Aulë the Smith

The Game of Bumps

2012-01-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

Children's games often train skills of coordination and speed. This is "tag", re-invented for Second Life as a simple and fun way to master control of your avatar in active areas.

BUMPS

The Basic Rule: When "it" bumps you, you have to bump someone else, then say you did so in chat to make someone the new "it"

Object: to avoid being bumped by and therefore becoming "it". As "it", to accept the role in chat and then bump another and announce who the new "it" is in chat.

Equipment: any area roughly 40m across. It need not be utterly clear of obstacles nor fully delineated.

Players: any number greater than two.

Preparation

The group chooses a player to be the first "it". Traditionally, this role belongs to the player who suggests the game or whoever was "it" at the end of the last game.

The players choose an ending time of the game. All players are prohibited flying in the game.

Suggested: Each player opens the "Bumps, pushes & hits" window in the "help" menu, so one can see who made contact with oneself, or wears a script that tells when such things happen.

Optional: Each player can activate a radar or a map, either thru a viewer or a HUD (like Mystitool), so one might see who is close and who is not.

Playing Bumps

~ "It" chats a sentence saying "I am it".
~ "It" attempts to physically bump another player by avatar.
~ Other players move inside the playing area to avoid "it".

~ When "it" actually bumps another, their hit windows will confirm it.
~ "It" must chat, by any sentence he chooses, the name of who he bumped within hearing (20m) of the one he bumped.
~ Others and "it" may move and repeat that that idea until:

~ The one bumped acknowledges "it" in chat.
~ He or she becomes the new "it" and play continues as above.

Ending the game.

Anyone may, but the person who suggested the game must announce in chat "5 minutes left", "one minute left", "ten seconds left" and "Good Game."
The last "it" loses the game, but that hardly matters, does it? Now enjoy sharing what happened.

Irregularities:

"It" crashing appears to others as "it" disappearing, or going motionless. When this happens, or "it" must leave for a while, the others should gather in the center of the playing area and choose a new "it". Traditionally, "it" is assigned to the one who bumped the crashed "it" or the first "it".

Being "Out of Bounds" incurs no penalty because it isn't much fun. One should simply return to the playing area directly when discovered out of bounds. One can still bump or be bumped while out of bounds.

One can quit the game by going out of bounds and stating "not playing" as often as needed, but it is bad manners to re-enter the game after quitting.

When flying is noticed, the one flying should immediately return straight to the ground with "page down" only. If "it" is under the descending flyer, the bump counts and may be called. If "it" is the flyer, no bumps need be acknowledged until "it" lands and spends 10 seconds motionless.

Missing chat: One may, if bumped, accept "it" before the old "it" announces one was bumped, but it's better to remind the old "it" he or she needs to announce who was bumped. Handle someone not replying to a chatted bump after several chats as "it" crashing.

Players joining mid-game can learn the basic rule as they play if others guide them thus: When "it" bumps you, you have to bump someone else, then say you did so in chat to make them the new "it".

Strategies,
with links to more complete player guides:

The real object of the game is to improve the players ability to move, chat, and view the world screen in rapid succession. In more detail:

To move, use the keyboard arrows (or ASDF if your chat is closed) alone or in combination with shift and/or your mouse. To activate running, use Menu/World/Always Run, or Ctrl-R toggle.

Views include the default view where you see your avatars back, mouse-look where you see thru the avatars eyes, and custom focus views. Try using mouse-look (activated by mouse-scrolling your view into your avatar's head or pressing M with chat closed) and regular view (activated by escape key or M in mouse-look) and Custom focus. Each one of these might be preferable to you at different times, and each allows different custom options.

Chatting begins in mouse-look with the Enter key, then type your chat and press Enter again to send. If out of mouse-look, click your chat window, then type your chat and press Enter to send. If you can see another player's name-box floating over their head, they can hear you in regular chat. If the name-box has dimmed to invisibility, they are out of normal chat range, and you must move close to them or send a "shout" (using control-Enter). One can repeat the last thing said with control-up (ctrl-↑) then pressing Enter.

Game Variations:

~Voice can make an easier game if all have voice on and use it instead of chatting who bumped whom and who is it.

~Automating bumps would make an easier game if each player wears a scripted object that says bumps in chat, so "it" need not chat the bump. The new "it" must still chat that they are "it" unless all wear a script that keeps track of "it" by chat, float text and/or particle emission.

~RSVP: whenever anyone chats your name (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) in your hearing, by itself or in a sentence, you must immediately chat a reply. This will leave you unable to move until you have completed your chat, and vulnerable to bumps.

~No tag backs, where "it" may not bump the person who bumped him or her, works best in a group larger than five.

~No running creates a slower-paced game; shrink the playing area to 25x25.

~Flying, when allowed and encouraged, is best played in a thick 40x40x40 box.

~ Rezzing. For an advanced group, encourage players to rez barriers in the playing area. Owners of the items may move, delete or change their own barriers at any time, of course. Simplest to allow only creating and editing non-scripted, non-physical default prims during the game, but the group may choose to allow anything, including scripted or physical items to appear and disappear.

Have Fun

Fair warning: in many areas, bumping another avatar might be grounds for a complaint to the management. Don't play Bumps in busy, public areas where non-players may get you in trouble.

Fan Fiction Links

2012-01-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

The lovely poem spoke to me especially since I have the huge honor of role-playing Aule in Second-Life "Tirion Forest" and nearby areas for the last several years. The image is very similar to a scene I and my Yavanna played many months ago, but written infinitely more eloquently.

With the Larner's permission, I mirror

"The Dance"

He found her singing in the darkness beneath Varda's stars, and he smiled. Of green things she sang, of trees and grass and scented flowers.

He entered the clearing, adding his song to hers, singing of rich soil and shining minerals, soft sand and smooth stones.

He could tell she was glad he had joined her, for now she began to sway as she sang of blossoms and fruit.

He stepped to the side, singing of clay and mineral-laden water, heated by the earth and given to the relief of aching joints and exhaustion.

