Ainur
Also calledThe Holy Ones, The Powers, Offspring of Ilúvatar's Thought
The Ainur are the angelic spirits created by Eru Ilúvatar before the World existed, who sang the Music from which Arda was shaped. Those who entered the World became its guardians and its shapers, and they are divided into the greater Valar and the lesser but far more numerous Maiar.
Description
Who the Ainur are
The Ainur are the first and greatest of all created beings. Before there was any world at all, Eru Ilúvatar brought them forth from his own thought, and each of them understood only that part of the mind of Eru from which he or she had sprung. They are best thought of as pure spirit: they have no bodies by nature, no need of food or sleep, and no natural death. Their number is never given, but it is clearly very large, and they range from a handful of overwhelming powers to countless lesser spirits whose names the Elves never learned.
The Ainur are not gods in their own right. Everything they know, everything they can make, and even the power by which they act comes from Eru. They can shape and order what already exists, but they cannot create life or free will, and when Aulë tried to make the Dwarves on his own, the result was lifeless until Eru chose to give it true being. This limit runs through the whole legendarium and explains why even Melkor, the mightiest of them, could only twist and mar what others had made.
The Great Music
The defining act of the Ainur was the Ainulindalë, the Music of the Ainur. Eru proposed themes to them and invited them to sing, each adorning the theme with his or her own thought. As the Music grew, Melkor began to weave in ideas of his own that clashed with the theme, seeking to increase his own part and to draw others to his tune. Eru answered with a second theme, and then a third, absorbing even Melkor's discord into a greater whole, and at last he ended the Music with a single chord.
He then showed the Ainur a Vision of what their song had meant: a world, with its lands and seas and the coming of the Elves and Men, whom none of the Ainur had devised and who were called the Children of Ilúvatar for that reason. When the Vision was taken away, Eru spoke the word by which the World, Eä, came into real existence, and those Ainur who wished to were allowed to descend into it.
Valar and Maiar
The Ainur who entered the World are divided by the Elves into two orders. The Valar, the Powers, are the fourteen greatest, who took on themselves the ordering of Arda and the guardianship of the Children who were to come. The Maiar are the lesser spirits, of the same kind and origin but of lesser degree, who came into the World as helpers and followers of the Valar. The division is one of rank and power, not of nature; a great Maia such as Sauron could in time become more dangerous than some of the Valar.
Entering the World was a binding choice. Those who came in were tied to Arda until its ending and could not leave it. They can take visible forms at will, usually shaped in the likeness of the Children of Ilúvatar but greater and more beautiful, or they can walk unclad, invisible even to the Elves. A spirit that pours much of its inner power into works of destruction, as Melkor did, or that binds itself to an object, as Sauron did with the One Ring, loses the ability to change or renew its form freely.
The corruption of some
Not every Ainu remained faithful. Melkor, who had begun his rebellion in the Music itself, continued it in the World, and many Maiar went over to him: some seduced by his promises, some overawed by his might. The Balrogs were spirits of fire who joined him early, and Sauron was a Maia of Aulë's people who became his chief lieutenant. Later, in the Third Age, Saruman, one of the Istari, fell into a lesser but real imitation of the same pride. The fallen Ainur are never a separate kind; they remain what they were, but bent towards domination.
The Ainur and the Children
The Ainur's relationship with the Elves and Men is the axis of the whole history of Arda. The Valar prepared the World for the Children, made war on Melkor to protect them, summoned the Elves to Aman, and finally, at the end of the First Age, overthrew Melkor's fortress of Angband. Yet they also made mistakes: their withdrawal to Valinor left Middle-earth in darkness, their summons divided the Elves, and their hospitality bred the pride that led to the rebellion of the Noldor.
Occasionally an Ainu entered into the lives of the Children more closely. Melian, a Maia, married the Elf-king Thingol, and through her the blood of the Ainur passed into the line of Lúthien, Elrond and Aragorn. In the Third Age the Istari were sent as embodied Maiar to counsel the free peoples against Sauron. By contrast the Valar themselves never again came in person to Middle-earth after the War of Wrath, acting instead through emissaries, through the Great Eagles, and once through the direct intervention of Eru when Númenor assaulted Aman.
