Burn
Arda is the world in which the events of almost all of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional works take place, and includes the continents of Middle-earth and Aman with the oceans that separate them. It is a part of Eä, the world and everything in it. Arda was created, along with the rest of Eä, with the music of the Ainur for the children of Ilúvatar (ie, elves and men).
General information
Originally a flat world, the continents were surrounded by a mighty ocean, Ekkaia or Surrounding Sea, and separated by the Belegaer, called the Great Sea. In the first age, the area north and west of Middle-earth was occupied by the country of Beleriand, but it was destroyed during the War of Wrath.
In the Second Age, Númenor was raised on the Great Sea for the Edain. This island existed for most of the Second Age, but was destroyed as a result of the pride of the Númenoreans in defiance of the Ban of the Valar to sail to Aman in the west.
After the destruction of Númenor, Arda was made round. Aman was taken from the world, and could only be reached by the elves, following the straight path that was given to them. At the same time, new lands and continents were created. The south of Middle-earth was the Dark Land and to the east was Rómenor, the "Land of the Sun".
Shortly before the fall of Númenor, a small group of men (led by Elendil, and his sons Isildur and Anárion), escaped the coming destruction and settled in the west of Middle-earth, thus forming the kingdoms of Gondor (near Mordor, the realm of Sauron) and Arnor (near the elven realms of Mithlond and Rivendell). These kingdoms of Elves and Men fought against Sauron's evil throughout the Third Age.
The end of the Third Age occurred due to the fall of Sauron and the destruction of the Ring at the hands of the hobbits Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamge, and at the hands of the forces of Gondor and Rohan, commanded by Aragorn, a member of the Fellowship of Ring. The Fourth Age began with great hope at the hands of the Dúnedain who saw Aragorn as the founder of the "Age of Men".
Over the centuries, Arda would become planet Earth as we know it today. J. R. R. Tolkien says in one of his letters that Arda is Earth, located in a fictitious time.
Etymology
Tolkien derived the Quenya word Arda from prehistoric Elvish *gardā. Quenya regularly loses initial G and shortens final long vowels. The term basically means 'a more or less delimited or defined place, a region'. Its use as a proper name for 'the world' was due to the Valarin Aþāraphelūn". This Valarin word is said to mean 'appointed abode', referring to Earth as the abode of the valar or elves and men. The "realm" name Arda appears in Tolkien's Elvish writings of the 1930s, but there is as yet no indication that he intended it as a Quenya name for the world.. This appears to be a later use of the word in real life and the imaginary timeline alike.
In real-world terms, Tolkien's inspiration for the word Arda may be cognate to the word for "Earth" in Germanic or other languages, specifically Afrikaans Aarde, which has a similar pronunciation and meaning, and this is not surprising, considering Tolkien's South African origin. Other Germanic cognates include Dutch Aarde, German Erde i>, and even the English Earth; although these are not direct sources, but rather linguistic coincidences. Also similar is the Arabic word أرض ard which means 'earth' or 'the Earth'. It may be that Tolkien conceived the Elvish word Arda as the fictional prehistoric source of words referring to Earth or the world in the later languages of men.
Different states of Arda
Immaculate Burning
The original world built by the Valar is called "Arda Unmarred" (Arda Unmarred in the original English; Quenya Arda Alahasta). This world was destroyed by the wars between the Valar and Melkor, and only Valinor still partly resembled what that land once was. Arda Immaculate was a symmetrical, flat world with permanent light.
Spotted Burning
"Arda Marred" (Arda Marred in original English; Quenya Arda Hastaina) is the name given to the world as it is: the world after the wars of the valar and Melkor, and the scattering of the fëa of Melkor throughout the world. This is the world from which the hröa of the children of Ilúvatar were formed, so it is sometimes a cruel and wicked world with plagues, extreme cold, heat and other concepts that do not exist in Arda Immaculate.
Arda Flint also broke the pattern of elven immortality: in Arda Flint the elves slowly fade away, until at last they are nothing more than "ghosts." Only in Valinor does this fading stop, for this reason all the elves had no choice but to finally go to Valinor. One of the special abilities of the Rings of Power was that they allowed time to be turned back, and as such they were used by Elrond and Galadriel to preserve their kingdoms. After the destruction of the One Ring the elves were left with no choice and so in the Fourth Age the last of the eldar marched on Valinor.
Arda Sanada
After the Dagor Dagorath, Morgoth will be finally defeated, and the world will be broken, a new world will be created in its place, this world will be «Arda Sanada» (Arda Healed in the original English; Quenya Arda Envinyanta).
Historical periods
Evolution of the geography of Arda over time:
First Age.
Second Age.
Third and Fourth Ages.
- Creation of Arda
- Ages of lamps
- Ages of the Trees
- It was Darkness
- It was the Stars
- Ages of the Sun
- First Age of the Sun
- Second Age of the Sun
- Age of the Sun
- Fourth Age of the Sun
more...