![]() ![]() As Tolkien writes, “she is acquainted in grief, and mourns for every wound that Arda (Earth) has suffered in the marring of Melkor.” But for Tolkien, coming to terms with the sadness of life is actually empowering: “all those who wait in Mandos cry to her, for she brings strength to the spirit and turns sorrow to wisdom.” Man, I love that.įor me, the Valar are one of the aspects that give The Silmarillion its epic scope. My favorite Valar, for instance, is Nienna - basically the goddess of grief. But they each have rather unique personalities, and there are also some figures among them that indicate Tolkien’s deepest beliefs. The Valar’s basic structure should be familiar to any student of mythology: Manwe the sky god is the leader, his wife Varda is queen of the stars, Ulmo controls the sea, Yavanna grows green, Aule builds things, Mandos is lord of the dead, Melkor is the fallen angel who turned against his kin, etc. Tolkien loved to build worlds, and early on he discusses his cosmic pantheon in depth. But for all that, the imaginative scope of The Silmarillion is something to behold. ![]()
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