By the Fourth Age
At the end of the Third Age the Ainur have largely withdrawn from the world's affairs. Melkor is beyond the walls of the world, Sauron is a powerless shadow, Saruman has been rejected by the West, and Gandalf, his task done, has sailed into the Uttermost West. The Valar remain in Valinor, but the way there is closed to mortals, and the age of Men that follows is one in which the Powers act, if at all, unseen.
Physical traits
The Ainur have no natural bodies. In the World they can clothe themselves in visible forms shaped from its substance, and the Valar most often chose shapes resembling the Elves and Men, but on a grander scale and lit with an inner majesty. They can also take other forms, such as the great bird-like or beast-like shapes some of them assumed, or appear as sheer terror and shadow, as Melkor did in his later days. The body an Ainu wears is compared to the clothing of the Children: it can be put on or off, and it expresses the spirit's mood rather than confining it. A spirit that has spent its power in evil or bound itself to a physical object loses this freedom, becoming trapped in a single, often hideous, shape.
Culture
The Ainur had a language of their own, Valarin, which the Elves found harsh and strange and from which they borrowed only a few words. Among themselves the Ainur often communicated directly by thought. In Valinor they dwelt in mansions and gardens fitted to their natures: Manwë and Varda on Taniquetil, Aulë in his halls of craft, Mandos in his houses of the dead, Irmo and Estë in the gardens of Lórien. They held council in the Ring of Doom, Máhanaxar, near the gates of Valmar. Their acts of making were expressed in the fabric of the world itself, in mountains, seas, trees and stars, rather than in artefacts, though Aulë and his people taught the Noldor the crafts they later perfected.
Origins
Before the making of the World, Eru Ilúvatar, the One, brought the Ainur into being as the offspring of his thought. He taught them music, first each alone and then together, until they could sing in harmony. Then he proposed a mighty theme and bade them make a Great Music of it. The Music, marred by Melkor's discord yet mastered by Eru, was the pattern of the World's history. Eru then made the Music real in Eä, and the Ainur who loved the Vision entered it at the beginning of Time, taking on the labour of shaping what they had sung.
Fate
The Ainur are bound to Arda until its ending. The faithful Valar and their Maiar remain in Aman, largely withdrawn from the affairs of Middle-earth after the Third Age. Melkor was cast into the Void at the end of the First Age; Sauron was destroyed in body and reduced to a powerless shadow at the end of the Third; Saruman's spirit was refused by the West. The Elves believed that at the end of the World a Second Music would be sung, greater than the first, in which the Ainur, the Elves and even Men would take part, and that the meaning of all that had happened would then be made plain.
Sub-kindreds2
- Race
The Valar are the fourteen mightiest of the Ainur who descended into the World to shape and guard it. Seven lords and seven queens, led by Manwë and Varda, they dwell in Valinor and were the great powers behind the making of Arda, the wars against Melkor, and the fortunes of Elves and Men.
15 figures - Race
The Maiar are the lesser Ainur who entered the World as the people and helpers of the Valar. Far more numerous than their lords and mostly nameless, they include such figures as Melian, Ossë, Eönwë and the Istari, as well as the corrupted spirits who followed Melkor: the Balrogs and Sauron himself.
9 figures
Notable figures
Creator of Eä
Eru Ilúvatar
AinurEru Ilúvatar, the One, is the creator of all that is. He is not one of the Ainur but their maker, who proposed the theme of the Great Music, gave the World real being, and alone can create life and free will. He acts directly in the histories only rarely, most notably in the drowning of Númenor.
The Timeless Halls, beyond the World
Of the wider kindred
Wizard
Gandalf
IstariGandalf, called Olórin in Valinor and Mithrandir by the Elves, was the wisest of the Istari, a Maia sent by the Valar to rouse the free peoples against Sauron. Bearer of Narya, the Ring of Fire, he uncovered the Necromancer, set the quest of Erebor in motion, unmasked the One Ring, led the Fellowship, died against the Balrog of Moria and returned as Gandalf the White to guide the West to victory in the War of the Ring, after which he sailed into the West.
None; a wanderer through the West of Middle-earthKing of the Valar
Manwë
ValarManwë is the King of the Valar and the Elder King of Arda, lord of the winds and the airs, who of all the Ainur understands the mind of Eru most deeply. Brother in thought to Melkor, he is the appointed ruler of the World, dwelling with Varda on Taniquetil and served by the Eagles.
