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Lothlorien2

A mallorn in Lórien

The mallorn (pl. mellyrn) was a large tree that grew only in Aman, Númenor, and Lothlórien; one was known to grow in the Shire in the Fourth Age.

Description[]

Mellyrn were similar to beech trees in that their bark was smooth and silver-grey, but their leaves, which were green above and silver beneath, were much larger and longer than those of beech trees and turned a clear gold in autumn. The golden leaves did not fall like those of other deciduous trees; they remained on the tree throughout the winter. They fell only in the spring, when golden flowers bloomed on the branches and new leaves sprouted, turning the entire forest a bright gold. Mallorn trees exuded a greater presence than other trees. Frodo Baggins explained that he could feel the "life of the tree" when he touched a mallorn in Lothlórien.[1]

History[]

Mallorn trees originally grew on Tol Eressëa and probably also in Valinor.[2] The Elves of Tol Eressëa brought mallorn trees to the Númenóreans, and they grew on the shores around the Bay of Eldanna in that land. The mallorn groves of Númenor were of immense height and legendary beauty. Even Tar-Aldarion, the great Ship-King, did not cut down these trees.

Mallorn nuts were given by Tar-Aldarion, to his friend Gil-galad, the Ñoldorin King of Lindon. The mellyrn did not grow in Lindon, but Galadriel took some nuts with her to Lothlórien, where they grew to considerable heights. Lothlórien became known as the Golden Wood (the English translation) because of them.

The Fellowship of the Ring spent its first night in Lothlórien on flets (wooden platforms) built onto the upper branches of several adjacent mallorn trees. In this case the flets were of simple construction with light, woven movable walls to block the wind. These mallorn trees were on the North Eastern edge of Lothlorien, close by the tributary river of Nimrodel or Silverlode.

Caras Galadhon, the city of Galadriel and Celeborn within Lothlórien, was built in the branches of huge mallorn trees, with a large hall built into the upper branches of the tallest tree at the centre of the city. The large horizontal branches of the mallorn lent themselves to being used in this way. The Fellowship were later given lembas, the elvish waybread wrapped in mallorn leaves.[1] The mallorn-leaf wrapping helped keep the waybread fresh and helped sustain its capacity to keep people alive for long periods in the absence of other foods.

Galadriel gave Samwise Gamgee a box of soil from her garden containing a single silver mallorn nut.[3] After the War of the Ring, Sam planted the nut in the Shire, in the Party Field where the Party Tree had stood. From the nut grew a mallorn tree that became the new party tree. It was the only mallorn tree in Middle-earth outside of Lórien. When the tree bloomed the next spring and summer it became the wonder of the neighbourhood and in time a place of pilgrimage; an image of times long past and a thing of beauty and wonder.[4]

Etymology[]

The name mallorn is derived from the Sindarin terms malt ("gold") and orn ("tree").

Malinornë is the Quenya name for the mallorn.

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Armenian Մալորն
Greek Μάλορν
Gujarati મેલોર્ન
Hebrew מאלורן
Hindi मलोरन
Kannada ಮಲ್ಲೋರ್ನ್
Korean 말로 른
Marathi मल्लॉर्न
Russian Мэллорн
Sinhalese මල්ලෝන්
Tajik Cyrillic Маллорн
Telugu మల్లోర్న్

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter VI: "Lothlórien"
  2. Unfinished Tales, Introduction, Part Two, I: "A Description of the Island of Númenor"
  3. The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter VIII: "Farewell to Lorien"
  4. The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter IX: "The Grey Havens"
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