Oromë and the Great March

Oromë and the Great March Timeline

1085 : Oromë discovers the Elves. Melkor breeds Orcs.

1092 - 1099 : The Valar [Powers] protect the Elves and battle Melko.

1100: The Valar raize Utumno and chain Melkor, now doomed to spend 300 Valinorean years confined in the Halls of Mandos.

The Great March

1101 The Valar summon the elves to Valinor.

1102 the Vala Oromë escorts Ingwë, Finwë, and Elwë to Valinor.

1104 The Three return to convince many elves to follow them to Valinor.

1105 The Great March begins. The Avari [the Unwilling] stay behind.

c. 1110 Awakening of the Dwarves.

1115 The Eldar [marchers]reach Anduin the Great and the Hithaeglir (Misty Mountains)

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Silmarillion quotes:

Oromë tamer of beasts would ride too at whiles in the darkness of the unlit forests; as a mighty hunter he came with spear and bow, pursuing to the death the monsters and fell creatures of the kingdom of Melkor, and his white horse Nahar shone like silver in the shadows. Then the sleeping earth trembled at the beat of his golden hooves, and in the twilight of the world Oromë would sound the Valaróma his great horn upon the plains of Arda; whereat the mountains echoed, and the shadows of evil fled away, and Melkor himself quailed...

And on a time it chanced that Oromë rode eastward in his hunting, and he turned north by the shores of Helcar and passed under the shadows of the Orocarni, the Mountains of the East. Then on a sudden Nahar set up a great neighing, and stood still. And Oromë wondered and sat silent, and it seemed to him that in the quiet of the land under the stars he heard afar off many voices singing.

Thus it was that the Valar found at last, as it were by chance, those whom they had so long awaited. And Oromë looking upon the Elves was filled with wonder, as though they were beings sudden and marvellous and unforeseen; for so it shall ever be with the Valar. From without the World, though all things may be forethought in music or foreshown in vision from afar, to those who enter verily into EÄ each in its time shall be met at unawares as something new and unforetold.

In the beginning the Elder Children of Illúvatar were stronger and greater than they have since become; but not more fair, for though the beauty of the Quendi in the days of their youth was beyond all other beauty that Illúvatar has caused to be, it has not perished, but lives in the West, and sorrow and wisdom have enriched it. And Oromë loved the Quendi, and named them in their own tongue Eldar, the people of the stars; but that name was after borne only by those who followed him upon the westward road.

Yet many of the Quendi were filled with dread at his coming; and this was the doing of Melkor. For by after-knowledge the wise declare that Melkor, ever watchful, was first aware of the awakening of the Quendi, and sent shadows and evil spirits to spy upon them and waylay them. So it came to pass, some years ere the coming of Oromë, that if any of the Elves strayed far abroad, alone or few together, they would often vanish, and never return; and the Quendi said that the Hunter had caught them, and they were afraid. And indeed the most ancient songs of the Elves, of which echoes are remembered still in the West, tell of the shadow-shapes that walked in the hills above Cuiviénen, or would pass suddenly over the stars; and of the dark Rider upon his wild horse that pursued those that wandered to take them and devour them. Now Melkor greatly hated and feared the riding of Oromë, and either he sent indeed his dark servants as riders, or he set lying whispers abroad, for the purpose that the Quendi should shun Oromë, if ever they should meet.

Thus it was that when Nahar neighed and Oromë indeed came among them, some of the Quendi hid themselves, and some fled and were lost. But those that had courage, and stayed, perceived swiftly that the Great Rider was no shape out of darkness; for the light of Aman was in his face, and all the noblest of the Elves were drawn towards it....

Oromë tarried a while among the Quendi, and then swiftly he rode back over land and sea to Valinor and brought the tidings to Valmar; and he spoke of the shadows that troubled Cuiviénen. Then the Valar rejoiced, and yet they were in doubt amid their joy; and they debated long what counsel it were best to take for the guarding of the Quendi from the shadow of Melkor. But Oromë returned at once to Middle-earth and abode with the Elves...

Elves were at first unwilling to hearken to the summons [to Aman], for they had as yet seen the Valar only in their wrath as they went to war, save Oromë alone; and they were filled with dread. Therefore Oromë was sent again to them, and he chose from among them ambassadors who should go to Valinor and speak for their people; and these were Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë, who afterwards were kings. And coming they were filled with awe by the glory and majesty of the Valar, and desired greatly the light and splendour of the Trees. Then Oromë brought them back to Cuiviénen, and they spoke before their people, and counselled them to heed the summons of the Valar and remove into the West...

Long and slow was the march of the Eldar into the west, for the leagues of Middle-earth were uncounted, and weary and pathless. Nor did the Eldar desire to hasten, for they were filled with wonder at all that they saw, and by many lands and rivers they wished to abide; and though all were yet willing to wander, many feared rather their journey's end than hoped for it Therefore whenever Oromë departed, having at times other matters to heed, they halted and went forward no more, until he returned to guide them. And it came to pass after many years of journeying in this manner that the Eldar took their course through a forest, and they came to a great river, wider than any they had yet seen; and beyond it were mountains whose sharp horns seemed to pierce the realm of the stars. This river, it is said, was even the river which was after called Anduin the Great, and was ever the frontier of the west-lands of Middle-earth. But the mountains were the Hithaeglir, the Towers of Mist upon the borders of Eriador; yet they were taller and more terrible in those days, and were reared by Melkor to hinder the riding of Oromë. Now the Teleri abode long on the east bank of that river and wished to remain there, but the Vanyar and the Noldor passed over it, and Oromë led them into the passes of the mountains. And when Oromë was gone forward the Teleri looked upon the shadowy heights and were afraid....