She sang of the sweetness of apples.

He sang of the richness of cups made from the metals to be taken from the earth, and how they would be ready to hold the apple's juices. Their hands met as their steps began to complement one another's.

She sang of the song of crickets hidden under leaves, of the song of frogs beside the banks of streams.

He sang of the song of the water as it poured over rocks and between boulders. They circled one another in their dance.

She sang of filled bellies and contented children.

He sang of useful items made such as knives to peel fruit and prepare vegetables to be eaten.

He lifted her easily high into the air, and she laughed as she sang of the comfort of growing things.

He responded with the reassurance of the reliability of the earth and its bones. He set her upon her feet.

She paused, then held out her hands to him, her song slowed and seductive as she sang to him of the thanksgiving offered by trees and plants for the earth from which they grew.

He took her hands and drew her to him, singing of the consummation the earth could know only when growing things sprang from it and drew from its bounty.

He inclined his head, and she raised her face to meet his, and as Yavanna kissed her beloved Aulë their joined songs continued, more full and harmonious for their shared love and delight in one another.

And all of the world prepared for the Children of Iluvatar delighted in their shared dance.

Name the Bad Guy Entries.

2011-12-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

A handful of entrants gave multiple entries to "Name the Bad Guy"

Our Elven RP leader, Maralee Greenwood, teaches that The Silmarillion states that the Noldor do not speak Melkor's name and that JRRT wrote "The Fallen One" for them to use instead. Quoting Valaquenta, "Of The Enemies":

"Last of all is set the name of Melkor, He who arises in Might. But that name he as 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."

This could justify the Noldor calling the bad guy Morgoth from the very beginning. Since the Noldor had not suffered anything unusual of his malice by the Noontide of Valinor, we play that the elves call The Bad Guy neither "Melkor" for fear of the power of the name, nor "Morgoth" for it hasn't been coined yet.

The phrase "Fallen One" never appears in Tolkien's the Silmarillion. The word "fallen" appears less than 20 times, and never in reference to Melkor. Still, the elves might indeed use "Fallen One" as the Quenya lantë (a moral fall) suggests "Lantwë". Of the Ainu, though, only Aulë claims "I have fallen into folly" in his chapter. Hearing the useful "Fallen" or "Lantwë" would make Aulë, fallen yet forgiven, regretful.

The Entries:

~ "Lantwë", Quenya for "The Fallen One"
~ "Límilawë" for "The Chained One"
~ "i túra nancar" for "The great destroyer"
~ "Morier" for Dark One,
~ "Feuyaer" for the disgusting one
~ "Ksher" for the Evil one
~ "Oklem" or "Roklem" are Melko and Melkor backwards, so as to mimick his feature that he never did anything on this own but only corrupted and distorted what others had made before, so we do not give him a "new" name but rather take the "old" one and corrupt it ourselves.

the entrants did not attempt to translate these last into Quenya, but I did:

~ "First of tyrants", Quenya has no word for tyrant. Perhaps "First Night Lord", or "First Slave Lord" will do: Lómëheru-minya or Mólheru-minya
~ "Sourvoice", as stink- holwë + voice óma = "Holoma"
~ "Badsong" as bad Olca + song linde = "Olcalin"
~ "Shouty" or "Shouter" as "Ramando"
~ "The Discordant" deserves some thought:

in JJRT's Ainulindale, other words appear for the Bad Guy once each: "loud", "vain", "clamorous" "braying" "disturbed" "turbulent" "uproar". Three times the word "discord" describes what the Bad Guy makes:

Dis-cord
~Lack of agreement among persons, groups, or things.
~Tension or strife resulting from a lack of agreement;
~strife, dispute, war, dissension.
~confused, harsh or inharmonious sound or sounds.
~a dissonance in music.
~To fail to agree or harmonize;
~clash.

"Discord" isn't in Quenya wordlists, nor most above, but these are:

"NOT" ú-, in-, un-, prefix usually has a "bad" connotation
MUSICAL SOUND lin, lind-, linda
PEACE sérë, rainë, sívë;

suggesting "Úlinwë", "Úlin", "Úlinda", "Úsérë", "Úrainë", and "Úsívë".

The etymological roots of discord offer another direction:

[Middle English, from Old French descorde, from Latin discordia, from discors, discord-, disagreeing : dis-, apart; see dis- + cor, cord-, heart; see kerd- in Indo-European roots.]

HEART hón (physical heart), órë (inner mind), indo (mind, mood), enda (centre, soul or mind), elwen (is early “Qenya”).
BREAK APART terhat-; hat- ; ascat-

suggests: "Hatórë", "Hatenda"

Judging

JRRT's own names that the Noontide elves called The Bad Guy could fit our needs nicely "The Hunter" ("Roimë" in Quenya), "The Dark Rider", ("Moroquen") and "Dark Hunter" ("Moroimë"), even if all are similar to "Oromë".

Top prizes go to "Lantwë" (Fallen One), "Morier" (Dark One), and "Roklem" (arising in might backwards) for whimsey, style and brevity. Honorable mention goes to "The Discordant", translated as "Úlin", "Úrainë" or "Hatórë".

I'd like to make one entry myself, obvious yet overlooked:
"The Bad Guy": "Olcawë", or better, "Úwë".

The Noldor of Tirion in Second Life will soon get ALL these entries and the JRRT to use as they wish. I will take a survey among them after March 14 regarding which of these names actually get used and award another prize at that time.

JRRT Names the Bad Guy

2011-12-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

In preparing to award contest entry prizes, first a review of JRRT's words about him are in order. The interesting Tolkien Gateway site about Melko lists many names. Only some of them might have been used in the "Noontide of Valinor".

"Melkórë", "Melko", "Melegor", and "Meleko" are apparently Valarin, (spoken by the ainu) Eldarin, (spoken by the first elves) or Quenya (spoken by our Noldor Elves of Aman) names that Tolkien used in drafts, before he settled on the Quenya "Melkor" translated in the Silmarillion as “He who arises in might". These are likely related to the little used Eldarin (possibly Valarin) name "mbelekôro".

