Olórë Mallë, the Path of Dreams, also known as Malmaurien, the Way of Dreams, was a path between Valinor and the Great Lands that was made by the Vala Irmo, according to an early version of the legendarium in The Book of Lost Tales.
History[]
After looking with sorrow upon the Hiding of Valinor, Manwë sent Irmo to create a path leading to Valinor. This path was a road by which the children of Men would often be guided through in their sleep to visit the Gardens of Lórien, the fairest place in the world, where they would rest until Irmo returned them to their bodies at morning, or when they needed to awaken.
Olórë Mallë was a lane of deep banks and great overhanging hedges, beyond which stood many tall trees wherein a perpetual whisper seemed to live. It ran past the Cottage of Lost Play, through a lane of whispering elms until it reached the sea. Great glow-worms crept about its grassy borders. At the end of the lane stood a high gate of lattice-work that shone golden in the dusk. The gate opened up to winding paths leading into the fairest of all the gardens, which the Cottage of the Play of Sleep stood at the center of.[1] Olórë Mallë was used by Elves before the Fall of Gondolin to travel to Valinor from the Great Lands according to Ailios[2] and Vëannë.[3]
Etymology[]
Olórë Mallë is a Qenya name meaning "Path of Dreams". It consisted of the words olórë ("dream, vision")[4] and mallë ("road;[5] made road, stone-road, street")[6].[7]
Malmaurien was a Gnomish name meaning "Way of Dreams". It consisted of the word maur ("a dream, vision") and a variant of mailt[8] ("a path;[8] paved way, road").[9]
In other versions[]
It was noted by Christopher Tolkien that some of this was a very early version, and that "the conception of the coming of mortal children in sleep to the gardens of Valinor" would not exist in later versions of the legendarium.[10]
In The Lord of the Rings, Legolas was seen sleeping here but still fully aware of his surroundings, because his mind was in the waking dream of the Olórë Mallë. The only time mortals could see the beauty of Valinor and of the Gardens of Lórien was if, during sleep, their spirits traveled the Olórë Mallë.[citation needed]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Danish | Olórë Mallë ("Drømmenes Sti") |
References[]
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, I: "The Cottage of Lost Play"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, II: "Turambar and the Foalókë", pg. 70
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, I: "The Tale of Tinúviel", pg. 8
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, pg. 396
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IX: Sauron Defeated, pg. 310
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon, issue XXI: Qenya Noun Structure, pg. 24
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I", pgs. 259, 263
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Parma Eldalamberon, issue XIII: The Alphabet of Rúmil and Early Noldorin Fragments, pg. 122
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon, issue XI: I·Lam na·Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of The Gnomish Tongue, pgs. 56-7
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, I: "The Cottage of Lost Play", Notes and Commentary