...

As I recount in the Lay of the Last, the Teleri sunder themselves several times in the journey across Middle-Earth. Oromë yet guides the three tribes beyond those mountains from land to land toward the sea. Once at the shores though, Oromë passes leadership of the Elves to the Sea-ruler, Ulmo, and his vassal, Ossë, while he still protects them, as he will through all time:

In Beleriand still at times rode Oromë the great, passing like a wind over the mountains, and the sound of his horn came down the leagues of the starlight, and the Elves feared him for the splendour of his countenance and the great noise of the onrush of Nahar; but when the Valaróma echoed in the hills, they knew well that all evil things were fled far away.

Oromë

While the Silmarillion does not mention it, the Book of Lost Tales grants Aulë and Yavanna two Valar children: Oromë and Nessa. Oromë plays a large role in the early development of the elves in every version, serving as their guide on the Great March.

Silmarillion reads thus:

Oromë is a mighty lord. If he is less strong than Tulkas, he is more dreadful in anger; whereas Tulkas laughs ever, in sport or in war, and even in the face of Melkor he laughed in battles before the Elves were born. Oromë loved the lands of Middle-earth, and he left them unwillingly and came last to Valinor; and often of old he passed back east over the mountains and returned with his host to the hills and the plains. He is a hunter of monsters and fell beasts, and he delights in horses and in hounds; and all trees he loves, for which reason he is called Aldaron, and by the Sindar Tauron, the Lord of Forests. Nahar is the name of his horse, white in the sun, and shining silver at night.

The Valarôma is the name of his great horn, the sound of which is like the upgoing of the Sun in scarlet, or the sheer lightning cleaving the clouds. Above all the horns of his host it was heard in the woods that Yavanna brought forth in Valinor; for there Oromë would train his folk and his beasts for the pursuit of the evil creatures of. Melkor. The spouse of Oromë is Vâna, the Ever-young; she is the younger sister of Yavanna. All flowers spring as she passes and open if she glances upon them; and all birds sing at her coming.

Images:

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http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Orom%C3%AB

Oromë (Quenya Tengwar: `N7Yt$; IPA: [ˈorome]; from the Valarin Arômêz) is a Vala. His name is sometimes said to mean Loud Trumpeter in Quenya but the Valarin form is a name without meaning. He is also known as Aldaron, Araw, Béma, Tauron, The Huntsman of the Valar, the Great Rider, and Lord of Forests. He is the brother of Nessa and the husband of Vána.

During the Years of the Trees, after most of the Valar had withdrawn completely from Middle-Earth and hidden themselves in Aman, Oromë still hunted in the forests of Middle-Earth on occasion. Thus, he was responsible for finding the elves when they awoke at Cuivienen, and the first to name them the Eldar. Being a powerful huntsman, he was active in the struggles against Morgoth. He has a great horn (the Valaróma) and a great steed (Nahar).

... two of the five wizards, who were called in Valinor Alatar and Pallando were Maiar sent by Oromë to Middle-Earth. What became of them is not known, although apparently they journeyed into the east with Saruman but did not return. The evidence concerning their fates is discussed in Unfinished Tales.

Oromë has even more in the "Book of Lost Tales - One"

from The Book of Lost Tales - One (posthumous JRRT, Ed CRT.)
copyright 1983 (Del Rey Publications)

Page 66
Oromë the hunter who is named Aldaron king of forests, who shouts for joy upon mountain-tops and is nigh as lusty as that perpetual youth Tulkas. Oromë is the son of Aulë and Palùrien.

Page 76
in Valimar his halls are wide and low, and the skins and fells of great richness and price are strewn there without end upon the floor or hung upon the walls, and spears and bows and knives thereto. In the midst of each room and hall a living tree grows and holds up the roof, and its bole is hung with trophies and with antlers. Here is all Oromë's folk in green and brown and there is a noise of boisterous mirth, and the lord of forests makes lusty cheer; but Vàna his wife so often as she may steals thence.

a tiny footnote on what one can learn from Oromë:

Often [Fëanor and his sons] were guests in the halls of Aulë; but Celegorm went rather to the house of Oromë, and there he got great knowledge of birds and beasts, and all their tongues he knew.

VANA

The spouse of Oromë is Vána, the Ever-young; she is the younger sister of Yavanna. All flowers spring as she passes and open if she glances upon them; and all birds sing at her coming (Sil)

The Gardens of Vána were far away from the noise in the Halls of Oromë, fenced stoutly from the wilder lands with whitethorn of great size that blossoms like everlasting snow. Its innermost solitude is walled with roses, and this is the place best beloved of that fair Lady of the Spring.

(bolt)


JRR Tolkien mentions very little of Vána in context of the Elves, but does give her one more relative, from "The Book of Lost Tales" Appendix: Nielíqui is the daughter of Oromë and Vána.

"There sang Amillo joyously to his playing, Amillo who is named Omar, whose voice is the best of all voices, who knoweth all songs in all speeches; but whiles if he sang not to his brothers harp then would he be trilling in the gardens of Oromë when after a time Nielíqui, little maiden, danced about its woods."