The early elves of Cuiviénen called him "The Hunter" ("Roimë" in Quenya) and "The Dark Rider", ("Moroquen"). There is a non-Silmarillion reference to "Dark Hunter" ("Moroimë") but not in this defining passage:

"if any of the Elves strayed far abroad, alone or few together, they would often vanish, and never return; and the Quendi [elves] 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."

"The Enemy" and "Great Enemy" are used thru time for the Bad Guy, but also for his chief in Middle-Earth, Sauron. Word lists render these as "Cotumo" and "Altacotumo"

After the Noontide of Valinor

Feanor once calls the mightiest of all the dwellers in Eä "jail-crow of Mandos", but his name-calling doesn't stick until the darkening of Valinor and his father's murder:

"Fëanor rose, and lifting up his hand before Manwë he cursed Melkor, naming him Morgoth, the Black Foe of the World; and by that name only was he known to the Eldar ever after."

JRRT considered but set aside "Moriñgotho", "Moringotto" and "Moricotto" for "The Dark Enemy" here. The Sindarin "Bauglir", meaning "The Constrainer" appears the Silmarillion often but only as "Morgoth Bauglir".

Also in Sindarin, the elven language of Middle-Earth, are "Belegûr" for "He who arises in might" and "Belegurth" for "Great Death". "Belcha" is not used in Silmarillion, but others have ascribed it to a Sindarin dictionary. It's clearly not Eldarin nor Quenya nor Valarin, since none of those use an initial letter B.

Humans in later ages added "Dark Lord", "Dark King", "Dark King of Angband", "Black King" and "Lord of the Dark" to our antagonist's monikers.

The Bad Guy even gives himself a few titles. When speaking to Noldor, he calls himself "Vala" also, and "friend to the Noldor". When speaking to to Húrin, he claims "Master of the fates of Arda" (rightly belonging to Námo Mandos) and "Elder King", which was accurate in the brief time the Bad Guy was the only sentient creature in the World, until the arrival of meritous Manwë.

Fittingly, the Bad Guy gets exiled the last paragraph of the Silmarillion (emphases mine):

the Valar thrust [Morgoth himself ] through the Door of Night beyond the Walls of the World, into the Timeless Void; and a guard is set for ever on those walls, and Eärendil keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky. Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days.

Here ends the SILMARILLION.

Name the Bad Guy Contest

2011-12-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

Arth Karas here, not quite fully in character as Aulë

Melko has many names in later Ages, but few in the Age of the Trees. As you can see in the chat below, the ones we have are a bit unwieldy or being avoided. Thus, we need a unique and appropriate name to call him.

NAME THE BAD GUY CONTEST

Acceptable names will be:
~ Either chosen or translated directly from JRRT Tolkien sources
~ rooted in Quenya or Valarin or English, since Sindarin, Latin and other such languages are unknown yet in our RP.
~ clearly not some other character nor confusingly similar to such
~ accurate to Melko's character
~ not overly respectful (for reasons of story arcs to come)

Please look over what I have here and send me names by SL IM, which forwards to arth.karas@-at-gmail.-dot-com. Multiple submissions accepted. I will choose the acceptable submissions (and likely write an article here about which and why) based on creativity, originality, duplication and whimsy. After entries are collected thru Jan 1, 2012, I will split a L$ 1200 entry prize among to Sheriwood and ~Aglarond~ group members. All accepted suggestions will go to Noldor Elves of Tirion to use in role play. From their natural selection by use, I will choose a grand prize winner of another L$ 600 by March 4, 2012.

Learn more:

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Morgoth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melkor
http://aulethesmith.blogspot.com/2010/09/aule-versus-melkor.html
http://users.bestweb.net/~jfgm/valaquenta/texts/21%20Melkor.htm

Open Chat excerpt prompting this contest:
Second Life, Tirion Forest Sim 01Dec2011 ~ 1400 PST
During a 3 player discussion on Melko's character.

Marwen: The One's mind has turned so bad
Aulë: WHAT?
Marwen: this cannot be a mere coincidence
Aulë is agitated. WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?
Anairë: The evil one do you mean?
Marwen: My lord
Aulë mimics Marwen: The One's mind has turned so bad
Marwen: forgive me Mylord
Marwen: my wording is poor indeed
Aulë: THE ONE is Eru, Ilúvatar.
Aulë: WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU MEANT?
Marwen: The Fallen One
Aulë: pfff.
Aulë: Just call him Melko.
Aulë: Melkor.
Aulë: he's not "fallen" any more than I am.
Marwen: we are not supposed to say his name
Marwen: that's why
Anairë: Lady Yavanna suggested we not name him?
Aulë stammers a moment.
Marwen looks down ashamed
Anairë: You may be safe from his attention Vala Aule...but if we came to his special notice
Aulë: composes himself.
Aulë: Your respect of the Lady Yavanna's suggestions are wholly commendable. I'm proud of you.
Aulë: and I see her point... and yours.
Anairë: We are a little more vulnerable than you are Vala Aule...smiles
Aulë: I'm already Melko's target for mischief.
Aulë: aye... and your keeping a low profile makes sense.
Anairë: Oh he has caused you harm?
Aulë waves aside the question impatiently...
Aulë: but when the names you chose to use infect your very speech and ideation to say such silly things as I just heard...
Aulë: you need to choose another solution.
Anairë: nods
Marwen: we learned at the last barding his name among the Noldor is "The Fallen One"
Aulë: might I suggest something less similar to Eru's name?
Anairë: mmm thinks of a name
Aulë: in my own though, he is often "HotHead"
Aulë: and lately... "Chained"
Anairë: He who is chained would not be mistaken
Anairë: Well unless any Noldor are taken and chained.... shudders
Marwen: and you made the chains
Aulë: aye. I made them special just for him. Fire is my domain as well among the Vala now.
Marwen: so it would be your domain to make an exception here too
Aulë: I have no objections to naming Melko after chains or fire. They are his more than mine.
Aulë: Perhaps I should host a contest...
Marwen: this would leave us at "the chained one"
Anairë: What aspect was he who is chained supposed to have dominance over if the song was perfect?
Marwen: deliberately without capital letters
Aulë: Melko is an aspect of extremes: very hot, very cold, very beautiful, very abhorrent.
Aulë: and he has great gifts in all areas of creation.
Aulë: "what to name Melko, when you must speak of him"
Aulë: yes.... I think I will do that. Sponsor a creative contest to find names for that character...
Anairë: Evil seems a good description of him
Anairë: but there are many names for such an evil one
Aulë: names that are at once accurate, yet not overly respectful.
Aulë hums in thought, taking up quill and scroll.

