V. THE AMBARKANTA. This very short work, of cardinal interest (and not least in the associated maps), is entitled at the beginning of the text 'Of the Fashion of the World', on a title-page loose from but obviously belonging with the work is written: Ambarkanta. The Shape of the World. Rumil. together with the word Ambarkanta in tengwar. This is the first appearance of Rumil since the Lost Tales; but he is not men- tioned in the text itself. That the Ambarkanta is later than the Quenta (perhaps by several years) cannot be doubted. The reappearance of the name Utumna is an advance on Q, where also the term 'Middle-earth' does not appear; Eruman is (aberrantly) the name in Q of the land where Men awoke (pp. 119, 205), whereas in the Ambarkanta its name is for the first time Hildorien; and there are several cases where the Ambarkanta has names and details that are only found in Q by emendation (for example, Elvenhome p. 289, but Bay of Faerie > Bay of Elvenhome in Q (II), p. 186 note 12). The text consists of six pages of fine manuscript in ink, with very little emendation; I give the final forms throughout, with all rejected readings in the notes that follow the text. Closely associated with the work and here reproduced from the origi- nals are three diagrams of the World, here numbered I, II, and III, and two maps, numbered IV and V (see insert). On the pages facing these reproductions I note changes made to names. The text begins with a list of cosmographical words, with explanations; this I give on pp. 294 - 6. OF THE FASHION OF THE WORLD. About all the World are the Ilurambar, or Walls of the World. They are as ice and glass and steel, being above all imagination of the Children of Earth cold, transparent, and hard. They cannot be seen, nor can they be passed, save by the Door of Night. Within these walls the Earth is globed: above, below, and upon all sides is Vaiya, the Enfolding Ocean. But this is more like to sea below the Earth and more like to air above the Earth. In Vaiya below the Earth dwells Ulmo. Above the Earth lies the Air, which is called Vista,(1) and sustains birds and clouds. Therefore it is called above Fanyamar, or Cloudhome; and below Aiwenore (2) or Bird-land. But this air lies only upon Middle-earth and the Inner Seas, and its proper bounds are the Mountains of Valinor in the West and the Walls of the Sun in the East. Therefore clouds come seldom in Valinor, and the mortal birds pass not beyond the peaks of its mountains. But in the North and South, where there is most cold and darkness and Middle-earth extends nigh to the Walls of the World, Vaiya and Vista and Ilmen' flow together and are confounded. Ilmen is that air that is clear and pure being pervaded by light though it gives no light. Ilmen lies above Vista, and is not great in depth, but is deepest in the West and East, and least in the North and South. In Valinor the air is Ilmen, but Vista flows in at times especially in Elvenhome, part of which is at the eastern feet of the Mountains; and if Valinor m darkened and this air is not cleansed by the light of the Blessed Realm, it takes the form of shadows and grey mists. But Ilmen and Vista will mingle being of like nature, but Ilmen is breathed by the Gods, and purified by the pas- sage of the luminaries; for in Ilmen Varda ordained the courses of the stars, and later of the Moon and Sun. From Vista there is no outlet nor escape save' for the ser- vants of Manwe, or for such as he gives powers like to those of his people, that can sustain themselves in Ilmen or even in the upper Vaiya, which is very thin and cold. From Vista one may descend upon the Earth. From Ilmen one may descend into Valinor. Now the land of Valinor extends almost to Vaiya, which is most narrow in the West and East of the World, but deepest in the North and South. The Western shores of Valinor are therefore not far from the Walls of the World. Yet there is a chasm which sunders Valinor from Vaiya, and it is filled with Ilmen, and by this way one may come from Ilmen above the earth to the lower regions, and to the Earthroots, and the caves and grottoes that are at the foundations of the lands and seas. There is Ulmo's abiding-place. Thence are derived the wa- ters of Middle-earth. For these waters are compounded of Ilmen and Vaiya and Ambar' (which is Earth), since Ulmo blends Ilmen and Vaiya and sends them up through the veins of the World to cleanse and refresh the seas and rivers, the lakes and the fountains of Earth. And running water thus possesses the memory of the deeps and the heights, and holds somewhat of the wisdom and music of Ulmo, and of the light of the luminaries of heaven. In the regions of Ulmo the stars are sometimes hidden, and there the Moon often wanders and is not seen from Middle-earth. But the Sun does not tarry there. She passes under the earth in haste, lest night be prolonged and evil strengthened; and she is drawn through the nether Vaiya by the servants of Ulmo, and it is warmed and filled with life. Thus days are measured by the courses of the Sun, which sails from East to West through the lower Ilmen, blotting out the stars; and she passes over the midst of Middle-earth and halts not, and she bends her course northward or south- ward, not waywardly but in due procession and season. And when she rises above the Walls of the Sun it is Dawn, and when she sinks behind the Mountains of Valinor it is evening. But days are otherwise in Valinor than in Middle-earth. For there the time of greatest light is Evening. Then the Sun comes down and rests for a while in the Blessed Land, lying upon the bosom of Vaiya. And when she sinks into Vaiya it is made hot and glows with rosecoloured fire, and this for a long while illumines that land. But as she passes toward the East the glow fades, and Valinor is robbed of light, and is lit only with stars; and the Gods mourn then most for the death of Laurelin. At dawn the dark is deep in Valinor, and the shadows of their mountains lie heavy on the mansions of the Gods. But the Moon does not tarry in Valinor, and passeth swiftly o'er it to plunge in the chasm of Ilmen,(5) for he pursues ever after the Sun, and overtakes her seldom, and then is consumed and darkened in her flame. But it happens at times that he comes above Valinor ere the Sun has left it, and then he descends and meets his beloved, and Valinor is filled with mingled light as of silver and gold; and the Gods smile remembering the mingling of Laurelin and Silpion long ago. The Land of Valinor slopes downward from the feet of the Mountains, and its western shore is at the level of the bottoms of the inner seas. And not far thence, as has been said, are the Walls of the World; and over against the west- ermmost shore in the midst of Valinor is Ando Lomen (6) the Door of Timeless Night that pierceth the Walls and opens upon the Void. For the World is set amid Kuma, the Void, the Night without form or time. But none can pass the chasm and the belt of Vaiya and come to that Door, save the great Valar only. And they made that Door when Melko was overcome and put forth into the Outer Dark; and it is guarded by Earendel. The Middle-earth lies amidst the World, and is made of land and water; and its surface is the centre of the world from the confines of the upper Vaiya to the confines of the nether. Of old its fashion was thus. It was highest in the middle, and fell away on either side into vast valleys, but rose again in the East and West and again fell away ...
Januszek66