Things of Middle-earth
Vingilot
Type: Miscellaneous
Meaning: Foam-flower
Other Names: Rothinzil
Description:The ship of Eärendil, built by him with the help of Círdan the Shipwright. Vingilot was the “fairest of the ships of song; golden were its oars and white its timbers, hewn in the birchwoods of Nimbrethil, and its sails were the argent moon.”
When Eärendil came to Valinor, the Valar took Vingilot and “hallowed it, and bore it away to the uttermost rim of the world; and there it passed through the Door of Night and was lifted up even into the oceans of heaven.” Once hallowed, Vingilot was “fair and marvelous…filled with a wavering flame, pure and bright,” and as it sails through the heavens Eärendil stands at the helm, with a gleaming Silmaril bound to his brow.
Source: "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath," The Silmarillion.
Contributors: Zimraphel. 7/7/2003