Relative Quenya Names

2011-10-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

This in Aulë's Second Life In-box:

hello

I think you are the language expert in Tirion and I was wondering if you could tell me the correct forms of address for family members as my friend and I are playing aunt and neice. Do you know what the Quenya elvish for these are?

Also mother, father, brother, sister, and if possible, grandparents?

We've been using English terms, but they jar a bit in Tirion. I think the Quenya would be more resonant :)

Thankyou!
Iminwiel

Allasár, Mellonin! (Blessings, girlfriend!)

My favorite source for researching such questions is the website Ardalambion

In the downloaded Quenya files, I use "find" to locate my words of interest:
~~aunt.... not found ...
~~niece... not found ....
Failing there, I look up related words and educe the words we want: aunt = parent's sister. niece = siblings's daughter
~~PARENT #nostar (pl nostari) or ontan (pl ontani) ; also father ontaro; mother: ontarë or ontari .
~~'s is possesive: -rya (possessive suffix, e.g. aratarya "her sublimity". for all genders . words ending in a consonant take the shorter form -ya, e.g. talya “his foot”,
~~SISTER nésa (þ; older form néþa), colloquially also nettë (probably netti-); also "sister" seler (Þ) (pl. selli), onómë, onónë; SISTER (usually not of bloodkinship) osellë (Þ)

so,
~~AUNT: parent's sister: nostar+rya+nésa, shortens to nénostárya. less formal: nettë-ontar-rya, shortens to nettontarya. even shorter, "nettarya".

That is still a bit of a un-resonant mouthful. Maybe something prettier will show up with more searching.

~~sibling... not found. But I have sister, so.
~~BROTHER háno, colloquial hanno . also toron (pl. torni) (= natural brother); cf. otorno "sworn brother, associate".
~~DAUGHTER selyë; also yendë, yen, yeldë, suffixes: –iel (e.g. Uinéniel "daughter of Uinen") obsolete: -wen, -yel.

so
~~NIECE is either sister's daughter: nésiel, nettiel , seleriel or onómiel .... or brother's daughter: hanniel, hánoyel, toroniel
Noldor elves in our early RP age would use archaic forms.: néþyel ( Néthyel) or toroniel. I like those.

You can easily find the other words in the pages above, except for grandparent:
~~ Grand not found except grandchild. After poking around, I find.
~~DOUBLE (prob. adj) atwa, tanta; DOUBLE (vb) tatya- (repeat). (Note: tatya also means "second".) –AT(AT), TATA

This "tatya" is especially apt: the First of the Noldor clan to awaken was named Tata. Then consider AUNT in spanish or french is tanta or tante.

So
~~GRANDMOTHER: tatya-amillië -> tatamillië.
and
~~AUNT = grandmother's daughter: tantamilier. Even simpler:
~~AUNT = second mama: tatyamil.

That resonates.

Love, Arth.

the Naming of Elves

2011-09-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

JRRT's elves, according to the notes Christopher Tolkien compiled into a collection called "the Ring of Morgoth", always have at least three names. There is some ceremony about the essë "naming" of High Elves.

1. the public essi ("father-name") is given at birth. Usually the son's name takes after the father and the daughter's name takes after the mother. The father announces it to the extended family and thus the world. The first Noldo king Finwë named his first-born son "Curufinwë" after himself [curu- "skill" + fin "nimble, clever" + -wë "man"]

2. the given-names, most prominent and earliest of these is the amilessë ("mother-name"), based on sight, insight or foresight. These might be public or private, but have more to do with character than family. Finwë's same eldest son was mother-named by Miriel as "Fëanáro" [ fëa "spirit" + nár "flame" + -o masculine]. This, later translated into the Middle-Earth elvish language Sindarin, become "Fëanor". In SL's Arda, that same character as gathered a few of these informal names, "Mundotarië" [nose-high for "Arrogant one"] among them.

3. the epessë ("after-name" or honorific) is a self-chosen name taken at a time of childhood and again infrequently when the elf deems it suitable, usually at times of life changing importance as assumption of a throne or staggering loss. Again these might be public or private, but the first chosen-name is taken and kept private (but not secret) to family when the child has mastered language. That same elf likely kept his own chosen names to himself, since I find no record of it. In SL's Arda, though, that character answers to 'mela' [beloved] from Nerdael (and no one else) and the name of the SL account, "Tlaloc"

Another example of naming is Gil-galad ("Star of Radiance"), which was the mother-name of the last High King of the Noldor. His father-name was Rodnor. Upon becoming king he was given the epessë Ereinion ("Scion of Kings") and called Ereinion Gil-gilad.

In role-play, then, Elves have at least three names: an everyday name from the father about the family, a personal name from the mother about the appearance, and one too private to be uttered out loud. The name players choose for the character can be be assigned to one of the three major sources: father, mother (and other seers) and self for family, appearance, or something ineffable [too private, large or sacred to be said aloud], thus attributed to a childhood source.

Substitute "elf" for "cat" below, and T.S Eliot echoes J.R.R. Tolkien:

The Naming of Cats
- T.S. Eliot
(from "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats")

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey -
All of them sensible everyday names.

There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter -
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum -
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

Childhood of the Children of Ilúvatar

2011-09-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

JRR Tolkien's Silmarillion uses the word "child" hundreds of times, more than "honor", "pain", "life" or "death".