Valinor; seat on TaniquetilLord of Utumno
Melkor
ValarMelkor, named Morgoth by Fëanor, was the mightiest of the Ainur and the first Dark Lord, who marred the Music, warred with the Valar for the mastery of Arda, destroyed the Two Trees, stole the Silmarils and ruled Beleriand from Angband until the Valar cast him into the Void at the end of the First Age. All evil in Arda descends from him.
Utumno; AngbandHead of the Istari
Saruman
IstariSaruman the White, Curunír to the Elves, was the chief of the Istari and head of the White Council, a Maia of Aulë whose great knowledge of craft and Ring-lore turned to pride. He seized Isengard, fell under Sauron's sway through the palantír, bred the Uruk-hai and made war on Rohan, was overthrown by the Ents and cast out of the order by Gandalf, and died a beggar's death in the Shire at the hand of his own servant.
IsengardLord of Mordor
Sauron
MaiarSauron was a Maia of Aulë who became Morgoth's lieutenant in the First Age and, after his master's fall, the Dark Lord of the Second and Third Ages in his own right. He forged the One Ring to rule all others, brought about the Downfall of Númenor, and was finally destroyed when the Ring was unmade in Mount Doom.
Mordor; Barad-dûrLord of Waters
Ulmo
ValarUlmo is the Lord of Waters, second in majesty only to Manwë among the Valar, who dwells alone in the deep seas rather than in Valinor. He never abandoned Middle-earth, and through streams, rivers and dreams he counselled the Elves and Men of Beleriand, above all Turgon of Gondolin and Tuor.
The seas and all waters of ArdaQueen of the Valar
Varda
ValarVarda, called Elbereth by the Elves of Middle-earth, is the Queen of the Valar and the maker of the stars. Spouse of Manwë, she kindled the constellations under which the Elves awoke, hallowed the Silmarils, and is the Vala whom the Elves love and invoke above all others.
Valinor; seat on TaniquetilLord of the Earth
Aulë
ValarAulë is the smith of the Valar, master of all crafts and lord of the substances of the earth, who shaped the mountains and made the vessels of the Sun and Moon. Impatient for the Children of Ilúvatar, he made the Dwarves in secret, and his people, including Sauron and Saruman, were the most gifted and the most prone to fall.
ValinorBalrog of Morgoth
Durin's Bane
BalrogsDurin's Bane was a Balrog of Morgoth that escaped the War of Wrath and lay hidden beneath the Misty Mountains until the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm, delving for mithril, released it in T.A. 1980. It slew two Dwarf-kings, emptied Moria, and ruled the dark there for a thousand years until Gandalf fought it from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm to the peak of Zirakzigil and cast it down.
MoriaLord of Balrogs
Gothmog
BalrogsGothmog was the Lord of Balrogs and high-captain of Angband, the deadliest of Morgoth's servants in battle. He gave Fëanor his death-wounds, killed the High King Fingon and took Húrin captive at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and led the assault on Gondolin, where he and Ecthelion of the Fountain slew each other.
AngbandDoomsman of the Valar
Mandos
ValarMandos, properly named Námo, is the Doomsman of the Valar and keeper of the Halls of the Dead, where the spirits of slain Elves wait. He forgets nothing and knows all that will be, save what Eru keeps hidden, and he pronounced the Doom of the Noldor and the judgement on Lúthien and Beren.
The Halls of Mandos on the western shore of ValinorQueen of Doriath
Melian
MaiarMelian is the Maia who took bodily form in Middle-earth, wedded the Elven-king Thingol and reigned with him in Doriath, protecting the realm for an age with the Girdle of her power. Mother of Lúthien and the only Ainu to have children among the Eldar, she was the wisest counsellor in Beleriand; after Thingol's death she withdrew her protection and returned to Valinor.
DoriathHuntsman of the Valar
Oromë
ValarOromë is the huntsman of the Valar, lord of forests and hunter of monsters, who alone of the Powers loved to ride in Middle-earth during the darkness. He discovered the newly awakened Elves at Cuiviénen, led them on the Great Journey, and his horn Valaróma and his horse Nahar became legends among Elves and Men.
