The Nature of Middle-earth

by J. R. R. Tolkien

  The Eldar believed that “spirits”, and the more so as they had greater inherent native powers, could “emit” their influence to make contact with or act upon things exterior to themselves: primarily and most easily upon other spirits, or upon the fëar of Incarnates; but also in the case of the greater Máyar (of whom the Valar were the chief) directly upon physical things without the mediacy of corporeal instruments.[fn2] [6]

  This direct action upon things was held to be quite different from direct calling of attention from other spirits. The latter was a natural operation within one mode of being, it being of the nature of spirits to be aware of one another. The former was an exhalation of dominance of one mode over another; and according to the Eldar all exertions of dominance make demands upon those who exert the power – something of their “spirit” is expelled, and transferred to the thing in a lower mode. Hence all tyrants slowly consume themselves, or transfer their power to things, and can only control it so long as they can [?possess or control the thing with its?] but power is dissipated. So Morgoth had become in fact less powerful than the other Valar, and much of his native power had passed into things [??diminished?] Hence his malice could live on after his extrusion.

  The words used to describe this action or emission of “power” were derived (apparently) by analogy from emission of breath, and such physical phenomena as breathing upon frost (which melts). In addition Manwë, who was held to be Lord of Air and Winds, was the most powerful of the Valar in this respect, and the most powerful spirit in Arda.

  Following this text, Tolkien worked out two sentences in Quenya illustrating Manwë’s “spirit in action” (Q. thúlë/súlë) from afar. The literal translations following each Quenya sentence are my own:

  “And the spirit of Manwë went out[fn3] and the servants of Melkor were stayed”; or “and the hearts of the Eldar heard afar [?off] and were comforted / or obeyed.”

  Ar thúlë Manwëo etsurinye ar Eldaron indor turyaner.[7]

  [“And the spirit of Manwë blew forth and the hearts of the Eldar obeyed.”]

  Sustane Manwëo súle ten i indo Sindicollo ar he lastane ar carnes.[8]

  [“The spirit of Manwë blew unto the heart of Thingol and he listened and did it.”]

  Between these two Quenya sentences, Tolkien provided the following glosses and derivations:[9]

  *thusya ‘go forth’ (as an emission) [>] Q. thuzya [>] surya ‘blow’ intr., [pa.t.] surinyë

  *thusta, thūta ‘send on’ [>] Q. susta ‘blow’ tr., [pa.t.] sustanë; súta, [pa.t.] sútanë.

  XIV

  THE VISIBLE FORMS OF THE VALAR AND MAIAR

  This text occupies five sides of six sheets of unlined paper, lettered (a)–(e) by Tolkien. It is written in a clear hand in black nib-pen. It is located in a bundle of sheets among Tolkien’s linguistic papers that date from c. 1967, and is both near to and associated with the text presented in chap. VI, “Dwellings in Middle-earth”, in part three of this book.

  This text was previously published in slightly different form in Parma Eldalamberon 17, (2007), pp. 174–7.

  √phan-. The basic sense of this was ‘cover, screen, veil’, but it had a special development in the Eldarin tongues. This was largely due to what appears to have been its very ancient application to clouds, especially to separate floating clouds as (partial) veils over the blue sky, or over the sun, moon, or stars. This application of the most primitive derivative *phanā (Q fana, S fân) was so ancient that when *phanā (or other derivatives) was applied to lesser, handmade, things this was felt to be a transference from the sense ‘cloud’, and words of this group were mainly applied to things of soft textures, veils, mantles, curtains and the like, of white or pale colours.

  In Sindarin fân remained the usual word for ‘cloud’, floating clouds, or those for a while resting upon or wreathing hills and mountain-top. The derivative (properly adjectival in form) *phanyā became fain, used as an adjective meaning ‘dim, dimmed’ (applied to dimmed or fading lights or to things seen in them) or ‘filmy, fine-woven etc.’ (applied to things that only partially screened light, such as a canopy of young still half-transparent leaves, or textures that veiled but only half-concealed a form). As a noun it was used of vague shapes or fleeting glimpses, especially of “apparitions” or figures seen in dreams.

  In Quenya, owing to close relations of the Eldar in Valinor with the Valar and other lesser spirits of their order, fana developed a special sense. It was applied to the visible bodily forms adopted by these spirits, when they took up their abode on Earth, as the normal “raiment” of their otherwise invisible being. In these fanar they were seen and known by the Eldar, to whom glimpses of other and more awe-inspiring manifestations were seldom given. But the Elves of Valinor asserted that unclad and unveiled the Valar were perceived by some among them as lights (of different hues) which their eyes could not tolerate; whereas the Maiar were usually invisible unclad, but their presence was revealed by their fragrance.[fn1] [1]

  The old word fana thus became used in Quenya only in this special and exalted sense: the visible form or “raiment” (which included both the assumed bodily shape and its vesture) in which a Vala or one of the lesser angelic spirits, not by nature incarnate, presented itself to bodily eyes. Since these fanar usually appeared “radiant” (in some degree), as if lit by a light within, the word fana acquired in Quenya an additional sense as ‘shining shape’, and this addition of radiance affected other derivatives of the same “base”.

