The Years of the Trees
After Melkor’s shenanigans robbed Arda of light, the Valar uprooted their society and moved westwards, founding the region of Valinor in Aman. Crafted by the Valar Yavanna and sustained by the tears of her fellow Valar Nienna, two trees in Valinor (Laurelin and Telperion) provided light for the Valar’s new society. One projected golden light, and the other silver and their dew was gathered by the Valar Varda to form the basis of starlight, which would give the rest of Arda some semblance of the light lost with Illuin and Ormal’s destruction. The Years of the Trees lasts for around another fourteen thousand of our own years, climaxing when Melkor, freed from his captivity in Aman, forges a pact with the primal spider Ungoliant to kill the trees. Unlike Illuin and Ormal’s fate, however, some light from both Laurelin and Telperion is preserved before their destruction and given to two of the Maiar—Arien and Tilion—who took them to the sky to form the Sun (from Laurelin’s fruit) and Moon (from Telperion’s leaves), respectively.
We know we’re going to get a glimpse of this time period in Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show, as the very first image from the series gave us a glimpse of Laurelin and Telperion, but it’s also important to note this period is also when the first Elves and Dwarves awaken on Arda, beginning their long connection with the Valar and Melkor himself.