Valinor; the woods of Oromë; the wild lands of Middle-earthWizard
Radagast
IstariRadagast the Brown, Aiwendil in Valinor, was the Istar of Yavanna's people, a master of birds and beasts and of the changing of shapes and hues, who settled at Rhosgobel by Mirkwood. Gentle and unworldly, he was used by Saruman as an unwitting messenger to trap Gandalf, but his birds also carried the news that brought Gwaihir to Orthanc. His later fate is unrecorded.
Rhosgobel, on the western eaves of MirkwoodChampion of the Valar
Tulkas
ValarTulkas is the strongest of the Valar and the last to come into Arda, arriving from the Timeless Halls when the others were hard pressed by Melkor. Laughing in battle and tireless, he drove Melkor from the World in the first war, wrestled him down in the Battle of the Powers, and alone of the Valar never trusted him.
ValinorQueen of the Earth
Yavanna
ValarYavanna is the Vala of all growing things, from the great trees to the moss on stones, and the spouse of Aulë. She sang the Two Trees of Valinor into being, obtained the Ents as guardians of the forests, and coaxed from the dying Trees the fruit and flower that became the Sun and Moon.
Valinor; the pastures and orchards of AmanGuide of the Sun
Arien
MaiarArien is a Maia of fire, once a servant of Vána among the golden flowers of Valinor, who was chosen to guide the vessel of the Sun made from the last fruit of Laurelin. Too bright to be looked upon, she has driven the Sun across the sky since the first sunrise and was feared even by Morgoth.
The SunHerald of Manwë
Eönwë
MaiarEönwë is the herald and banner-bearer of Manwë, counted with Ilmarë as the chief of the Maiar and unmatched in Arda in feats of arms. He led the host of the Valar into Middle-earth in the War of Wrath, took the Silmarils from Morgoth's crown, refused to judge the surrendered Sauron, and taught the Edain before they sailed to Númenor.
ValinorLord of Lórien
Irmo
ValarIrmo, usually called Lórien after his gardens, is the younger of the Fëanturi, the master of visions and dreams, whose gardens in Valinor are the fairest place in the World and a refuge for the weary. Melian and Olórin, who became Gandalf, both dwelt in his realm.
The gardens of Lórien in ValinorQueen of the Valar
Nienna
ValarNienna is the Vala of grief, pity and endurance, sister of Mandos and Irmo, who dwells alone and weeps for every hurt in Arda. Her tears watered the mound of the Two Trees, and Olórin, who became Gandalf, learned from her the compassion that shaped his whole mission.
Her halls in the far west of Valinor, near the Halls of MandosVassal of Ulmo
Ossë
MaiarOssë is a Maia of Ulmo, master of the seas that wash the shores of Middle-earth, a lover of storms who was once nearly won over by Melkor. He befriended the Teleri on the coasts of Beleriand, persuaded some to remain as the Falathrim, anchored Tol Eressëa in the bay of Eldamar, and taught the Sea-elves the building of ships.
The coasts and shallow seas of Middle-earthWizards of the East
The Blue Wizards
IstariAlatar and Pallando, the Ithryn Luin or Blue Wizards, were the two Istari chosen by Oromë who passed into the East of Middle-earth with Saruman and never returned to the West. Nothing certain is known of their work, and it was feared that they failed in their mission.
The East of Middle-earthGuide of the Moon
Tilion
MaiarTilion is a Maia of Oromë's hunting company, a lover of silver light, who was chosen to steer the vessel of the Moon made from the last flower of Telperion. Wayward in his course and drawn to Arien's fire, he was attacked by Morgoth's spirits of shadow and bears the scars on the Moon's face; he raised the first moonrise seven days before the Sun.
The MoonLady of the Seas
Uinen
MaiarUinen, the Lady of the Seas, is a Maia of Ulmo and the spouse of Ossë, whose hair is spread through every water under the sky. She loves the creatures of the salt sea, restrains her husband's storms, brought him back from Melkor's temptation, wept for the Teleri at the Kinslaying, and was honoured by the mariners of Númenor as their protector.
The seas of Middle-earthThe Gentle
Estë
ValarEstë the Gentle is the Vala of healing and rest, spouse of Irmo, who sleeps by day on an island in the lake of Lórelin and whose fountains refresh all who are weary in Valinor. Melian was of her people.
