Valmar
the city of the Valar; the burg of the gods
Name and Position
Valmar, also Valimar — “the burg of the gods” — is the city of the Valar in Valinor: their first and fairest city, of the Blessed Realm. In its mid there stand the halls of the Valar where the council (the “great ring”) gathers; about them lie the courts, the gardens and the concourses of the figures of the age.
The Features
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The ring of the Valar: the great place of the high feast — the “Máhanaxar” (the Ring of Doom), the circular court without roof where the Valar sit in judgement — the Máhanaxar (the Ring of Doom) stands before the gates of Valmar and is the place where the dooms (including the Doom of the Noldor) are spoken. Good.
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The bells and the feasts: its towers and bells; the songs of the Vanyar; the meads of golden grass — the Quenta’s picture of the city is the perpetual festival of the light.
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The gates toward the trees: from Valmar the road runs to the Green Mound (Ezellohar) where the Two Trees grew, then far away upon the plain of the — the image of “the tree-light white and gold over Valmar” is among the most quoted lines.
In the Tale
When the Valar dwelt in Valmar, the Elves came to Aman; the Noldor built their own Tirion “not far” — the refuge and court where Míriel — the central stage of the First Age’s prologue (Fëanor’s Oath is sworn at the “ring of doom” near Valmar; the Doom of the Noldor is declared there). In later remembrance Valmar is the earthly image of perfect peace — “the feast of Valmar” the Elvish synonym of bliss, which the cruel exiles remembered as their lost paradise.