A very tight family, these six Valar:
Aulë (Earth) esposes Yavanna (Nature), and they raise Oromë and Nessa.
Yavanna's young sister, Vana, (Youth) espouses Oromë (Travel).
In time, Nessa (Dance) weds Tulkas (Strength), the first recorded marriage in Arda.

In times of trouble, Tulkas and Oromë are the first to action.
In all times, Yavanna and Oromë are wander the world.

These six, with familial affection, cooperate (or not) in the making of the natural world as The One intended.

Noldor in Aman Timeline

This time-line focuses on the Noldor in Aman. This portion of history is 3500 years after the creation of the world that is: Eä. A year in this age was between nine and ten sun-years long.

The Age of the Two Trees in Valinor
and
The Age of the Stars in Middle-Earth

0: The Valar create the Two Trees of Light, Telperion the Elder and Laurelin the Younger.

c.500: Aulë and Yavanna create and the hibernate the Dwarves and Ents.

1050 : Varda finishes the star-making by kindling the Sickle of the Gods.
The Elves awake in Cuiviénen. Melkor discovers and harasses them.

1085 : Oromë discovers the Elves. Melkor breeds Orcs.

1092 - 1099 : The Valar [Powers] protect the Elves and battle Melko.

1100: The Valar raize Utumno and chain Melkor, now doomed to spend 300 Valinorean years confined in the Halls of Mandos.

The Great March

1101 The Valar summon the elves to Valinor.

1102 the Vala Oromë escorts Ingwë, Finwë, and Elwë to Valinor.

1104 The Three return to convince many elves to follow them to Valinor.

1105 The Great March begins. The Avari [the Unwilling] stay behind.

c. 1110 Awakening of the Dwarves.

1115 The Eldar [marchers]reach Anduin the Great and the Hithaeglir (Misty Mountains)

1125 Awakening of the Ents. The Vanyar and Noldor reach Beleriand.

1128 The Teleri re-join the other Eldar in Beleriand.

Sundering of the Elves

1130 Melian enchants and detains Thingol (Elwë) in Nan-Elmoth.

1132 The Vanyar and Noldor travel over the western sea with Ulmo on Tol Eressëa

1133 - 1140 The Vanyar and Noldor arrive in Aman. They build Tirion upon Tùna and the Tower of Ingwë. The Vanyar begin to settle Valmar.

1142 Yavanna gives the Noldor in Tirion the White Tree Galathilion from Telperion.

1149 Ulmo returns to Middle-earth to bring the Teleri to Aman, but Ossë persuades some to remain in West Beleriand (Falas) to become the first mariners, having Cìrdan as Lord.

1150 - 1151 The Teleri travel overseas west from Beleriand with Ossë on Tol Eressëa.

1152 Thingol awakes from the trance, marrying Melian.

1161 Ossë teaches the Teleri the art of shipbuilding, who travel to Valinor.

The Noontide of Valinor

1162 Olwë, the Teleri, and the Noldor begin building Aqualondë.

1165 The last Vanyar depart Tirion for Valmar.

1179 Mùriel births Féanor, then departs to the Halls of Mandos. The House of Finwë discovers earth-gems, and devises tools for their cutting and shaping. Noldo Rùmil devises letters.

1189 Finwë takes Indis, Ingwë's sister, as second wife.

1190 Indis births Fingolfin.

1200 Melian births Lùthien.

1229 Fëanor marries Nerdanel.

1230 Indis births Finarfin. Nerdanel births Maedhros.

1240 Fingolfin weds Anairë.

1245 Anairë births Fingon.

1250 Fëanor revises Rùmil's letters, creating the Tengwar script.
Dwarves enter Ered Luin mountains and found Nogrod and Belegost.

1280 Finarfin weds Eärwen, daughter of Olwë.

1300 Anairë births of Turgon. Eärwen births Finrod. Sindarin lore-master Daeron designes his Runes. Dwarves and elves build Menegroth of the Thousand Caves.

1320 Menegroth is fortified against wolves and other evil creatures roaming Beleriand.

1330 The first orcs invade Beleriand.

1350 Denethor and the Nandor come to Beleriand and settle in Ossiriand.

1362 Eärwen births Galadriel.

c. 1400 Dwarf Durin founds Khazad-dùm.

Melkor Unchained

1400 Melkor is unchained under Tulkas' guardianship.

1410 Manwë gives Melkor freedom within Valinor. Melkor feigns love for the Eldar, teaching and lying to precipitate disputes between Fëanor and Fingolfin.

1449 - 1450 Fëanor constructs the Three Silmarils, enclosing the Lights of the Two Trees.

1450 - 1490 Melkor raises further dissension, teaching sword-making among the Noldor. Fëanor and Fingolfin quarrel. Many Noldor divide their allegiances and forge weapons in secret.

1490 Fëanor threatens Fingolfin at swordpoint. The Valar banish Fëanor from Tirion for 12 years. Finwë and Fëanor's sons also leave Tirion to build Formenos secretly in the North. Fingolfin is regent in Tirion. Known fomentor Melkor eludes the Valar.

