Driver of the Moon, a Maia of the Ainur created by Eru and, therefore, deathless.
Tilion, a hunter of the company of Orome, held a
great love for silver; even his bow was of silver. At rest, he left the
woods of Orome to go into the land of Lorien to dream by the pools of
Este, in Telperion's flickering light. When Telperion was dying, Tilion requested the tending of its
last Flower of Silver.
Along with its vessel, the flower was called Isil, the Moon. As Telperion was
the
elder of the two trees, so was Isil the first of the two new lights
rising
into the realm of stars. At Tilion's coming, many things stirred and
woke
that had waited under the Sleep of Yavanna. The light filled the
servants of Melkor with amazement, and the Elves of the Outer Lands
with delight. As
the Moon rose, Fingolfin blew his silver trumpets and began the march from the Helcaraxe
to
Middle-earth.
Tilion crossed the sky seven times before the advent
of Arien. Seeing her, his own course became wayward and of uncertain
speed. Drawn by her splendor, he tried to come near Anar so
that he was scorched and the island of the Moon darkened.
Also around this time, Irmo Lorien, the Lord of
Dreams, and his wife, Este, the Lady of Rest, asked Varda for help,
saying that sleep had been banished and the stars hidden at all times.
So Varda changed the course of the Sun and Moon, allowing shadow and
half-light.
Arien with Anar therefore rested in Valinor in the
cool of the Outer Sea, a time called Evening, the hour of greatest
light
and joy in Aman. Then the servants of Ulmo drew the Sun down, and Arien
drove Anar in haste under the Earth coming unseen to the East there to
rise
again before evil could walk under the Moon.
Tilion with Isil was to do the same, arising in the
East after the Arien had descended. However, Tilion still felt
attraction to Arien, so that he may sometimes be seen in the sky with
her and may come too close, cutting off her brightness with his shadow
for a time. Also, he
did not stay long in Valinor, but passed swiftly over Avathar or Araman
or
Valinor to plunge into the chasm beyond the Outer Sea, wandering long
in
the grots and caverns at the roots of Arda, returning late.
So, due to Tilion the Wayward, time was reckoned by
the Sun by the Valar until the Change of the World.
Melkor attacked Tilion with spirits of shadow, but Tilion was
victorious, having learned to fight mightily during his time with
Orome.
After this, Melkor feared to attack Arien, and bound
himself more tightly to the earth, unwilling to come out of his dark
strongholds, hiding even his servants in shadows. The attack on Tilion
caused the Valar to fortify their own land with high mountain walls
called the Pelori, with towers, sentinels, and a host to watch the
pass; and with the Enchanted
Isles with their network of shadows and bewilderment. Thus, as Mandos,
foretold, was Valinor shut away from the Noldor, and only the one
foretold and planned for could come: the mariner Earendil.
Reference: Silmarillion
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