  Valar ar Maiar fantaner nassentar fanainen ve quenderinwe koar al larmar: (Nasser ar Kenime Kantar Valaron ar Maiaron: a preserved fragment of Quenya lore): “The Valar and Maiar veiled their true-being in fanar, like to Elvish bodies and raiment” from “The Natures and Visible Shapes of the V. and M.”

  Thus the word for ‘cloud’ was in Quenya supplied by the derivative fanya (cf. I 394),[2] which was no longer used as an adjective. But this was used only of white clouds, sunlit or moonlit, or of clouds reflecting sunlight as in the sunset or sunrise, or gilded and silvered at the edges by moon or sun behind them. The hands of Varda were (like all her fana) of shining white. After the Darkening of Valinor she lifted them up, palms eastward, in a gesture of rejection,[3] as she summoned up in obedience to the decree of Manwë, her spouse, the “Elder King”, the vast mists and shadows that made it impossible for any living thing to find again the way westward to the shores of Valinor. Her hands are thus compared poetically in “Galadriel’s Lament” to clouds – white and shining still above the rising darkness that swiftly engulfed the shores and the mountains, and at last her own majestic figure[fn2] upon the summit of Oiolossë.[4]

  This Quenya meaning of fana after the coming of the Exiles to Middle-earth was also assumed by Sindarin fân, at first in the Sindarin as used by the exiled Noldor, and eventually also by the Sindar themselves, especially those in close contact with the Noldor or actually mingled with them. No doubt this use aroused in the minds of the Sindar who had not seen the Valar in their own sacred land of Aman a mental picture of a majestic figure robed as if in shining cloud seen far away.[5] Fanuilos was thus a title of, or second name for Elbereth, made after the coming of the Exiles, and conveyed in full some such meaning as “bright angelic figure, far away upon Uilos (= Oiolossë),” or “– angelic figure ever-snow-white (shining afar)”.[6]

  Though the Sindar had failed to reach Valinor (and some were embittered by what they considered their desertion on the Western Shores of Middle-earth) their hearts were still “westward” and they treasured what they knew or could learn about the Valar. In the far off days of their “Awaking” they had been visited and protected by Oromë in his fana as a great horseman mounted upon Nahar and bearing his mighty horn, the Valaróma. Their king Elwë, later known as Elwë Sindikollo or in Sindarin form (Elu) Thingol, had been one of the three emissaries borne by Oromë to Valinor to the council of the Valar at which it was resolved to invite all the Elves who were willing to remove and dwell in the Far West under the pro
tection of the Valar and out of the reach of Morgoth. He had thus seen and had converse with the Valar in their most majestic fanar. His wife Melian was one of the lesser spirits of the same order, a Maia of great beauty and wisdom, so that, at least among the “wise” of Doriath, much was known about the Valar. Varda whom none of the Sindar had seen (save Elwë), was there called El-bereth (a name of the same meaning as Quenya Elentári) [‘Star-queen’] …

  The fanar of the Valar were not “phantoms”, but “physical”: that is, they were not “visions” arising to the mind, or implanted there by the will of a superior mind or spirit, and then projected,[fn3] [7] but received through the bodily eyes.[fn4]

  The Valar had a command, great individually, almost complete as a united council, over the physical material of Eä (the material universe). Their fanar which were originally devised out of love for the “Children of Eru”, the Incarnate, whom they were to guard and counsel, had the properties of the material of which the köar (or bodies) of the Elves (and also of Men) were formed: sc. they were not transparent, they cast shadows (if their inner luminosity was dimmed); they could move material objects, and were resisted by these, and resisted them. These fanar were, however, also personal expressions (in terms suitable to the apprehension of the Incarnate) of their individual “natures” and functions, and were usually also clad in vestures of similar purpose.

  But it is often mentioned in the legends that certain of the Valar, and occasionally of the Maiar, “passed over the Sea”, and appeared in Middle-earth. (Notably Oromë, Ulmo, and Yavanna.) The Valar and Maiar were essentially “spirits”, according to Elvish tradition given being before the making of Eä. They could go where they willed, that is could be present at once at any point in Eä where they desired to be.[fn5]

  A briefer but related and apparently contemporary note elsewhere in Tolkien’s linguistic papers provides these additional details:

  [Q. fana] was used of the “raiment” or “veils” in which the Valar presented themselves. These were the bodily forms (like those of Elves and Men), as well as any further vestures, in which the Valar were self-incarnated. These fanar they assumed when after their demiurgic activities they came and dwelt in Arda (‘the Realm’), that is the Earth; and they did so because of their love and yearning for the “Children of Eru”, for whom they were to prepare the world, and for a time to govern it. The future forms of the bodies of Elves and Men they knew, though they had no part in their making. In these forms they presented themselves to the Elves (though they could assume other and wholly alien shapes), appearing usually as persons of majestic (but not gigantic) stature.