1492 Fëanor rebuffs Melkor's parley in Formenos, naming him 'Morgoth Bauglir' [Black Foe].

The Darkening of Valinor

1493 Melkor seeks and finds the monstrous Ungoliant in southern Aman.

1495 Melkor and Ungoliant fatally poison the Two Trees. Melkor kills Finwë and steals the Silmarils. Melkor and Ungoliant flee across the Helcaraxë, battling and separating at Lammoth. Melkor, shape-trapped as the Tyrant of Utumno, regains Angband.

Many Noldor revolt with Fëanor to leave Tirion, battling the Teleri in Alqualondë [the First Kinslaying], then sailing to Middle-earth and burning the swan-ships of the Teleri at Losgar.

1496 Mandos utters of the Prophecy of the North and the Doom of the Noldor.
Repentant Finarfin returns to Tirion, there to rule the remnant of the Noldor in Aman.

1497 Melkor invades Beleriand. Orcs slay Denethor. Melian raises The Girdle around Doriath.

1498 Fëanor and the Noldor attack Melkor in Angband to recover the Silmarils. Balrogs slay Fëanor, Maedhros is captured. Fingolfin and his tribe march over the Helcaraxë to Middle Earth.

The Second Spring of Arda:
The First Age of the Sun and Moon

1500 Aulë and the Valar prepare the Moon and the Sun from the last Silver Flower of Telperion and the last Golden Fruit of Laurelin.The Moon rises, crossing the sky seven times before the rising of the Sun.

This able time-line is borrowed and abridged from the Tolkien Forums

Estë and Lórien

Like Aulë [meaning "invention" in Quenya] is pronounced rather like "Owl Lay", Estë [meaning Repose, Rest"] sounds a bit like "Ess Stay"

Estë, the gentle, healer of hurts and of weariness, is Irmo's spouse. Grey is her raiment; and rest is her gift. She walks not by day, but sleeps upon an island in the tree-shadowed lake of Lórellin [Dream-lake].

J.R.R Tolkien uses the lovely word "Fëanturi" to mean "masters of spirits" to describe two Valar brothers named Námo [Judge] and Irmo [Desire]. They are usually called Mandos and Lórien, after their domains, the Halls of Mandos [safe-keep] where dead spirits go, and the Gardens of Lórien [Dream-land].

Irmo the younger is the master of visions and dreams. In Lórien are his gardens in the land of the Valar, and they are the fairest of all places in the world, filled with many spirits. From the fountains of Irmo and Estë, all those who dwell in Valinor draw refreshment; and often the Valar come themselves to Lórien and there find repose and easing of the burden of Arda.

This is almost every quote describing to these two characters, the Lord and Lady of Dreams, masters of desire, illusion and healing. While there is minimal description of Estë and no description at all of Irmo (what does a dream look like?), the Gardens of Lórien gets a few more examples:

When [Tillion of the Ainu] would rest he forsook the woods of Oromë, and going into Lórien he lay in dream by the pools of Esté, in Telperion's [the Silver Tree's] flickering beams

Varda, Queen of Skies, later appointed Tillion as the driver of the Moon, ordered to continually circle the sky beside the sun. By driving erratically, he irked the Sun-maid into burning him and the earth some. Estë and Irmo have a part of making peace.

Because of the waywardness of Tilion, therefore, and yet more because of the prayers of Lórien and Esté, who said that sleep and rest had been banished from the Earth, and the stars were hidden, Varda changed her counsel, and allowed a time wherein the world should still have shadow and half-light.

While I think of it, Lothlorien, where dwelt Galadriel in Middle-Earth in Lord of the Rings, is a wholly different place than Lorien. I'll end with a story that ties Noldor Elves to Lórien, when Míriel [Jewel-woman], Fëanor's mother and the first wife of the Noldor King Finwë, made the Gardens her final resting place.

In the bearing of her son, Míriel was consumed in spirit and body; and after his birth she yearned for release from the labours of living. ... when Míriel languished still, Finwë sought the counsel of Manwë, and Manwë delivered her to the care of Irmo in Lórien.

There is some grief at Míriel's departure and exhaustion, then,

She went then to the gardens of Lórien and lay down to sleep; but though she seemed to sleep, her spirit indeed departed from her body, and passed in silence to the halls of Mandos. The maidens of Estë tended the body of Míriel, and it remained unwithered; but she did not return. Then Finwë lived in sorrow; and he went often to the gardens of Lórien, and sitting beneath the silver willows beside the body of his wife he called her by her names. But it was unavailing; and alone in all the Blessed Realm he was deprived of joy. After a while he went to Lórien no more.

Elves versus Melkor

This is held true by the wise of Eressëa, that all those of the Quendi [Elves] who came into the hands of Melkor, ere Utumno was broken, were put there in prison, and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes. For the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Illúvatar; and naught that had life of its own, nor the semblance of life, could ever Melkor make since his rebellion in the Ainulindalë before the Beginning: so say the wise. And deep in their dark hearts the Orcs loathed the Master whom they served in fear, the maker only of their misery. This it may be was the vilest deed of Melkor, and the most hateful to Ilúvatar.

The perversion of elves into Orcs is such a heinous act that JRR Tolkien wrote several times in letters that he wished he hadn't thought of it. The creation of Dwarves at Aulë's hand and Yavanna's leadership in creating the Ents (the only two thinking races not created by Iluvatar himself) is a beautiful and well-written chapter of the Silmarillion (whence all these quotes). How Orcs came to be only warrants a few sentences, clues and oblique stories of Melkor's typical stratagies of converting his foes to unwilling cohorts.

