The void as depicted in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Timeless Void, also known as the Abyss, was a conception of the state of Not-being, outside Creation or Eä. It should not, however, be confused with the conception of vast spaces within Eä, especially those conceived to lie all about the enisled Kingdom of Arda.[1]
History[]
Eru Ilúvatar dwelt in the Timeless Halls, which were separate from the Timeless Void. Before the creation of Eä, Morgoth searched the Timeless Void thoroughly for Airefëa, the source of Eru's creative power, but was unsuccessful. It is believed that many creatures originated in the Timeless Void due to the discords in the Music of the Ainur caused by Morgoth.[2]
After Eä was created, the Timeless Void still existed beyond it. At the same time, Eä contained vast spaces within itself, which separated Arda from many other, unknown worlds, where the other Ainur laboured, but their numbers and names were unfathomable for the minds of the Children of Ilúvatar. Only the Valar could know them.[1]
Later, after his downfall in the War of Wrath, the Dark Lord Morgoth was cast out through the Door of Night into the Timeless Void, i.e. outside Time and Space and outside Eä altogether;[1] but legends predicted his return before the Dagor Dagorath, at the end of time.[3]
The Wizard Gandalf, after his revival into Gandalf the White, told cryptically of his experience passing through the Abyss after his death on Zirakzigil.[4]
Other names[]
The Timeless Void was also known as the Outer Void, the Everlasting Dark, the Ancient Darkness, and the Outside.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Leemte |
| Albanian | I pavlefshëm |
| Arabic | الفراغ |
| Armenian | անվավեր |
| Azerbaijani | Etibarsız |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | пустата |
| Bengali | অকার্যকর |
| Bosnian | Praznina |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Небитие |
| Burmese | လယာ |
| Cambodian | ចាត់ទុកជាមោឃៈ |
| Catalan | Nul |
| Cebuano | Kahaw |
| Corsican | Immensu |
| Croatian | Ništavilo |
| Czech | Prázdnota |
| Danish | Den Tidsløse Intethed (Intet) |
| Dutch | Leegte |
| Esperanto | Malplenon |
| Estonian | Tühjus |
| Faroese | Ósettur |
| Filipino | Kahungkagan |
| Finnish | Tyhjyys |
| French | Vide |
| Georgian | ბათილად |
| German | Leere |
| Greek | Κενό |
| Gujarati | રદબાતલ |
| Haiti Creole | Anile |
| Hebrew | בָּטֵל |
| Hindi | शून्य |
| Hungarian | Üres |
| Icelandic | Tómarúm |
| Indonesian | Kehampaan |
| Igbo | Adabaghi |
| Irish Gaelic | Neamhní |
| Italian | Il Vuoto |
| Japanese | 空洞 |
| Kannada | ಶೂನ್ಯ |
| Kazakh | Жарамсыз (Cyrillic) Jaramsız (Latin) |
| Korean | 빈 |
| Kurdish | Nederbas (Kurmanji Kurdish) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Боштук |
| Latin | Vacuum |
| Latvian | Tukšums |
| Lithuanian | Niekinis |
| Luxembourgish | Ongëlteg |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | празнина |
| Malaysian | Tidak sah |
| Malayalam | ശൂനം |
| Manx | Follym |
| Marathi | रिकामा |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Хүчин төгөлдөр бус |
| Nepalese | शून्य |
| Norwegian | Tomrom |
| Occitan | Vuèg |
| Pashto | باطل |
| Persian | باطل شدن |
| Polish | Pustka |
| Portuguese | Vazio |
| Punjabi | ਬੇਕਾਰ |
| Romanian | Nimicnicie |
| Russian | Пустота |
| Scottish Gaelic | Gun stàth |
| Serbian | Празнина (Cyrillic) Praznina (Latin) |
| Sesotho | Hlokisa |
| Sinhalese | ප්රාණියකු |
| Slovak | Prázdnota |
| Slovenian | Praznine |
| Spanish | Vacío |
| Sundanese | Kakosongan |
| Swedish | Vakuum/Tomrum/Tomhet |
| Tajik Cyrillic | холӣ |
| Tamil | வெற்றிடத்தை |
| Telugu | శూన్యమైన |
| Thai | สุญญภูมิ |
| Turkish | Geçersiz |
| Turkmen | Boşluk |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Порожнеча |
| Urdu | خلا |
| Uzbek | Ҳафсаласизлик (Cyrillic) Hafsalasizlik (Latin) |
| Yiddish | פּאָסל |
| Yoruba | Ṣ'ofo |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, Myths Transformed
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter I: "Of the Beginning of Days"
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Middle-earth
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Three, Ch. V: "The White Rider"