Aule and Yavanna

It’s true that many of the other Ainur couples seem to specialize in elements of Arda that are very closely related (Irmo and Este have dreams and sleep, Mandos and Vaire have death and history, even Varda and Manwe have stars/ight and sky/air.) At first glance, it does seem like Aule and Yavanna don’t have…

Weather and the Ainur

The Ainur (Valar, Maiar, etc.) and the weather is an interesting topic. While many of the Valar are basically given mastery of some sort of elemental force (for example, Manwe and the air; Ulmo and the water), they weren’t much taken to combining forces early on. In fact, when it comes to “inventing” weather, the…

Valarin Names of the Valar

The names for the Valar that you see used most often in The Silmarillion are their Quenya names, and were the names used by the Vanyar and Noldor in Valinor, as well as the Noldorin exiles in Middle Earth. Presumably all the Valar had names in Sindarin, though not all of them were recorded (the…

Gandalf’s Mission

Okay, but only if you tell me how I did afterwards. Here’s the super short answer: Gandalf was sent to Middle Earth by the Valar in order to help the men and elves of Middle Earth to defeat Sauron. Here’s the longer version: About 1000 years into the Third Age a dark power appeared in…