Now in his heart Melkor most hated the Eldar, both because they were fair and joyful and because in them he saw the reason for the arising of the Valar, and his own downfall. Therefore all the more did he feign love for them and seek their friendship, and he offered them the service of his lore and labour in any great deed that they would do. The Vanyar indeed held him in suspicion, for they dwelt in the light of the Trees and were content; and to the Teleri he gave small heed, thinking them of little worth, tools too weak for his designs.

The elves who remained in Middle Earth were either Teleri who didn't have the gumption to complete the Great March or those Unwilling to start the march at all. Melkor, in this thought, does not even consider them worth a thought.... But

the Noldor took delight in the hidden knowledge that [Melkor] could reveal to them; and some hearkened to words that it would have been better for them never to have heard. Melkor indeed declared afterwards that Fëanor had learned much art from him in secret, and had been instructed by him in the greatest of all his works; but he lied in his lust and his envy, for none of the Eldalië ever hated Melkor more than Fëanor son of Finwë, who first named him Morgoth; and snared though he was in the webs of Melkor's malice against the Valar he held no converse with him and took no counsel from him.

Even so, Melkor's cunning was the downfall of the Noldor, and Fëanor, too.

Ever Melkor found some ears that would heed him, and some tongues that would enlarge what they had heard; and his lies passed from friend to friend, as secrets of which the knowledge proves the teller wise. Bitterly did the Noldor atone for the folly of their open ears in the days that followed after.

The lies told were many and subtle. They had the desired effect on the Noldor Elves

when Melkor saw that these lies were smouldering, and that pride and anger were awake among the Noldor, he spoke to them concerning weapons; and in that time the Noldor began the smithying of swords and axes and spears. Shields also they made displaying the tokens of many houses and kindreds that vied one with another; and these only they wore abroad, and of other weapons they did not speak, for each believed that he alone had received the warning.

Another similarity: Aulë forged dwarves in secret. Noldor forged swords in secret. Do any other Ainu or elves forge in secret, except for the Enemies?

And Fëanor made a secret forge, of which not even Melkor was aware; and there he tempered fell swords for himself and for his sons, and made tall helms with plumes of red. Bitterly did Mahtan rue the day when he taught to the husband of Nerdanel all the lore of metalwork that he had learned of Aulë.

As an Aulë-centric (forgive mixing Quenya and Latin) view, perhaps the Melkor's choice of the Noldor as the people to subvert was influenced by Melkor's deep hatred of Aulë and Aulë's weakness this ploy. The Vanyar, so treated, would have confided in Manwë. The omni-present Ulmo would have heard Melkor himself if he'd had sought the Teleri. It is the favorites of the distracted Vala Aulë that have to see through it for themselves.

The Elves fail at first, but learn. In example, Fëanor, believing Melkor's lies that the Vala were holding the elves as thralls, begins to harangue for sedition and escape, even becoming violent against his own half-brother Fingolfin in front of their father, Finwë.

Then there was great unrest in Tirion, and Finwë was troubled; and he summoned all his lords to council. But Fingolfin hastened to his halls and stood before him, saying: 'King and father, wilt thou not restrain the pride of our brother, CuruFinwë, who is called the Spirit of Fire, all too truly? By what right does he speak for all our people, as if he were King? Thou it was who long ago spoke before the Quendi, bidding them accept the summons of the Valar to Aman. Thou it was that led the Noldor upon the long road through the perils of Middle-earth to the light of Eldamar. If thou dost not now repent of it, two sons at least thou hast to honour thy words.'

But even as Fingolfin spoke, Fëanor strode into the chamber, and he was fully armed: his high helm upon his head, and at his side a mighty sword. 'So it is, even as I guessed,' he said. 'My half-brother would be before me with my father, in this as in all other matters.' Then turning upon Fingolfin he drew his sword, crying: 'Get thee gone, and take thy due place!'

Fingolfin bowed before Finwë, and without word or glance to Fëanor he went from the chamber. But Fëanor followed him, and at the door of the king's house he stayed him; and the point of his bright sword he set against Fingolfin's breast 'See, half-brother!' he said. 'This is sharper than thy tongue. Try but once more to usurp my place and the love of my father, and maybe it will rid the Noldor of one who seeks to be the master of thralls.'

This was the first use of a weapon. Ever. Fingolfin, displaying super-human restraint, was not attacked, but the mere threat was enough to bring Fëanor to trial by the Valar. There, Melkor's subterfuge is uncovered.

Fëanor standing before Mandos in the Ring of Doom was commanded to answer all that was asked of him. Then at last the root was laid bare, and the malice of Melkor revealed; and straightway Tulkas left the council to lay hands upon him and bring him again to judgement. But Fëanor was not held guiltless, for he it was that had broken the peace of Valinor and drawn his sword upon his kinsman; and Mandos said to him: 'Thou speakest of thraldom. If thraldom it be, thou canst not escape it; for Manwë is King of Arda, and not of Aman only. And this deed was unlawful, whether in Aman or not in Aman. Therefore this doom is now made: for twelve years thou shall leave Tirion where this threat was uttered. In that time take counsel with thyself, and remember who and what thou art. But after that time this matter shall be set in peace and held redressed, if others will release thee.'

Then Fingolfin said: 'I will release my brother.' But Fëanor spoke no word in answer, standing silent before the Valar. Then he turned and left the council, and departed from Valmar.

