Mallorn (S. "Gold-tree")
The most outstanding and unique Nature of Lórien is, of course, the mallorn trees. Hardy and strong, able to grow to great heights and with branches seeminly bred to accomodate th...
The most outstanding and unique Nature of Lórien is, of course, the mallorn trees. Hardy and strong, able to grow to great heights and with branches seeminly bred to accomodate th...
The most outstanding and unique Nature of Lórien is, of course, the mallorn trees. Hardy and strong, able to grow to great heights and with branches seeminly bred to accomodate the platforms and structures of the Silvan Elves, the mellyrn have no equal in beauty in Middle-earth. Their trunks and branches are covered by a smooth silver-white or grey bark. In the summer, the trees grow long leaves, pale green on top and silver underneath. In late autumn, these leaves turn pure gold, and remain on the trees until spring, when pale gold blossoms sprout. Thus, in the spring Lórien is roofed and carpeted with gold. Mellyrn do not die of old age and are immune to all forms of disease and plague which other trees might suffer. They grow quickly in their early life, and their main branches grow perpendicular to the trunk, providing ideal foundations for the flets (or telain), arboreal platforms which are the preferred lodgingplace of the Golden Wood's inhabitants (thus their name Galadrim or "Tree-dwellers"). The trunk of the mallorn also divides into crown near the top, and here the Galadrim build. The mellyrn are not native to Middle-earth; they originated in the Undying Lands and are probably related to Laurelin, one of the original Two Trees (thus one of the earlier names for the Golden Wood: Laurelindorean or "Land of the Valley of Singing Gold.") Galadriel was given a few mallorn seeds by Gil-galad, who had in turn been given a number as a gift from the Númenórean King Tar- Aldarion. (The mallorn trees prospered in Númenor, carried there from Eressëa). The trees would not grow in Lindon, but by the power of Galadriel they flourished in Lórinand—though not to the height they achieved in Valinor. The second Party Tree in the Shire was a mallorn (the only one in Eriador), and there were mellyrn in Aman.