In Feanor's Footsteps - Page 2
© Michael Martinez
Of course, as with many of Tolkien's stories, there are several variations of the Faring Forth myth. In an early version of the story, Tulkas becomes the sole Vala to intervene on behalf of the Elves. Ingwe's army apparently reaches the Great Lands and is defeated at Tasarinan. Ingwe himself is slain. Tulkas brings an army and defeats Melko in the battle of the Twilight Pools, and then proceeds to Angamandi, where he takes Melko prisoner and releases the captive Elves. The Elves of Kor and the freed Elves then return to Valinor, only there to learn that the Valar had barred them from entering Valinor. So the Elves settle on Tol Eressea. But eventually Ingil, the son of Ingwe, returns to Valinor with the fairest and wisest of the Eldar.
In another tradition from the Lost Tales, Earendel reaches Valinor after Ingwe has led his people back to the great Lands. The city of Kor is deserted, and Earendel fails in his mission (which is not clearly enunciated by Ulmo anyway). The mariner returns to the Great Lands and he scours the ruins of Gondolin and Angamandi for some trace of Elwing, who was taken while he was at sea. In some versions of the tale, Earendel and Elwing are reunited.
In The Silmarillion, Earendil was not permitted to return to Middle-earth. When he and Elwing chose to be of Elven-kind, they were forbidden to set foot upon the mortal lands once again. Nonetheless, Earendil still figures prominently in the final battle against Melkor. And though no reason is given for the ban on Earendil's return to mortal men in The Silmarillion, in one of the early Earendel stories, Tolkien noted that Earendel's mortal heritage would slay him as soon as he set foot upon the Great Lands. He would simply die of old age. The lack of explanation for Earendil's forced retirement thus owes something to the transition from the pseudo-Anglo-Saxon mythology of The Book of Lost Tales to the modern fantasy mythology of Middle-earth.
The carrying of news from the Great Lands to Valinor by birds, in the early tradition birds from Gondolin, metamorphosed into the tradition of the Eagles of Manwe, sent to Middle-earth for the specific purpose of watching over Melkor (Morgoth), and of rendering aid to the Elves in the neediest of circumstances. The army of Tulkas and the army of Ingwe are merged into the Host of Valinor which sets sail in the ships of the Teleri to launch the War of Wrath.
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