The Voyage of Voronwë
After Voronwë dwelled in Nan-Tathren, the land of
willows, for many a day, some of his sea-urge came back to him; and he
made a raft to float upon the river, but the power of Ulmo ran strong
in that river, for it was Sirion the mighty, which flowed up from the
north all the way down to the Isle of Balar, where still a remnant of
the people of Cirdan lived. And the powerful main current of Sirion
took the raft of Voronwë and carried him faster and faster away
from the land of willows and slowly he regained the knowledge of the
mission he was sent upon by Turgon, King of the hidden city of
Gondolin.
For many a day Voronwë floated on his raft upon Sirion, desiring
no food, but drinking its clear waters for sustenance. So it was that
the last mariner finally reached Cirdan's abode on the Isle of Balar,
and the last and largest ship was ready and was prepared to set sail.
Now Voronwë, fully remembering the urgency of the mission for
Turgon, was eager to go, and quickly he took the ship out into open
waters, to seek out the hidden passage into the west.
Soon after Voronwë had set sail, the first storm hit his ship, and
he cried out into the wind, "I hail thee mighty Ossë, and I know
thou art wroth with any of the Noldor seeking to return against the
doom of Mandos, but if thou would counsel thy heart, thou wouldst see
that my mission is not to return, but to seek the aid of the Valar in
our struggle against Morgoth Bauglir, for in our folly we saw not his
power and now we bend under the might of his armies, only few left are
able to withstand his might, but they will not for long!"
And then a sudden calm came upon the sea as if the waves were pondering
his words, but soon after, the storm hammered upon his ship, trying to
make clear his plea was denied. Yet again Voronwë called against
the sea: "Even if thou dost not grant us access to the Undying Lands,
we will keep searching even if it costs us our lives!" Then the wind
battered one last time upon his ship and broke one of the great sails,
as if to say "So be it!"
And so it became that for years Voronwë struggled on the sides of
the enchanted isles, to the north and to the south, ever battered by
the storms Ossë sent at him. And every time his ship survived
another storm, he would thank Cirdan for making it so strong and he
would call out to the seas: "We will make it yet, despite what you do
to defeat us!"
But after a while, with still no success and their provisions gone,
Voronwë gave up and steered for home and as he stood on the stern
of his great ship he espied from afar Mount Taras, but as he cried to
the seas: "So we return home, beaten, but not defeated!" A great storm
arose, greater then anything before. Voronwë was awed by its
power, and knew now clearly that none save one blessed and aided by
Ulmo would escape the wrath of Ossë. Soon his ship was ripped
apart by the violence of that storm and a great wave swallowed the ship
to its eternal resting place. But amid that wave a figure dark and
ominous could be beheld, and lo! it was Ulmo, Lord of Waters, and he
caught Voronwë before the ship went down and saved him to serve a
greater purpose yet.
So Voronwë's journey came to an end, not by finding the enchanted
roads to Valinor, nor by returning in failure to Middle-earth with his
ship, but saved by Ulmo from the wrath of Ossë to fullfill his
doom.
top