"the Children of Ilúvatar are Elves and Men, the Firstborn and the Followers. And amid all the splendours of the World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Ilúvatar chose a place for their habitation in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the innumerable stars."

J. R. R. Tolkien, Ainulindalë

From the Christopher Tolkiens' collection of his fathers unpublished drafts called "Morgoth's Ring" comes "OF THE VALAR AT ITS MAKING", Aelfwine's (narrator's) Preamble:

"The Eldar grew in bodily form slower than Men, but in mind more swiftly. They learned to speak before they were one year old; and in the same time they learned to walk and to dance, for their wills came soon to the mastery of their bodies. Nonetheless, there was less difference between the two Kindred's, Elves and Men, in early youth; and a man who watched elf-children at play might well have believed that they were the children of Men, of some fair and happy people. For in their early days elf-children delighted still in the world about them, and the fire of their spirit had not consumed them and the burden of memory was still light upon them.

Despite the similarities or appearance, Men find elf-children strange: too verbal, too sage, too graceful. The chapter immediately goes on to mention small limbs and stature, skill in words and grace in motion. At the end of the third year, Men outstrip the Elves in stature, while elves "lingered in the first spring of childhood". By age 20, elves appear no more than 7. They attain full stature and shape between age 50 and age 100.

One oddity here is that few of us role-players are old enough to easily be anything but a very young elf, causing an odd gap between what experiential wisdom we are capable of as players and what we should be playing. However, there is a nice ameliorating factor to that in this particular "Age of the Two Trees" RP:

"For Elves and Men are the Children; and since they [the Ainur] understood not fully that theme by which they entered in the Music none of the Ainur dared to add anything to their fashion. For which reason the Valar are to these kindreds rather their elders and their chieftains than their masters;

This nicely lays out the role of Ainur compared to Elves: guides, not masters; kindred, not elders. I've described it as "Regents for the children of the King, raising the children to take on ruler-ship at maturity." JRRT has this to say on that:

"if ever in their dealings wth Elves and Men, the Ainur have endeavored to force them when they would not be guided, this has seldom turned to good, howsoever good their intent.

In a way JRRT is making a rule about education and child-rearing: "Force, when it happens, fails." It goes to back to RP when you are playing a "mature, full grown elf", in this age of the Trees, the race of elves is still in childhood and developing, giving all us RP'ers under the average ave of 75, (this only aged enough to play a young elf) the modifier of elven RACIAL immaturity, making our ages just about right to be elf children or grown elves in the child hood of the race.

From the Christopher Tolkiens' collection of his fathers unpublished drafts called "Morgoth's Ring" comes these bits of Ainulindalë version C:

"Then Ilúvatar spake, and he said: "Behold I love the world, and it is a mansion for Eldar (Elves) and Atani (Men). But the Elves shall be the fairest of earthly creatures, and they shall have and shall conceive more beauty than all my children, and they shall have greater bliss in this world."

"Dying [Eldar] are gathered in the halls of Mandos in Valinor, whence they often return and are reborn in their children."

And from the Ainulindalë version D:

"For Elves and Men are the Children; and since they understood not fully that theme by which they entered in the Music none of the Ainur dared to add anything to their fashion. For which reason the Valar are to these kindreds rather their elders and their chieftains than their masters; and if ever in their dealings with Elves and Men, the Ainur have endeavored to force them when they would not be guided, this has seldom turned to good, howsoever good their intent. The dealings of the Ainur have been mostly with the Elves, for Ilúvatar made the Eldar more like in nature to the Ainur, though less in might and stature, whereas to Men he gave strange gifts."

In JRRT's early drafts, we find a discarded word: "Valarindi" with fragments describing them as the children of the Valar, begotten of their love after their entry into Ea in Arda and numbered among the Maiar. They are the elder children of the World, and though their being began within Ea, yet they are of the race of the Ainur, who were before the world, and they have power and rank below that of the Valar only." This concept of ainu children was struck out of every later draft and is utterly unmentioned in the published Silmarillion except for one story. So if it's true that ainu can breed among themselves, it's hidden.

Children in Tirion

Wedded couples might choose one another early in youth, even as children, and the betrothal awaited the judgements of the parents.

"A year passes between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child, so that the days of both are the same or nearly so, and it is the day of begetting that is remembered year by year. For the most part, these days come in the Spring."

Childbearing is uncommon late in an elf's life. While elves do not apparently age, their energies do dwindle, and childbearing takes a great toll on the mother. This early marriage period is called 'days of the children' and is a merry part of life. To avoid the drama of single-parent-hood, the elves would bear children only in days of happiness and peace if they could.

There were seldom more than four elf-children in any one house, and only once more than six. "Their [elvish] families, or houses, were held together by love and deep feeling of kinship in mind and body; and the children needed little governing or teaching". Linguistically, elves said not "I have three children", but "three children have been added unto me", of "are with me", or "are in my house"

Physically, children naturally resemble their parents, but not necessarily spiritually. The child's fea is not derived from the parent's, but is newly made or newly re-born, according to JRRT.

After bearing Feanor, Miriel simply gave up living. "All my strength has gone into him," she claimed, then she gave up living to rest in Lorien. Morgoth's Ring has a full chapter of the Valar debating and arguing at great lengths over this act and what to do about it, since Finwë himself had moaned "Is there no healing in Valinor?"

It was Nienna who spoke the most tellingly and eloquently, I think, even though she disagreed with Aulë thus:

"the Children are not mighty: in life they are little and can effect little; and they are young and they know Time only. Their minds are as the hands of their babes, little in grasp and even that grasp is yet unfilled. How shall they perceive the ends of deed, or forgo their desires which arise from their very nature, the indwelling spirit in the body, which is their right condition?"

She went on longer, but she'd already convinced us that the Noldor of this age, while mature in body and spirit, are still as children as a race. We ainu, who can see farther in the the future, still should not force them to be anything other than what The One made them.

That is, for better or worse, how the Childhood of the Children of Ilúvatar is to be.

