Estë

Nature

Estë is the spouse of Irmo, lord of the gardens of Lórien, and one of the seven Queens of the Valar. Her name means rest, and rest is her gift: she heals hurts and weariness, and her robes are grey. She does not walk abroad by day but sleeps on an island in the tree-shadowed lake of Lórellin in the midst of Irmo's gardens, and from the fountains of her realm all who dwell in Valinor draw refreshment. The Valar themselves come to Lórien to be eased of the burdens of the World.

In the histories

Estë appears in the Silmarillion mainly through her people and her gardens. Melian, the Maia who married Thingol and became queen of Doriath, was akin to both Yavanna and Estë and had tended the flowering trees of Lórien before she went into Middle-earth. When Míriel, the mother of Fëanor, was exhausted by the birth of her son, she was taken to Lórien to be healed, though in the end she chose to release her spirit rather than return.

Estë's clearest act was in the making of day and night. When the Sun and Moon were first set in the sky, Varda intended them to sail together so that the World would never be dark. Estë and Irmo protested, because sleep had been banished and the stars hidden, and at their plea Varda ordered the lights to alternate. The nights of Middle-earth are therefore her doing as much as anyone's.

Legacy

Estë remains in Lórien, sleeping by day and giving rest by night. She is the Power of healing rather than of might, and the tradition of Elvish healing that runs from Melian to Elrond's house at Rivendell may be traced in spirit to her.

Estë remains in the gardens of Lórien, healer of the weary until the end of the World.