Which two Trees of Valinor did J.R.R. Tolkien name as Telperion and Laurelin?

Telperion and Laurelin are the Two Trees of Valinor in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology.

The Two Trees grew in Valinor and provided light before the creation of the Sun and Moon. Telperion produced a silver light, while Laurelin produced a golden light. Their mingled radiance defined the Years of the Trees, an era preceding the First Age of Middle-earth.

The monstrous spider Ungoliant helped Melkor destroy the Trees. Their last remaining light was preserved in the Silmarils, jewels made by Fëanor. This event connects the Trees directly to the central conflicts of Tolkien’s First Age stories.

Readers sometimes confuse the Two Trees with the White Tree of Gondor or the later White Tree of Númenor. Those descendant trees are symbolically related to the older mythology, but Telperion and Laurelin are the original paired trees of Valinor.