Annals of Aman
the early annals; the chronology of the Years of the Trees
Nature
The Annals of Aman (the “AF” — the Annals of the Blessed Realm) are the great early chronicle of the mythology — the dated annals of the Years of the Valar and the Years of the Trees: from the creation and the shaping of Arda and the building of Valinor and its light, through the awakening of the Elves, to the slaying of the Trees and the flight of the Noldor —. It is the chronometer of the First Age’s prologue.
Contents
The events from the foundation of the great years (the year-reckonings of the Valar) and the Two Trees; The coming of the ambassadors, the journey and settlement of the kindreds; The years of Melkor’s ruin (Feanor’s ban, the Trees’ death, the theft, the Exile) — told as entries of the age’s count.
Composition and Significance
The “Annals” exist in several versions (the “Annals of Valinor” and the “Annals of Aman”, from the 1930s to 1958 texts), and are the chronological backbone on which the Quenta’s story rests — published and compared by Christopher Tolkien in Morgoth’s Ring (with the Grey Annals of the First Age) — illuminating how Tolkien built the legend’s calendar from the earliest days.