  XV

  ELVISH REINCARNATION

  The complex of texts presented here spans from about 1959 to 1972. The first part of text 1A was published at X:361–2, but I give it here again for ease of comparison with the commentary and the partial, revised version (1B) that follows it. For Christopher Tolkien’s own discussion and citation from these texts, cf. X:265–8, 362–6, XII:382, 390–1 n.17.

  These texts were published (with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien and myself) in somewhat different form by Michaël Devaux in La Feuille de la Compagnie, vol.3, J.R.R. Tolkien, l’effigie des Elfes (2014).

  TEXT 1A

  This typescript text of nine sides, lettered by Tolkien A–I (with two additional, supplanted sides, lettered Cx and Dx) is described and partially presented by Christopher Tolkien at X:361–2, who dates it to c. 1959.

  The Converse of Manwë with Eru

  concerning the death of the Elves and how it might

  be redressed; with the comments of the Eldar added

  Manwë spoke to Eru, saying: “Behold! an evil appears in Arda that we did not look for: Thy First-born Children, whom Thou madest immortal, suffer now severance of spirit and body. Many of the fëar of the Elves in Middle-earth are now houseless; and even in Aman there is one. The houseless we summon to Aman, to keep them from the Darkness, and all who hear our voice abide here in waiting.

  “What further is to be done? Is there no means by which their lives may be renewed, to follow the courses which Thou hast designed? And what of the bereaved who mourn those that have gone?”

  Eru answered: “Let the houseless be re-housed!”

  Manwë asked: “How shall this be done?”

  Eru answered: “Let the body that was destroyed be re-made. Or let the naked fëa be re-born as a child.”

  Manwë said: “Is it Thy will that we should attempt these things? For we fear to meddle with Thy Children.”

  Eru answered: “Have I not given to the Valar the rule of Arda, and power over all the substance thereof, to shape it at their will under My will? Ye have not been backward in these things. As for My First-born, have ye not removed great numbers of them to Aman from the Middle-earth in which I set them?”

  Manwë answered: “This we have done, for fear of Melcor,[1] and with good intent, though not without misgiving. But to use our power upon the flesh that Thou hast designed, to house the spirits of Thy Children, this seems a matter beyond our authority, even were it not beyond our skill.”

  Eru said: “I give you authority. The skill ye have already, if ye will take heed. Look and ye will find that each spirit of My Children retaineth in itself the full imprint and memory of its former house; and in its nakedness it is open to you, so that ye may clearly perceive all that is in it. After this imprint ye may make for it again such a house in all particulars as it had ere evil befell it. Thus ye may send it back to the lands of the Living.”

  Then Manwë asked further: “O Ilúvatar, hast Thou not spoken also of re-birth? Is that too within our power and authority?”

  Eru answered: “It shall be within your authority, but it is not in your power. Those whom ye judge fit to be re-born, if they desire it and understand clearly what they incur, ye shall surrender to Me; and I will consider them.”[2]

  Comments

  1. The Valar were troubled, not only because of the case of Finwë and Míriel but because of the Avari, and of the Sindar; for Middle-earth was perilous to bodies, and many had died, even before the Eldar came to Aman. And they discovered that, though those fëar that obeyed their summons were safe from the Darkness, to be naked was against their nature.[3] Therefore the Dead were unhappy, not only because they were bereaved of friends, but because they could do no deed nor achieve any new design without the body.[4] Many therefore turned inwards, brooding upon their injuries, and they were hard to heal.

  2. The Valar feared to meddle with the Children, since they were not in the design of Eä in which they had assisted. Also Eru had forbidden them to coerce their wills, daunting their minds by dread of the power of the Valar, or even amazing them with wonder of their beauty and majesty. But they deemed that since the rule of Arda was committed them, it was within their authority to hinder any creature from deeds of evil, or to restrain it from what might prove hurtful to itself or to others. By “coercing the will” they understood the domination or enslaving of the mind of a lesser creature, so that it might say “I will”, assenting to this or that against its true nature and inclination, until it lost, maybe, the power of choice. But they held it within their authority, which must otherwise become void in all dealings with those that had minds and wills, to deny to it, if they could, the means to achieve its purposes and desires, if these were evil or hurtful. For by the gift of will, Eru had not guaranteed to any less than Himself that this will should always be effected, be it good or evil.[5] And even the lesser creatures had the power to hinder the deeds of others, and the right to do so, if they judged the deeds to be wrong, albeit their judgement of what was evil or hurtful was far less secure than the judgement of the Valar, who knew clearly (according to their capacity) the will of Eru. Nonetheless, the removal of the Eldar from Middle-earth went to the limits of their authority, as they well understood; and not all of the Valar had believed this to be wise.

  3. It is clear that the Valar had power and skill, among them, to form
from the substance of Arda any thing, however intricate in design, of which they knew and fully perceived the pattern. But as was seen in the case of Aulë and the Dwarves they had no power to give free mind and will to anything that they made. With regard to the Dead, however, the living mind of the fëa already existed, and the Valar had only to make for it a house in all things the same as the one that it had lost. This they could now do with the authority of Eru.