Relational RP

2011-08-14T01:23:00.000-07:00

From a 2011/08/13 "Tolkien style and Culture" live presentation at Second Life's Tirion Forest

I've been researching a bit into what elements make RP successful or unsuccessful. Interestingly, they follow the same guidelines for relationships as a whole. Morton Olman MD wrote a successful series of lectures and articles about doctor-patient relationships in 1995 -2010.... summarized in a quirky little article about how to succeed in marriage. Main points extracted below, it applies nicely to business and even fantasy relationships.

TEN WAYS TO
DESTROY
ANY RELATIONSHIP THAT MATTERS TO YOU

1. BE ABUSIVE
2. BE DEFENSIVE
::: Ben Franklin said, "The sting of another's criticism usually comes from the truth in it." Thus, When criticized, look for the truth in it and disregard the false. Apology is almost always helpful, even if you're not wrong.

3. BE CRITICAL
4. BE RIGHT MOST OF THE TIME

from Ogden Nash (reprinted from the June 1994 issue of Readers Digest, p.130) that states this point very well:

To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong admit it,
Whenever you're right, shut up!

5. BE SELFISH
6. BE DISHONEST

I'd like to underline something a little strange about when in Role Playing: First, there is no drama like messing up a relationship, using any one of these methods. However, other players may confuse your IN CHARACTER flaws for your own real character flaws. Then you get , not only unhappy characters ( a lovely source of interesting play), but unhappy players ( a nasty source of needless drama )

One little trick we use for physical damage is the prior private Instant Message:

"My character intends to attack yours. Are you willing to play this battle now?"

Sending in an IM before you damage the other in combat draws the distinction between player and character well and keeps the other player happy.

NOW... what if your character intends to damage a relationship? I'd like to suggest the same IM tool for this equally upsetting act:

"My character, for reasons unknown to you, intends to insult you and make your life miserable. May I begin this now?"

For that matter, you might warn your friendly players whenever you intend on a new course of action.

Before quote the other relationship destruction methods, though, I wanted to make this clear: Noldor elves DO argue and quarrel among themselves, more than any other elven race, and at times, quarrel more than even humans do. However, some of the nicest folks I've ever met are in quarrelsome roles here. While not one of them IM'd me to say "I need to quarrel with you", I knew that that was the way they should play their parts, so no harm done to our real friendships even while our characters do not deal with each other well.

#7. BE UNFAITHFUL, perhaps better translated to RP as
#7. BREAK AGREEMENTS.
#8. BE SUPERIOR, which Dr. Orman expands thus:

If you want to destroy any type of relationship, be sure to think of yourself as smarter, prettier, cooler, hipper, or more worthwhile than other people. Make it your habit to put other people down in order to feel good about yourself. Always strive to win any competition, and never give anyone an even break.

Interestingly, one of the hallmarks of Noldor elves before any others is that we do strive, we do compete, and we never give up an advantage. Even among the Vala, Aulë is the most competitive of the lot, and most argumentative.

Elf-maid: "What!--surely not--valaier aule!"
Aule waggles a finger.... "Vala Aulë, please."
Aule: "'valier', you just called me a bunch of women."
Elf-maid bites her lip.
Aulë laughs out loud!

#9. BE CONTROLLING
#10. BE CERTAIN

"Controlling" is clarified thus: Try to intimidate others, dominate them, and keep them from behaving in ways you don't approve. "Certainty" thus:

Never let doubt or contradictory evidence creep in. Never ask for guidance or support from others. And above all else, never admit any shortcomings that might make you appear weak or stupid.
Always appear to know exactly what you are doing, even when you don't have a clue. This will insure you never learn anything new or useful. It will also guarantee that people who love you will get totally frustrated in their efforts to help you succeed and be happy.

Imagine what would happen if you turned to a newbie and asked, "how do I look to you?" Even if the new player thought you looked wonderful, you'd have a new friend in short order. If the new player happened to mention a few things that might look better, then you insult him and make excuses and run him thru with your dagger. ☻ And then send the IM:

"Sorry, I'm RPing a nasty character right now. Are you okay?"

Doctor O adds this important little note to his article:

It is important to acknowledge that all of the patterns discussed in this report have positive as well as negative aspects. For example, being right and being in control are often necessary to succeed in our jobs or professions.

There's much more to this article here and admittedly, the fellow is attempting to sell a book, but it's engagingly written and sensible, I think.

"Peace and Joy and wisdom"

2011-07-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, searching thru Tolkien, I found this as a motto for the Arda groups of Second Life in "the Book of Lost Tales"

of more worth than all the glory of Valinor and all the grace and beauty of Kor is peace and happiness and wisdom,

I translated the "peace and happiness and wisdom" using [site] into quenya, " Sére ar alasse ar saila!", meaning (Peace and joy and wisdom!)". This short gesture has been popular since then.

But much darker than the snippet I give is the full quote from a speech of Manwë (King of the Valar, called "Gods" in this version). The Noldor from Kor (Tirion) had behaved selfishly and unfriendly to the Valar and each other. Taking advantage of this created sorry state, Melko caused the first death of an elf, the first regicide, and the first orphan.

Without the Gods who brought you to the light
and gave you all the materials of your craft,
teaching your first ignorance,
none of these fair things you love now so well
ever would have been;

what has been done may again be done,
for the power of the Valar does not change;

but of more worth than
all the glory of Valinor and all the grace and beauty of Kor
is peace and happiness and wisdom,
and these once lost
are harder to recapture.

Cease then to murmur and to speak against the Valar,
or to set yourselves in your hearts as equals to their majesty;

rather depart now in penitence
knowing full well that Melko has wrought this evil against you,
and that your secret trafficking with him has brought you all this loss and sorrow.
Trust him not again therefore,

nor any others that whisper secret words of discontent among you,
for its fruit is humiliation and dismay."

While Manwë certainly preaches eloquently, I am simpler spoken:

if you must chose between
your friendship and your stuff,
choose your friends.
They are harder to come by and harder to make
than anything made by hands.