Thus, haughty and proud Fëanor is himself exiled from Tirion for 12 years with his sons. When Melkor appears to offer sympathy, Noldo Fëanor appears to have learned something:

Suddenly he [Melkor] came to Formenos, and spoke with Fëanor before his doors. Friendship he feigned with cunning argument, urging him to his former thought of flight from the trammels of the Valar; and he said: 'Behold the truth of all that I have spoken, and how thou art banished unjustly. But if the heart of Fëanor is yet free and bold as were his words in Tirion, then I will aid him, and bring him far from this narrow land. For am I not Vala also? Yea, and more than those who sit in pride in Valimar; and I have ever been a friend to the Noldor, most skilled and most valiant of the people of Arda.'...

Now Fëanor's heart was still bitter at his humiliation before Mandos, and he looked at Melkor in silence, pondering if indeed he might yet trust him so far as to aid him in his flight. And Melkor, seeing that Fëanor wavered, and knowing that the Silmarils held his heart in thrall, said at the last: 'Here is a strong place, and well guarded; but think not that the Silmarils will lie safe in any treasury within the realm of the Valar!'

But his cunning overreached his aim; his words touched too deep, and awoke a fire more fierce than he designed; and Fëanor looked upon Melkor with eyes that burned through his fair semblance and pierced the cloaks of his mind, perceiving there his fierce lust for the Silmarils. Then hate overcame Fëanor's fear, and he cursed Melkor and bade him be gone, saying: 'Get thee gone from my gate, thou jail-crow of Mandos!' And he shut the doors of his house in the face of the mightiest of all the dwellers in Eä.

Other Noldor immediately report this to Manwë (Not Aulë. Manwë) and Melkor eludes the Vala searching for him.

Verdict: The Noldor cannot unify against Melkor. Melkor effectively splits and removes them from almost all their allies, including Aulë. They they suffer even greater humiliations than the above at their own hands because of Melkor's believable insinuations.

Melkor wins.

Aulë versus Noldor Elves

I've been asked: "Why, when one can role-play an Ainu like yourself, would one chose to play as a Noldor Elf?" The simple answer: even the Valar chose to do so.

As spirits, the Valar have no fixed physical form, although they could assume any form they chose, or cast aside their shape altogether and travel formless and invisible through Arda. By preference, though, they often took the shapes of the Children of Ilúvatar: Elves and then Men.

[The Valar] were filled moreover with the love of the beauty of the Elves and desired their fellowship. At the last, therefore, the Valar summoned the Quendi to Valinor, there to be gathered at the knees of the Powers in the light of the Trees for ever;

The Thought of Iluvatar cares for the Children of Iluvatar. But the Children do not understand this, even fearing the Caretakers.

But the Elves were at first unwilling to hearken to the summons, for they had as yet seen the Valar only in their wrath as they went to war, save Oromë alone; and they were filled with dread. Therefore Oromë was sent again to them, and he chose from among them ambassadors who should go to Valinor and speak for their people; and these were Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë, who afterwards were kings. And coming they were filled with awe by the glory and majesty of the Valar, and desired greatly the light and splendour of the Trees. Then Oromë brought them back to Cuiviénen, and they spoke before their people, and counselled them to heed the summons of the Valar and remove into the West

It is now that the elves divide, first into three tribes of Vanyar, Noldor and Teleri, but further into those from each tribe who are willing to take the Great March, and the Unwilling (Avari, in Quenya).

The smallest host and the first to set forth was ... The Vanyar; they are the Fair Elves, the beloved of Manwë and Varda, and few among Men have spoken with them.

Next came the Noldor, a name of wisdom, the people of Finwë. They are the Deep Elves, the friends of Aulë; and they are renowned in song, for they fought and laboured long and grievously in the northern lands of old.

My prior post lays some background Aulë's kinship with the Noldor.

Aulë it is who is named the Friend of the Noldor, for of him they learned much in after days, and they are the most skilled of the Elves; and in their own fashion, according to the gifts which Illúvatar gave to them, they added much to his teaching, delighting to tongues and in scripts, and in the figures of broidery, of drawing, and of carving. The Noldor also it was who first achieved the making of gems; and the fairest of an gems were the Silmarils, and they are lost.

JRRT elaborates further on their relationship.

the Noldor were beloved of Aulë, and he and his people came often among them. Great became their knowledge and their skill; yet even greater was their thirst for more knowledge, and in many things they soon surpassed their teachers. They were changeful in speech, for they had great love of words, and sought ever to find names more fit for all things that they knew or imagined. And it came to pass that the masons of the house of Finwë, quarrying in the hills after stone (for they delighted in the building of high towers), first discovered the earth-gems, and brought them forth in countless myriads; and they devised tools for the cutting and shaping of gems, and carved them in many forms. They hoarded them not, but gave them freely, and by their labour enriched all Valinor.

Compare to Aulë himself: the delight and pride is in the deed of making, not the owning, the giving not the hoarding. Here is how the Noldor shared when the last group of Elves arriving in the Noldor-built city of Tirion on completing the Great March to Valimar

last and latest [the Teleri Elves] came to Aman and the shores of Eldamar.

