Door of Night

The Door of Night (also called Moritarnon or Tarn Fui) was a place set at the utmost West of Arda near the Void. The Door was created by the Valar at the time of the making of the Sun and Moon. It was vital in the cosmology of Middle-earth, forming the border between Arda and the Void, as well as being the final prison of the renegade Vala Morgoth Bauglir.
==Creation==
The Door was created by the Valar as a gateway for the Sun. The following text from the Ainulindale describes their task:
Thus came it that the Gods dared a very great deed, the most mighty of their works; for making a fleet of magic rafts and boats with Ulmo's aid - and otherwise had none of these endured to sail upon the waters of Vai - they drew to the Wall of Things, and there they made the Door of Night.The Silmarillion
==Purpose==
The Sun was to pass through the Door of Night as it travelled above Arda. When the Sun passed through the Door, night would fall upon Middle-earth. The Moon would then rise from its resting place and continue on its path over the Earth. The Sun would traverse the border of the Wall of the World, re-entering the world in the East, at the Gates of Morning. At the same time, the Moon would be sinking in the West and a new day would begin. At the conclusion of the War of Wrath, when Eärendil the Mariner sailed to Aman to beseech the aid of the Valar, Morgoth was imprisoned outside the Door of Night. The following is told in The Silmarillion:
"But Morgoth himself the Valar thrust through the Door of Night beyond the Walls of the World, into the Timeless Void; and a guard is set forever on those walls, and Eärendil keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky."
At the "End of Days" (which is referenced to even in The Lord of the Rings by Gandalf, Tom Bombadil, and others), Morgoth shall return as Melkor by breaking the Door of Night, precipitating the Last Battle (Dagor Dagorath).
==Location==
A description of the location of the Door of Night is found in The Book of Lost Tales Part One:
About the World are the Ilurambar, or Walls of the World. They are as ice and glass and steel, being above all the 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.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter IX: "The Hiding of Valinor"
==Appearance==
The Door of Night was likened to a huge gate of stone at the very edge of the world: the Ilurambar, invisible Walls of the World.
There it still stands, utterly black and huge against the deep-blue walls. Its pillars are of the mightiest basalt and its lintel likewise, but great dragons of black stone are carved thereon, and shadowy smoke pours slowly from their jaws.
==Fate==
In The Book of Lost Tales Part One the fate of the Door of Night in the West, and its counterpart, the Gates of Morning in the East, are documented as follows:
For 'tis said ere the Great end come Melko shall in some wise contrive a quarrel between Moon and Sun, and Ilinsor shall seek to follow Urwendi through the Gates, and when they are gone the Gates of both East and West will be destroyed, and Urwendi and Ilinsor shall be lost.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Deur van die nag
Albanian 	Dera e natës
Amharic 	የሌሊት በር
Arabic 	باب الليل
Armenian 	Գիշերային դուռ
Assamese 	ৰাতিৰ দুৱাৰ
Azerbaijani 	Gecənin Qapısı
Basque 	Gaueko atea
Belarusian Cyrillic	Дзверы ночы
Bengali 	রাতের দরজা
Bosnian 	Vrata noći
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Врата на нощта
Cambodian 	ទ្វារពេលយប់
Catalan 	Porta de nit
Cebuano 	Pultahan sa gabii
Chinese 	夜之门
Corsican 	Porta di notte
Croatian 	Vrata noći
Czech 	Dveře noci
Danish 	Nattens Port
Dogri 	रात दा दरवाजा
Dutch 	Deur van Nacht
Esperanto 	Pordo de nokto
Estonian 	Öö uks
Faroese 	Nátthurð
Filipino 	Pinto ng gabi
Finnish 	Yön ovi
French 	Porte de la Nuit
Frisian 	Doar fan Nacht (Western)
Galician 	Porta da Noite
Georgian 	ღამის კარი
German 	Tore der Nacht
Greek 	Πόρτα της νύχτας
Gujarati 	રાત્રિનો દરવાજો
Hausa 	Kofar dare
Hebrew 	שער הלילה
Hindi 	रात का दरवाजा
Hungarian 	Éjszaka-ajtaja
Icelandic 	Næturhurð
Indonesian 	Pintu Malam
Italian 	Porta della Notte
Irish Gaelic 	An Doras Hoíche
Japanese 	夜のドア
Kannada 	ರಾತ್ರಿಯ ಬಾಗಿಲು
Kazakh 	Түнгі есік (Cyrillic) Tüngi esik (Latin)
Konkani 	रातचें दार
Korean 	밤의 문
Kurdish 	دەرگای شەو (Sorani) Deriyê şevê (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Түн эшик
Laotian 	ປະຕູກາງຄືນ
Latin 	Nocturna-ianua
Latvian 	Durvju nakts
Lithuanian 	Nakties dury
Luxembourgish 	Dier vun Nuecht
Macedonian Cyrillic	Вратата на ноќта
Malayalam 	രാത്രിയുടെ വാതിൽ
Malaysian 	Pintu Malam
Maltese 	Bieb bil-lejl
Marathi 	रात्रीचा दरवाजा
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Шөнийн хаалга
Nepalese 	रातको ढोका
Norwegian 	Nattdør
Odia 	ରାତିର ଦ୍ୱାର
Pashto 	د شپې دروازه
Persian 	دروازه‌های شب
Polish 	Brama Nocy
Portuguese 	Porta da noite
Punjabi 	ਰਾਤ ਦਾ ਦਰਵਾਜ਼ਾ
Romanian 	Ușa nopții
Russian 	Врата Ночи
Scottish Gaelic 	Doras h-oidhche
Serbian 	Ноћна врата (Cyrillic) Noćna vrata (Latin)
Sindhi 	رات جو دروازو
Sinhalese 	රාත්රියේ දොර
Slovak 	Dvere noci
Slovenian 	Vrata noči
Somali 	Albaabka Habeenkii
Spanish 	Puertas de la Noche
Sundanese 	Peuting panto
Swahili 	Mlango wa Usiku
Swedish 	Nattdörr
Tajik Cyrillic 	дари шаб
Tamil 	இரவின் கதவு
Telugu 	రాత్రి తలుపు
Thai 	ประตูแห่งราตรี
Turkish 	Gecenin Kapısı
Turkmen 	Gijäniň Gapysy
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Нічні двері
Urdu 	رات کا دروازہ
Uyghur 	كېچىنىڭ ئىشىكى
Uzbek 	Тунги эшик (Cyrillic) Tungi eshik (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Cửa đêm
Welsh 	Drws Nos
Xhosa 	Umnyango wobusuku
Yiddish 	טיר פון נאַכט
Yoruba 	Ilẹkun ti alẹ
==References==
de:Tore der Nacht
fr:Porte de la Nuit
it:Porta della Notte
pl:Brama Nocy
ru:Врата Ночи
Category:Cosmology
Category:Doors