Mallorn

The mallorn (pl. mellyrn) was a large tree that grew in Aman, Númenor, and Lothlórien; one was known to grow in the Shire in the Fourth Age.

Description

Mellyrn were similar to beech trees in that their bark was smooth and silver-grey, but their leaves, which were green above and silver beneath, were much larger and longer than those of beech trees and turned a clear gold in autumn. The golden leaves did not fall like those of other deciduous trees; they remained on the tree throughout the winter. They fell only in the spring, when golden flowers bloomed on the branches and new leaves sprouted, turning the entire forest a bright gold. Mellyrn exuded a greater presence than other trees. Frodo Baggins explained that he could feel the "life of the tree" when he touched a mallorn in Lothlórien.^[1]

History

Mellyrn originally grew on Tol Eressëa and probably also in Valinor.^[2] The Elves of Tol Eressëa brought mellyrn to the Númenóreans, and they grew on the shores around the Bay of Eldanna in that land. The mallorn groves of Númenor were of immense height and legendary beauty. Even Tar-Aldarion, the great Ship-King, did not cut them down.

Mallorn nuts were given by Tar-Aldarion, to his friend Gil-galad, the Ñoldorin King of Lindon. The mellyrn did not grow in Lindon, but Galadriel took some nuts with her to Lothlórien, where they grew to considerable heights. Lothlórien became known as the Golden Wood (the English translation) because of them.

The Fellowship of the Ring spent its first night in Lothlórien on flets (wooden platforms) built onto the upper branches of several adjacent mellyrn. In this case the flets were of simple construction with light, woven movable walls to block the wind. These trees were on the North Eastern edge of Lothlorien, close by the tributary river of Nimrodel, or Silverlode.

Caras Galadhon, the city of Galadriel and Celeborn within Lothlórien, was built in the branches of huge mellyrn, with a large hall built into the upper branches of the tallest tree at the centre of the city. The large horizontal branches of the mallorn lent themselves to being used in this way. The Fellowship were later given lembas, the elvish waybread wrapped in mallorn leaves.^[1] The mallorn-leaf wrapping helped keep the waybread fresh and helped sustain its capacity to keep people alive for long periods in the absence of other foods.

Galadriel gave Samwise Gamgee a box of soil from her garden containing a single silver mallorn nut.^[3] After the War of the Ring, Sam planted it in the Shire, in the Party Field where the Party Tree had stood; the mallorn growing from it became known as the Golden Tree. It was the only mallorn in Middle-earth outside of Lórien. When the tree bloomed the next spring and summer it became the wonder of the neighbourhood and in time a place of pilgrimage; an image of times long past and a thing of beauty and wonder.^[4]

Etymology

The name mallorn is derived from the Sindarin terms malt ("gold") and orn ("tree").

Malinornë is the Quenya name for the mallorn.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Armenian	Մալորն
Greek	Μάλορν
Gujarati	મેલોર્ન
Hebrew	מאלורן
Hindi	मलोरन
Kannada	ಮಲ್ಲೋರ್ನ್
Korean	말로 른
Marathi	मल्लॉर्न
Russian	Мэллорн
Sinhalese	මල්ලෝන්
Tajik Cyrillic	Маллорн
Telugu	మల్లోర్న్

References