There they dwelt, and if they wished they could see the light of the Trees, and could tread the golden streets of Valmar and the crystal stairs of Tirion upon Túna , the green hill; but most of all they sailed in their swift ships on the waters of the Bay of Elvenhome, or walked in the waves upon the shore with their hair gleaming in the light beyond the hill. Many jewels the Noldor gave them, opals and diamonds and pale crystals, which they strewed upon the shores and scattered in the pools; marvellous were the beaches of Elendë in those days.

But the memory of Middle-earth under the stars remained in the hearts of the Noldor, and they abode in the Calacirya, and in the hills and valleys within sound of the western sea; and though many of them went often about the land of the Valar, making far journeys in search of the secrets of land and water and all living things, yet the peoples of Túna and Alqualondë drew together in those days.

Wanderlust is an important part of Elvish character, the Noldor more than any other. While the Vanyar were content to stay near the Valar, and the Teleri as often as not were content to stay where fate had already led them on the Great March, the Noldor were reputed explorers.

Fëanor [High Prince of the Noldor] and his sons abode seldom in one place for long, but travelled far and wide upon the confines of Valinor, going even to the borders of the Dark and the cold shores of the Outer Sea, seeking the unknown. Often they were guests in the halls of Aulë;

This urge is going to lead the Noldor back to Middle-Earth in time. Even there, their kinship with Aulë is manifest:

the Naugrim [Dwarves] gave their friendship more readily to the Noldor in after days than to any others of Elves and Men, because of their love and reverence for Aulë; and the gems of the Noldor they praised above all other wealth.

When many Noldor decided to depart Aman under Fëanor's leadership, not all went. Noldor passions ran high.

And of all the Noldor in Valinor, who were grown now to a great people, but one tithe refused to take the road: some for the love that they bore to the Valar (and to Aulë not least), some for the love of Tirion and the many things that they had made; none for fear of peril by the way.

The parting and how it occurred was a mortal blow to Aulë and the Noldor's relationship. We hear that Aulë never spoke of the Noldor again. The Noldor who left Aman did a similar thing to Aulë's name: the word in their Middle-Earth Sindarin language means not the inventive Ainu nor "invention" as it does in Quenya, but "shaggy."

In JRRT's literature, the Noldor go on to great things, even returning to Aman after the War of the Rings. But, after the chapter describing that first parting, Aulë appears very little: it is the Noldor that define Aulë, not the other way around.

Love, broken, is bitterest. 

Who wins? 

 Nobody.

Aulë versus Melkor

One on one

Here are the descriptions of the contenders.

Of the Enemies

Last of all is set the name of Melkor, He who arises in Might. But that name he has forfeited; and the Noldor, who among the Elves suffered most from his malice, will not utter it, and they name him Morgoth, the Dark Enemy of the World. Great might was given to him by Ilúvatar, and he was coeval with Manwë. In the powers and knowledge of all the other Valar he had part, but he turned them to evil purposes, and squandered his strength in violence and tyranny. For he coveted Arda and all that was in it, desiring the kingship of Manwë and dominion over the realms of his peers.

From splendour he fell through arrogance to contempt for all things save himself, a spirit wasteful and pitiless. Understanding he turned to subtlety in perverting to his own will all that he would use, until he became a liar without shame. He began with the desire of Light, but when he could not possess it for himself alone, he descended through fire and wrath into a great burning, down into Darkness. And darkness he used most in his evil works upon Arda, and filled it with fear for all living things.

On the other side of things

Of the fabric of Earth had Aulë thought, to whom Ilúvatar had given skill and knowledge scarce less than to Melkor; but the delight and pride of Aulë is in the deed of making, and in the thing made, and neither m possession nor in his own mastery; wherefore he gives and hoards not, and is free from care, passing ever on to some new work.

Those and later quotes are from The Silmarillion, Ainulindalë, JRRTolkien. The next chapter, called Valaquenta, elaborates:

Aulë has might little less than Ulmo. His lordship is over all the substances of which Arda is made. In the beginning he wrought much in fellowship with Manwë and Ulmo; and the fashioning of all lands was his labour. He is a smith and a master of all crafts, and he delights in works of skill, however small, as much as in the mighty building of old. His are the gems that lie deep in the Earth and the gold that is fair in the hand, no less than the walls of the mountains and the basins of the sea. The Noldor learned most of him, and he was ever their friend.

JJR Tolkien immediately links Aulë and Melkor in powers and desires. This is unique: he does this with no other Vala pair. In character, Melko often feigns good will, good works, good intentions and good advice, but Aulë personifies them (and the other buddhist right paths ).

Melkor was jealous of him, for Aulë was most like himself in thought and in powers; and there was long strife between them, in which Melkor ever marred or undid the works of Aulë, and Aulë grew weary in repairing the tumults and disorders of Melkor. Both, also, desired to make things of their own that should be new and unthought of by others, and delighted in the praise of their skill. But Aulë remained faithful to Eru and submitted all that he did to his will; and he did not envy the works of others, but sought and gave counsel.

Thus, Aulë and his works and allies are a special target of Melko. While Melkor is capable of marring anything made, Aulë is capable of repairing it but wearies with that work. Thus, Melkor can continually escape and wear Aulë down.

One on One: Melkor wins.