The gardens of Lórien in ValinorHandmaid of Varda
Ilmarë
MaiarIlmarë is the handmaid of Varda and, with Eönwë, one of the two Maiar whom the Valaquenta names as chief of their order. Nothing more of her deeds is recorded in the published histories.
ValinorQueen of the Valar
Nessa
ValarNessa is the sister of Oromë and the spouse of Tulkas, a Vala of swiftness and dance who loves the deer and can outrun them, and who dances on the lawns of Valmar. Her wedding feast on Almaren was the occasion of Melkor's secret return.
ValinorMaker of the Ulumúri
Salmar
MaiarSalmar is a Maia of Ulmo who made the Ulumúri, the great horns of white shell whose music, once heard, is never forgotten and leaves a lasting longing for the Sea. He is otherwise unrecorded in the published histories.
The waters of UlmoThe Weaver
Vairë
ValarVairë the Weaver is the spouse of Mandos, who weaves everything that has ever happened in Time into tapestries that hang in the ever-widening Halls of the Dead. She is the memory of Arda made visible.
The Halls of MandosThe Ever-young
Vána
ValarVána the Ever-young is the younger sister of Yavanna and the spouse of Oromë, a Vala of spring and youth at whose passing flowers open and birds sing. Melian was of her people before she went to Middle-earth.
Valinor
Relations with other peoples
- Allied withElves(the Valar summoned and sheltered the Eldar; Melian wed Thingol)
- Allied withMen(the Valar raised Númenor for the Edain; the Istari were sent to counsel Men)
- Created byDwarves(Aulë shaped the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, and Eru gave them life)
- Related toEnts(Yavanna asked Eru for the Shepherds of the Trees, and spirits were sent to inhabit them)
- Enemy ofOrcs(bred by Melkor in mockery of the Elves)
- Related toSpirits and Enigmas(the Wise could not say whether Tom was of their order)
Places
Timeline
Before Arda: the Music of the Ainur
Before ArdaThe Ainur are made
Eru Ilúvatar brings the Ainur into being from his thought and teaches them music.
- Before Arda
The Great Music
The Ainur sing the Ainulindalë; Melkor introduces discord, and Eru answers with two further themes before ending the song.
- Before Arda
The Vision and the making of Eä
Eru shows the Ainur a vision of the World their song has patterned, then speaks it into being. Those who wish to descend into it.
- Years of the Lamps
The shaping of Arda
The Valar labour to give the World form while Melkor repeatedly undoes their work, until he is driven out for a time by Tulkas.
- Years of the Lamps
The Lamps are raised and cast down
The Valar dwell on the isle of Almaren beneath the light of the Two Lamps; Melkor returns in secret, builds Utumno and destroys the Lamps.
- Years of the Trees
Founding of Valinor
The Valar withdraw to Aman, raise the Pelóri and found Valinor, where Yavanna sings the Two Trees into life.
- Y.T. 1090
War for the sake of the Elves
After the awakening of the Elves, the Valar assault Utumno, capture Melkor and bring him in chains to Valinor.
- Y.T. 1495
The Darkening of Valinor
Melkor, released from his sentence, destroys the Two Trees with Ungoliant and flees with the Silmarils.
- F.A. 1
Sun and Moon
The Valar make the Sun and Moon from the last fruit and flower of the Trees, guided by the Maiar Arien and Tilion.
- F.A. 545 to 587
The War of Wrath
Moved by Eärendil's plea, the host of Valinor under Eönwë overthrows Angband; Melkor is thrust out of the World.
- S.A. 3319
The Downfall of Númenor
When Ar-Pharazôn invades Aman the Valar lay down their guardianship and call on Eru, who removes Aman from the circles of the world.
- c. T.A. 1000
The Istari are sent
Five Maiar are sent in the bodies of old men to rouse the free peoples against Sauron.
- T.A. 3019
The end of Sauron
The One Ring is destroyed and Sauron, the last great servant of Melkor in Middle-earth, is reduced to impotent shadow.
- T.A. 3021
Gandalf departs
His mission complete, the last active emissary of the Valar sails into the West with the Ring-bearers.
Sources
- The SilmarillionAinulindalë; Valaquenta; Quenta Silmarillion chapters 1, 3, 8, 24; Akallabêth
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earthPart Four, The Istari
- The Lord of the Rings: AppendicesAppendix A and B on the coming of the Istari