In J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

's fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

al universe of Middle-earth

Middle-earth

Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....

, the Door of Night was a place set at the utmost West of Arda

Arda

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Arda is the name given to the Earth in a period of prehistory, wherein the places mentioned in The Lord of the Rings and related material once existed...

, near to Avakúma, the void. The Door was created by the Valar at the time of the making of the Sun and Moon

Sun and Moon (Middle-earth)

The fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien of Middle-earth fame included Earth's sun and moon for the cosmology of his fictionalized version of existence....

. It was vital in the cosmology of Middle-earth

Middle-earth

Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....

, forming the border between Arda and the void, as well as being the final prison of the renegade Vala Morgoth Bauglir

Morgoth

Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...

. Other names of the Door of Night include Moritarnon and Tarn Fui.

Creation

The Door was created by the Valar as a gateway for the Sun to pass through. According to others , though, it was made expressly as a gateway through which to expel Morgoth. The following text describes the creation of the Door:

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

Ulmo

Ulmo is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He first appears in The Silmarillion as a god or Vala of the Elven pantheon. Ulmo is a title, which means He who pours. He is also known as King of the Sea and Lord of Waters...

 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.

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

War of Wrath

The War of Wrath, or the Great Battle, is a key plot development in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium, portraying the final war against Morgoth at the end of the First Age....

, when Eärendil the Mariner

Eärendil

Eärendil the Mariner is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is depicted in The Silmarillion as a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried the morning star across the sky.-Etymology:...

 sailed to Aman

Aman

-External links:*...

 to beseech the aid of the Valar, Morgoth

Morgoth

Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...

 was imprisoned outside the Door of Night. The following reference is from 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.

Location

A description of the location of the Door of Night can be 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.

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 Ilsinor 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 Ilsinor shall be lost.