Team Versus Team

On Aule's Team:

The spouse of Aulë is Yavanna, the Giver of Fruits. She is the lover of all things that grow in the earth, and all their countless forms she holds in her mind, from the trees like towers in forests long ago to the moss upon stones or the small and secret things in the mould. In reverence Yavanna is next to Varda among the Queens of the Valar. In the form of a woman she is tall, and robed in green; but at times she takes other shapes. Some there are who have seen her standing like a tree under heaven, crowned with the Sun; and from all its branches there spilled a golden dew upon the barren earth, and it grew green with corn; but the roots of the tree were in the waters of Ulmo, and the winds of Manwë spoke in its leaves. Kementàri, Queen of the Earth, she is surnamed in the Eldarin tongue.

The Book of Lost Tales gives Aulë and Yavanna an extended family through two Valar children. Their son is Oromë the Hunter, who found and guided the elves to the Undying Lands. His spouse is Vana the Ever-Young, who is also Yavanna's sister. Their daughter Nessa, the Fleetfooted, and Tulkas the Valiant were the only Valar couple to be wed after arriving in Arda. Each of these Valar have their own numerous, mostly unnamed Maiar friends and followers.

On the Enemies side, though

Yet so great was the power of his [Melko's] uprising that in ages forgotten he contended with Manwë and all the Valar, and through long years in Arda held dominion over most of the lands of the Earth. But he was not alone. For of the Maiar many were drawn to his splendour in the days of his greatness, and remained in that allegiance down into his darkness; and others he corrupted afterwards to his service with lies and treacherous gifts. Dreadful among these spirits were the Valaraukar, the scourges of fire that in Middle-earth were called the Balrogs, demons of terror.

Among those of his servants that have names the greatest was that spirit whom the Eldar called Sauron, or Gorthaur the Cruel. In his beginning he was of the Maiar of Aulë, and he remained mighty in the lore of that people. In all the deeds of Melkor the Morgoth upon Arda, in his vast works and in the deceits of his cunning, Sauron had a part, and was only less evil than his master in that for long he served another and not himself. But in after years he rose like a shadow of Morgoth and a ghost of his malice, and walked behind him on the same ruinous path down into the Void.

Melkor undermines Aulë's team by fomenting treason and defection of alliance among them. Here is an except from The Silmarillion Chapter 1 showing how team versus team worked early on.

Now it came to pass that while the Valar rested from their labours, and watched the growth and unfolding of the things that they had devised and begun, Manwë ordained a great feast; and the Valar and an their host came at his bidding. But Aulë and Tulkas were weary; for the craft of Aulë and the strength of Tulkas had been at the service of an without ceasing fax the days of their labour. And Melkor knew of an that was done, for even then he had secret friends and spies among the Maiar whom he had converted to his cause; and far off in the darkness he was filled with hatred, being jealous of the work of his peers, whom he desired to make subject to himself. Therefore he gathered to himself spirits out of the halls of Eä that he had perverted to his service, and he deemed himself strong. And seeing now his time he drew near again to Arda, and looked down upon it, and the beauty of the Earth in its Spring filled him the more with hate.

Now therefore the Valar were gathered upon Almaren, fearing no evil, and because of the light of Illuin they did not perceive the shadow in the north that was cast from afar by Melkor; for he was grown dark as the Night of the Void. And it is sung that in that feast of the Spring of Arda Tulkas espoused Nessa the sister of Oromë, and she danced before the Valar upon the green grass of Almaren.

Then Tulkas slept, being weary and content, and Melkor deemed that his hour had come. And he passed therefore over the Walls of the Night with his host, and came to Middle-earth far in the north; and the Valar were not aware of him.

Only when Tulkas and Aulë are tired and feasted to somnolence, does Melkor and his team act. Melkor's opinion must be that the Valar Lords of the West are capable of besting him in open battle. Indeed, Melkor suffers a huge loss at this same team.

Manwë said to the Valar: 'This is the counsel of Ilúvatar in my heart: that we should take up again the mastery of Arda, at whatsoever cost, and deliver the Quendi [Elves] from the shadow of Melkor.' Then Tulkas was glad; but Aulë was grieved, foreboding the hurts of the world that must come of that strife. But the Valar made ready and came forth from Aman in strength of war, resolving to assault the fortresses of Melkor and make an end. Never did Melkor forget that this war was made for the sake of the Elves, and that they were the cause of his downfall. Yet they had no part in those deeds, and they know little of the riding of the might of the West against the North in the beginning of their days.

Melkor met the onset of the Valar in the North-west of Middle-earth, and all that region was much broken. But the first victory of the hosts of the West was swift, and the servants of Melkor fled before them to Utumno. Then the Valar passed over Middle-earth, and they set a guard over Cuiviúnen; and thereafter the Quendi [Elves] knew nothing of the great Battle of the Powers, save that the Earth shook and groaned beneath them, and the waters were moved, and in the north there were lights as of mighty fires.

The following battles are not chronicled well, since the historian Elves did not witness them. Indeed, the Vala ensured the Elves suffered no part of it at all. The battle ended thus:

But at the last the gates of Utumno were broken and the halls unroofed, and Melkor took refuge in the uttermost pit. Then Tulkas stood forth as champion of the Valar and wrestled with him, and cast him upon his face; and he was bound with the chain Angainor that Aulë had wrought, and led captive; and the world had peace for a long age.

This is by no means the utter end. Melko commits further destruction through deception and treachery, winning the upper hand from time to time, then losing it. The verdict must be:

Team versus Team: Tie.

It will take another faction to tip the scales. One does.