And, when you make that mistake, as we do because we love our stuff,
apologize and atone to your friends and those that helped you.
and turn away from those that lead you astray.

Letters about Dwarves

2011-07-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

This, from a unsent addenda of a letter JRR Tolkien to Rhona Beare in October 1958, colors "The Silmarillion" (published posthumously in 1977 from stories JRRT had been writing since 1914) Chapter 2 "Of Aulë and Yavanna" comparing "Christian Mythology" (JRRT's own phrase) "sin and the fall" to good races erring in his own stories.

Aulë, for instance, one of the Great, in a sense 'fell'; for he so desired to see the Children, that he became impatient and tried to anticipate the will of the Creator. Being the greatest of all craftsmen he tried to make children according to his imperfect knowledge of their kind. When he had made thirteen [One, the eldest, alone, and six more with six mates], God spoke to him in anger but not without pity; for Aulë had done this thing not out of evil desire to have slaves and subjects of his own, but out of impatient love, desiring children to talk to and teach, sharing with them the praise of Ilúvatar and his great love of the materials of which the world is made

The One rebukes Aulë, saying that he had tried to usurp the Creator's power; but he could not give independent life to his making. He had only one life, his own derived from the One, and could at most only distribute it. 'Behold' said the One; 'these creatures of thine have only thy will, and thy movement. Though you have devised a language for them, they can only report to thee thine own thought. This is a mockery of me.'

I notice dialogue differences and a few additional facts in this version of the story: "mockery", "thirteen", and later, "laughter".

Then Aulë in grief and repentance humbles himself and asked for pardon. And he said; "I will destroy these images of my presumption, and wait upon thy will.' And he took a great hammer, raising it to smite the eldest of his images; but it flinched and cowered before him. and as he withheld his strike, astonished, he heard the laughter of Ilúvatar.

'Do you wonder at this?' he said. 'Behold! thy creatures not live, free from thy will! For I have seen thy humility, and taken pity on your impatience. Thy making I have taken up into my design.'

This is the Elvish legend of the making of the Dwarves; but the Elves report that Ilúvatar said thus also: 'Nonetheless, I will not suffer my design to be forestalled: thy children shall not awake before mine own." And he commanded Aule to lay the fathers of the Dwarves severally in deep places, each with it's mate, save Dúrin the eldest who had none. There they should sleep long, until Ilúvatar bade them awake. Nonetheless there has been for the most part little love between the Dwarves and the Children of Ilúvatar. and of the fate the llúvatar had set upon the children of Aulë beyond the circles of the world Elves and men know nothing, and if Dwarves know they do not speak of it.

And one more later paragraph, marginalia to Colonel Worskett in September 1963

No one knew where the Ents came or first appeared. The High Elves said the the Valar did not mention them in the 'Music'. But some (Galadriel) were of the opinion that when Yavanna discovered the mercy of Eru to Aulë in the matter of the Dwarves, she besought Eru (through Manwë) asking him to give life to things made of living things not stone, and that the Ents were either souls sent to inhabit trees, or else that slowly took the likeness of trees owing to their inborn love of trees. (Not all were good [illegible word]) Then Ents thus had mastery over stone. The males were devoted to Oromë, but the Wives to Yavanna.

Nice to find answers about ent-wives, dwarf-wives, and the laughter of The One.

Appearances

2011-05-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

(This is a mirror post from Second Life note card by Lihan Taifun of JRRT quotes.)

"Now the Valar took to themselves shape and hue; and because they were drawn into the World by love of the Children of Ilúvatar, for whom they hoped, the took shape after that manner which they had beheld in the Vision of Ilúvatar, save only in majesty and splendour Moreover, their shape comes of their knowledge of the visible World, rather than of the World itself; and they need it not, save only as we use raiment, and yet we may be naked and suffer no loss of our being. Therefore the Valar may walk, if they will, unclad, and then even the Eldar cannot clearly perceive them, though they be present. But when they desire to clothe themselves, the Valar take upon them forms some as of male and some as of female; for that difference of temper they had even from their beginning, and it is but bodied forth in the choice of each, not made by that choice, even as with us male and female may be shown by the raiment but is not made thereby. But the shapes wherein the Great Ones array themselves are not at all times like the shapes of the kings and queens of the Children of Ilúvatar; for at times they may clothe themselves in their own thought, make visible in forms of majesty and dread.
...
"Then Melkor saw ... that the Valar walked on earth as powers visible, clad in the raiment of the World, and were lovely and glorious to see, and blissful. ... His envy grew then the greater within him; and he also took visible form, but because of his mood and the malice that burned in him that form was dark and terrible.

Silmarillion, "Ainulindalë"

[Ulmo] does not love to walk upon the land, and will seldom clothe himself in a body after the manner of his peers. If the Children of Eru beheld him they were filled with a great dread; for the arising of the King of the Sea was terrible, as a mounting wave that strides to the land, with dark helm foam-crested and raiment of mail shimmering from silver down into shadows of green. ... Ulmo's voice is deep as the deeps of the ocean, which only he has seen.

Silmarillion, "Valaquenta"

In the form of a woman, [Yavanna] 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 ...

Silmarillion, "Valaquenta"

In Angband Morgoth forged for himself a great crown of Iron, and he called himself King of the World. In token of this he set the Silmarils in this crown. His hands were burned black by the touch of those hallowed jewels, and black they remained ever after; nor was he ever free from the pain of the burning, and the anger of the pain.
...
Nonetheless his majesty as one of the Valar long remained, though turned to terror.

Silmarillion, "Of the Flight of the Noldor"

[Arien, Maia of the Sun] was chosen because she had not feared the heats of Laurelin,, and was unhurt by them, being from the beginning a spirit of fire, whom Melkor had not deceived nor drawn into his services. To bright were they eyes of Arien for even the Eldar to look on, and leaving Valinor she forsook the form and raiment which like the Valar she had worn there, and she was as a naked flame, terrible in the fullness of her splendour.

