and turning to those who gazed upon him said: “Who then listeth to wander in the Great Lands, let him follow me,” and thereat he set foot upon the thong and sped like the wind out over the gulf even to Kalormл, while all upon Taniquetil were silent in amaze. Now did Oromл loosen the thong from Kalormл’s peak and run as swiftly back, ravelling it as he came, until once more he stood before Manwл. Then said he: “Lo, O Sъlimo Lord of the Airs, a way I have devised whereby any of the Valar of good heart may fare whithersoever they list in the Great Lands; for whither they wish I will cast my slender bridge, and its hither end wilt thou securely guard.”
And of this work of Oromл’s came that mighty wonder of the heavens that all men look upon and marvel at, and some fear much, pondering what it may portend. Yet doth that bridge wear a different aspect at different times and in various regions of the Earth, and seldom is it visible to Men and Elves. Now because it glistens most marvellously in the slanting rays of the Sun, and when the rains of heaven moisten it it shines most magically therein and the gold light breaks upon its dripping cords to many hues of purple, green, and red, so do men most often name it the Rainbow, but many other names have they fashioned also, and the fairies call it Ilweran the Bridge of Heaven.
Now living Men may not tread the swaying threads of Ilweran and few of the Eldar have the heart, yet other paths for Elves and Men to fare to Valinor are there none since those days save one alone, and it is very dark; yet is it very short, the shortest and swiftest of all roads, and very rough, for Mandos made it and Fui set it in its place. Qalvanda is it called, the Road of Death, and it leads only to the halls of Mandos and Fui. Twofold is it, and one way tread the Elves and the other the souls of Men, and never do they mingle.9
‘Thus,’ said Vairл, ‘was the Hiding of Valinor achieved, and the Valar let slip the chance of a glory more splendid and enduring even than that great glory which was theirs and still is. Nonetheless are there still very mighty tidings of those days to tell, of which perchance I may now recount to you a few; and one I will name The Haven of the Sun.
Behold, now are the hearts of all set at rest by the truce10 of Manwл and 1the Valar, and while the Gods feast in Valmar and the heaven is full of the ungoverned glory of the Ships of Light the Elves go back at last to rebuild the happiness of Kфr; and there they seek to forget all the sorrows and all the labours that had come among them since the Release of Melko. Now does Kфr become the fairest and most delicate-lovely of all the realms of Valinor, for in the courtyard of Inwл those two elfin trees shone still tenderly; and they were shoots of the glorious Trees now dead given by the Gods to Inwл in the first days of that town’s building. Others too had been given to Nуlemл, but these were uprooted and were gone no one knew whither, and more had there never been.11
Yet even though the Elves trusted the Valar to shield the land and weave protection about them, and though the days of sorrow faring into the past grew dim, still could they not yet utterly shake away the memory of their unhappiness; nor did they ever so, until after the magic way of Lуrien was complete and the children of the fathers of the fathers of Men first were suffered to come there in sweet sleep; then did a new joy burn very brightly in their hearts, but these things were not yet come to pass and Men were yet but new-wakened on the Earth.
But Manwл and Ulmo knowing their hour was come held high councils for their protection. Many designs they made therein, and they were weighed down by the thought of Melko and the wandering of the Gnomes; yet did the other folk of Valinor trouble themselves little with such matters yet. Nonetheless Manwл ventured to speak once more to the Valar, albeit he uttered no word of Men, and he reminded them that in their labours for the concealment of their land they had let slip from thought the waywardness of the Sun and Moon. Now it was the fear of Manwл lest the Earth become unbearable by reason of the great light and heat of those bright things, and Yavanna’s heart was in accord with him in that, but the most of the Valar and the Elves saw good in his design because in the lifting of the Sun and Moon to higher paths they thought to set a final end to all their labours, removing those piercing beams more far, that all those hills and regions of their abode be not too bright illumined, and that none might ever again espy them afar off.