Carte -> Ambarkanta

J'ai croqué une carte de l'Ambarkanta (formation du monde), décrites dans les HoMe IV, "The Shapping of The World".

Tolkien a écrit:

About all the World are the Ilurambar, or Walls of the
World. They are as ice and glass and steel, being above all
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. In Vaiya below the Earth dwells Ulmo. Above
the Earth lies the Air, which is called Vista,(1) and sustains
birds and clouds. Therefore it is called above Fanyamar, or
Cloudhome; and below Aiwenore (2) or Bird-land. But this air
lies only upon Middle-earth and the Inner Seas, and its
proper bounds are the Mountains of Valinor in the West and
the Walls of the Sun in the East. Therefore clouds come
seldom in Valinor, and the mortal birds pass not beyond the
peaks of its mountains. But in the North and South, where
there is most cold and darkness and Middle-earth extends
nigh to the Walls of the World, Vaiya and Vista and Ilmen'
flow together and are confounded.
Ilmen is that air that is clear and pure being pervaded by
light though it gives no light. Ilmen lies above Vista, and is
not great in depth, but is deepest in the West and East, and
least in the North and South. In Valinor the air is Ilmen, but
Vista flows in at times especially in Elvenhome, part of
which is at the eastern feet of the Mountains; and if Valinor
m darkened and this air is not cleansed by the light of the
Blessed Realm, it takes the form of shadows and grey
mists. But Ilmen and Vista will mingle being of like nature,
but Ilmen is breathed by the Gods, and purified by the pas-
sage of the luminaries; for in Ilmen Varda ordained the
courses of the stars, and later of the Moon and Sun.
From Vista there is no outlet nor escape save' for the ser-

vants of Manwe, or for such as he gives powers like to
those of his people, that can sustain themselves in Ilmen or
even in the upper Vaiya, which is very thin and cold. From
Vista one may descend upon the Earth. From Ilmen one
may descend into Valinor. Now the land of Valinor extends
almost to Vaiya, which is most narrow in the West and East
of the World, but deepest in the North and South. The
Western shores of Valinor are therefore not far from the
Walls of the World. Yet there is a chasm which sunders
Valinor from Vaiya, and it is filled with Ilmen, and by this
way one may come from Ilmen above the earth to the
lower regions, and to the Earthroots, and the caves and
grottoes that are at the foundations of the lands and seas.
There is Ulmo's abiding-place. Thence are derived the wa-
ters of Middle-earth. For these waters are compounded of
Ilmen and Vaiya and Ambar' (which is Earth), since Ulmo
blends Ilmen and Vaiya and sends them up through the
veins of the World to cleanse and refresh the seas and
rivers, the lakes and the fountains of Earth. And running
water thus possesses the memory of the deeps and the
heights, and holds somewhat of the wisdom and music of
Ulmo, and of the light of the luminaries of heaven.
In the regions of Ulmo the stars are sometimes hidden,
and there the Moon often wanders and is not seen from
Middle-earth. But the Sun does not tarry there. She passes
under the earth in haste, lest night be prolonged and evil
strengthened; and she is drawn through the nether Vaiya by
the servants of Ulmo, and it is warmed and filled with life.
Thus days are measured by the courses of the Sun, which
sails from East to West through the lower Ilmen, blotting
out the stars; and she passes over the midst of Middle-earth
and halts not, and she bends her course northward or south-
ward, not waywardly but in due procession and season.
And when she rises above the Walls of the Sun it is Dawn,
and when she sinks behind the Mountains of Valinor it is
evening.

tu parle d'un HoMe IV, "The Shapping of The World".
qu'est ce que c'est ?

Le 4° des 12 tomes de l'Histoire de la Terre du Milieu. Ce sont des brouillons et textes inédits de Tolkien publiés par son fils. Les 4 premiers sont traduits en français, le 4° "La Formation de la Terre du Milieu" est sorti récemment.