It was at this time, too, that Aulë returned, and secretly fashioned a hall beneath the mountains of Middle-earth. The Valar did not completely forget their ancient home, though, and Yavanna and Oromë, especially, came there from time to time to try and mend the hurts of Melkor if they could. Though the Valar made a new home for themselves in Aman, and lit their new land of Valinor with the light of the Two Trees, Middle-earth was now left in darkness for many Ages. This is one of the great disasters of Middle-earth's history: the Valar departed forever, and left Middle-earth under the sole control of Melkor, who claimed it as his own. Fleeing back to Utumno, he saved himself from the wrath of Tulkas. When he judged the time was right, he assailed Almaren and, surprising the Valar, destroyed their habitation in Middle-earth. Unknown to the Valar, though, Melkor secretly returned, and delved his first great fortress of Utumno in the mountains of the far distant north. This was the time known as the Spring of Arda. The Valar themselves dwelt in its central regions, on the green island of Almaren. From fear of Tulkas, Melkor had fled beyond the Walls of the World, and Middle-earth was a place of peace and beauty. The foundations of Middle-earth were laid by Aulë in times ancient beyond reckoning, and the Valar lit the new lands with two great Lamps, Illuin in the north and Ormal in the south. Little is known of the east or south of Middle-earth, or of the far north, but the geography and history of its Western lands are chronicled in great detail. The great continent on which much of the Silmarillion, and the adventures of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are set. The northwestwern parts of Middle-earth at the time of the War of the Ring
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