Days before days

The Days before days were the first of the three great time periods in Arda. They were part of the Valian Years and began after the Ainulindalë, preceding the Years of the Trees. Before the creation of the Two Trees of Valinor there were 3500 Years of the Valar, or 33,537 solar years, in the history of Arda.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, The Annals of Aman
==History==
=== First War ===
After the Ainulindalë, when the Valar came to Arda, they found it flat and entirely lifeless. Melkor also was among them, but he claimed Arda for himself alone. Manwë denied his claims, noticing that Arda was the labour of all the Ainur in equal measure. He called the many spirits, including Varda, to his own side from the deeps of Eä to fight Melkor, and thus the First War ravaged the world. It was the first time when Arda was marred by Melkor's evil. He undid or marred whatever the Valar made, demolishing mountains they created, raising up their valleys and spilling their seas, ever hindering their plans. For many centuries, the Dark Lord prevailed, but news of the war reached the farthest deeps of Eä, where the many other Ainur remained. Among these spirits was Tulkas, who finally descended to Arda in YV 1500. Hearing his mighty laughter, Melkor fled before his anger in fear and escaped beyond the Walls of Night. Thus the First War ended in favour of the Valar, and Tulkas was counted among them. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter I: "Of the Beginning of Days"
The Valar refashioned Arda for another four hundred Valian Years after the War, which lasted for 1500 Valian Years, and there was peace for a long time, since Melkor forsook Arda and brooded in the distant spaces beyond it for some time, holding a great hatred of Tulkas forever after. But still, there were many of his spies among the Maiar, who dwelt in Arda and admired Melkor's dark power and glory.
===Spring of Arda===
The initial shape of Arda, chosen by the Valar, was of a symmetrical continent. Needing luminance, the Valar found and collected the misty light veiled on the barren ground. The Valar concentrated this light into two large lamps, Illuin and Ormal. Then the Vala Aulë erected two great columns: one in the north, Helcar, and another in the south, Ringil. Varda filled them with light, and when Manwë blessed them, the world was lit by these Two Lamps, thus beginning the Spring of Arda, when the first living things started to grow and flourish, in YV 1900. Arda had peace for a long time and became filled with trees and herbs, beast and birds, and all the lands were green and blossom under the blessed radiance of the Lamps. The Valar dwelt in the middle of the world where the light of the Lamps mingled, at the island of Almaren amid the Great Lake.
But Almaren was not the only kingdom built in this time: far to the north, the evil Maiarin spirits gathered, and Melkor entered Arda once again, unseen to the Valar. In secret, while the Valar rested from their labours, Melkor raised the vast Iron Mountains and built his fortress Utumno beneath them. While Manwë ordained a great feast, at which Tulkas fell asleep, Melkor assailed and destroyed the Two Lamps. Thus, the Spring came to an end, and Arda was again marred, because the Lamps' fall forever spoiled the perfect symmetry of its surface. Afterwards, four main continents were created: Aman in the far west, Middle-earth in the middle and far south, and Land of the Sun in the far east. The site of the northern Lamp later became the inland Sea of Helcar, of which Cuiviénen was a bay.
The Valar settled in their second kingdom, Valinor in the West and raised the Pelóri to protect it. In YV 3500, Yavanna created the Two Trees to light the western corner of Arda, beginning the new Valian count of time: the Years of the Trees. The Spring of Arda lasted for 1600 Valian Years in total, or 15,331 solar years.
==Timeline==
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Dae voor dae
Armenian 	Օրեր նախքան օրեր
Asturian 	Díes antes de díes
Azerbaijani 	Günlər əvvəl günlər
Bosnian 	Dani prije dana
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Дни преди дни
Catalan 	Dies abans de dies
Chinese 	古老的时代
Croatian 	Dani prije dana
Czech 	Dny před dny
Danish 	Dage før dage
Dari 	روز ها قبل از روز ها
Dutch 	Dagen vóór dagen
Esperanto 	Tagoj antaŭ tagoj
Estonian 	Päevad enne päevad
Faroese 	Dagar áðrenn dagar
Filipino 	Mga araw bago ang mga araw
Finnish 	Päiviä ennen päiviä
French 	Jours avant jours
Galician 	Días antes de días
Georgian 	დღეები დღეების წინ
German 	Zeitalter vor den Tagen
Greek 	Μέρες πριν από μέρες
Gujarati 	દિવસો પહેલાના દિવસો
Hebrew 	ימים לפני ימים
Hindi 	दिन से पहले दिन
Hungarian 	Napok napok előtt
Icelandic 	Dagar fyrir dagar
Irish Gaelic 	Laethanta roimh laethanta
Italian 	Giorni prima di giorni
Japanese 	古代の日々
Javanese 	Dina-dina sakdurunge
Kannada 	ದಿನಗಳು ದಿನಗಳ ಮೊದಲು
Kazakh 	Күндер алдындағы күндер (Cyrillic) Künder aldındağı künder (Latin)
Korean 	고대 시대
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Байыркы күндөр
Latvian 	Dienas pirms dienām
Lithuanian 	Dienos prieš dienas
Macedonian Cyrillic	Денови пред денови
Malaysian 	Hari-hari sebelum hari-hari
Maltese 	Ġranet qabel jiem
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Өдрүүд өмнө өдрүүд
Nepalese 	दिनहरू अघिका दिनहरू
Norwegian 	Dager før dager
Occitan 	Jorns abans los jorns
Persian 	روزها قبل از روزها
Polish 	Dni przed dniami
Portuguese 	Dias antes de dias
Punjabi 	ਦਿਨ ਅੱਗੇ ਦਿਨ
Romanian 	Cu zile înainte de zile
Russian 	Дни прежде дней
Sardinian 	Giornadas in antis de dies
Serbian 	Дане пре дана (Cyrillic) Dane pre dana (Latin)
Sicilian 	Giorni prima di giorni
Sinhalese 	පුරාණ දවස්
Slovak 	Dni pred dňami
Slovenian 	Dnevi pred dnevi
Spanish 	Días antes días
Swedish 	Dagar innan dagar
Tajik Cyrillic 	Рузхо пеш аз рузхо
Tamil 	நாட்களுக்கு முன் நாட்கள்
Telugu 	రోజుల ముందు రోజుల
Turkish 	Günlerden önceki günler
Turkmen 	Günlerden öňki günler
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Дні перед днями
Urdu 	دنوں سے پہلے دن
Uzbek 	Кунлар олдин кунлар (Cyrillic) Kunlar oldin kunlar (Latin)
Venetian 	Giorni prima di giorni
Welsh 	Dyddiau cyn dyddiau
Yiddish 	טעג איידער טעג
==References==
Category:Eras
Category:Time
Category:Valian Years
Category:Before the First Age
de:Zeitalter vor den Tagen
es:Edades de las Lámparas
fr:Années des Lampes
it:Anni delle Lampade
pl:Era Latarń
ru:Дни прежде дней