History of Arda

thumb|upright=1.5|Tolkien meant Arda to be what [[Paul H. Kocher calls "our own green and solid Earth", seen here in the Baltistan mountains, "at some quite remote epoch in the past".

Then Ilúvatar created Eä, which means "to be," the universe itself, and formed within it Arda, the Earth, "globed within the void": the world together with the three airs is set apart from Avakúma, the "void" without. The first 15 of the Ainur that descended to Arda, and the most powerful ones, were called Valar; the lesser Ainur were called Maiar.

This period, known as the Spring of Arda, was a time when the Valar had ordered the World as they wished and rested upon Almaren, and Melkor lurked beyond the Walls of Night. During this time animals first appeared, and forests started to grow.

Years of the Trees

thumb|upright=2|Arda in the Years of the Trees. The [[Two Trees of Valinor illuminated the Blessed Realm; the rest of Arda was dark at that time. The outlines of the continents are purely schematic.]]

After the destruction of the Two Lamps and the kingdom of Almaren, the Valar abandoned Middle-earth, moving to the continent of Aman. There they built their Second Kingdom, Valinor. Yavanna made the Two Trees, named Telperion (the silver tree) and Laurelin (the golden tree) in the land of Valinor. The Trees illuminated Valinor, leaving Middle-earth in darkness. The Years of the Trees were contemporary with Middle-earth's Sleep of Yavanna (recalled by Treebeard as the Great Darkness).

After the War of the Powers, Oromë of the Valar summoned the Elves to Aman. Many of the Elves went with Oromë on the Great Journey westwards towards Aman. Along the journey several groups of Elves tarried, notably the Nandor and the Sindar. The three clans that arrived at Aman were the Vanyar, the Noldor, and the Teleri. They made their home in Eldamar. After Melkor appeared to repent and was released after his servitude of three Ages, he revealed his deception by stirring up rivalry between the Noldorin King Finwë's two sons Fëanor and Fingolfin. With the help of the giant spider Ungoliant, he destroyed the Trees of the Valar. The world was again dark, save for the faint starlight. After destroying the trees, he killed Finwë and stole the Silmarils, three gems crafted by Fëanor that contained light of the Two Trees, fleeing with them to his fortress in the North of Middle Earth. There he forged a black iron crown for himself and set the Silmarils in it.

Bitter at the Valar's inactivity, Fëanor and his house left to pursue Melkor, cursing him with the name "Morgoth". While his brother Finarfin chose to stay in Valinor, a larger host led by Fingolfin followed Fëanor. They reached Alqualondë, the port-city of the Teleri, who forbade them from taking their ships for the journey to Middle-earth. The first Kinslaying thus ensued, and the Noldor that partook were exiled indefinitely. Fëanor and his children in return swore an oath to retake the Silmarils, that the Valar turned to a curse over the house of Fëanor. Fëanor's host sailed on the boats, leaving Fingolfin's host behind – who crossed over to Middle-earth on the Helcaraxë (Grinding Ice) in the far north, losing many. The War of the Great Jewels followed, and lasted until the end of the First Age. Meanwhile, the Valar took the last living fruit of Laurelin and the last living flower of Telperion and used them to create the Moon and Sun, which remained a part of Arda, but were separate from Ambar (the world). The first rising of the sun over Ambar heralded the end of the Years of the Trees, and the start of the Years of the Sun, which last to the present day.

Years of the Sun

The Years of the Sun were the last of the three great time-periods of Arda. They began with the first sunrise in conjunction with the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth, and last until the present day. The Years of the Sun began towards the end of the First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar and continued through the Second, Third, and part of the Fourth in Tolkien's stories. Tolkien estimated that modern times would correspond to the sixth or seventh age.

! Age

! Duration years

! style="width: 400px;" | Events

!colspan="3"| Valian Years

| Days before days || 3,500 || First War:    Marring of Arda    Melkor flees before Tulkas End of the Spring of Arda:    Melkor destroys the Two Lamps    Arda's symmetry broken    Aman and Middle-earth created    The Valar move to Valinor

| Years of the Trees || 1,500 ||    Yavanna creates the Two Trees of Valinor    Varda lights the stars, the Elves awaken, the First Age begins    Melkor is defeated and imprisoned    Ungoliant destroys the Two Trees    Melkor steals the Silmarils

!colspan="10"| Years of the Sun

| First Age (cont'd) || 590 || Awakening of Men War of the Jewels War of Wrath:    Morgoth's defeat in Beleriand    Thangorodrim broken    Most of Beleriand drowned

| Second Age || 3,441 || Akallabêth:    Sauron's first downfall    World made round    Númenor drowned    Valinor removed from Arda; only Elves can travel the Straight Road

| Third Age || 3,021 || War of the Ring:    Final defeat of Sauron    Destruction of the One Ring    Elves depart from Middle-earth

| Fourth Age and later || ~6,000