Silmarillion, "Of the Sun and Moon"

Of old there was Sauron the Maia..... He became the most trusted of the servents of the Enemy, and the most perilous, for he could asssume many forms, and for long if he willed he could still appear noble and beautiful, so as to deceive all but the most wary.

Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"

[During the fall of Númenor] the world was broken, and the land was swallowed up, and the seas rose over it, and Sauron himself went down into the abyss. But his spirit arose and fled back on a dark wind to Middle-Earth, seeking a home.

[After the fall of Númenor, Sauron returned to his old haunts in Mordor, in Middle Earth.] There now he brooded in the dark, until he had wrought for himself a new shape; and it was terrible, for his fair semblance had departed for ever when he was cast into the abyss at the drowning of Númenor.

Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"

But at last the siege was so strait that Sauron himself came forth; and he wrestled with Gil-galad and Elendil, and they both were slain, and the sword of Elendil broke under him as he fell. But Sauron also was thrown down, and with the hilt-shard of Narsil Isildur cut the Ruling Ring from the hand of Sauron and took it for his own. Then Sauron was for that time vanquished, and he forsook his body, and his spirit fled far away and hid in waste places; and he took no visible shape again for many long years.

Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"

[Gandalf describes his battle with the Balrog:]
" ... I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin. Then darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell.
"Naked I was sent back -- for a brief time, until my task is done. And naked I lay upon the mountain-top. ... There I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth. ... And so at the last Gwaihir the Windlord [Chief of the Eagles] found me again, and he took me up and bore me away."

The Two Towers, "The White Rider"
(According to the timeline in Appendix B, Gandalf was dead for 19 days.)

"If you must know more, his name is Beorn.
He is very strong, and he is a skin-changer.
"... He changes his skin: sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. I cannot tell you much more, though that ought to be enough. Some say that he is a bear descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came. Others say that he is a man descended from the first men ... I cannot say. ... He is not the sort of person to ask questions of. At any rate he is under no enchantment but his own. ... As a man he keeps cattle and horses that are nearly as marvelous as himself. ...
As a bear he ranges far and wide."

The Hobbit, Chapter 7

"The realm of Sauron is ended!" said Gandalf.
"And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out toward them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed; and a hush fell.

Return of the King, "The Field of Cormallen"

"To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire as a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.

Return of the King, "The Scouring of the Shire"

Mahtan's Bride

2011-05-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

One cliché solution for a missing role play parent is "she died long ago". I prefer to make the absence more interesting, with a hint that the role could be played when the player appears.

My dear friend Maralee plays Nerdanel, Fëanor's wife. Her character father, Mahtan, played on occasions by other players as suits them, merits several lines in Chapter 4 of "The Silmarillion".

While still in his early youth he [Fëanor] wedded Nerdanel, the daughter of a great smith named Mahtan, among those of the Noldor most dear to Aulë; and of Mahtan he learned much of the making of things in metal and in stone.

(note that Feanor is a youth, so she is therefore older than he!)

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.

Thus, Mahtan doubtless awoke in Cuiviénen and made the great march to Aman, became a magnificent student of crafts that Aulë taught everything he could, then taught the next generation of Noldor elves, including Prince Feanor, what he knew. One can even invent stories about Mahtan easily:

When the Teleri were welcome new arrivals and guests in Tirion for a year, Mahtan was torn because he dearly wanted to be the master architect of Alqualondë for the Teleri, but was newly wed. So in such a time, to choose between go and build, as he loved doing or to stay and be the husband his lady deserved was no easy burden to him. But it was the lady herself who resolved it by insisting that Mahtan teach her stone craft during the building of Alqualondë, so both they went and made themselves a home in Alqualondë as he and the Noldor and Teleri constructed the rest of the city. Then they returned to live in Tirion just before Fëanor's was birth and their home is still there near the palace on the hill.

And of Mahtan's wife, Nerdanel's mother? There is nothing, not even a name on JRR Tolkien's copious genealogies. "Mahtandil" [mah- "great" + tano "smith" + -ndil "beloved"] would be one of her titles. We can guess that Mahtan's bride was not royalty or she would have merited some mention if she were..and we can guess that she, like he, was among the first of the created elves, awoke on Cuivienen and had the urge and courage to make the trek to Aman with King Finwë and others. Without doubt she loves him deeply, not only for who he was, but what he made.

Perhaps the mother was like Nerdanel ["nerdo" strong man +"anel" daughter] .

Nerdanel also was firm of will, but more patient than Fëanor, desiring to understand minds rather than to master them, and at first she restrained him when the fire of his heart grew too hot; but his later deeds grieved her, and they became estranged. Seven sons she bore to Fëanor; her mood she bequeathed in part to some of them, but not to all.

Maralee suggests poetically:
My father loved her as one loves their next breath
yet they were never demonstrative with their love
I do not think I ever remember then holding hands, for instance
but she cared for him in ways that supported his creativity
He spoke of how he would spend long hours sharing his ideas with her
and how she had a gift to refine his ideas without him suspecting this
and she left a longing in my heart for the gentleness she possessed
I only know that my father kept her memory alive always with his enduring love of her
and he was never the same...
He seemed to take her loss and create a new energy with it
perhaps it is why some of his inventions were so intense..

Or perhaps she is something like Yavanna, (Aule teh Smith ::Yavanna = Mahtan the Smith :: [his wife]?), implying that she is intensely interested and skilled in plant and animal life and independent in her thinking and actions.

Perhaps she was close to Miriel and Finwë, the first King and Queen of Noldor, would have been her contemporaries. Perhaps she was like Miriel ["shining jewel daughter"] some in this story:

Míriel was the name of his [Fëanor's] mother, who was called Serindé, because of her surpassing skill in weaving and needlework; for her hands were more skilled to fineness than any hands even among the Noldor. The love of Finwë and Míriel was great and glad, for it began in the Blessed Realm in the Days of Bliss. But 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. And when she had named him, she said to Finwë: 'Never again shall I bear child; for strength that would have nourished the life of many has gone forth into Fëanor.'
Then Finwë was grieved, for the Noldor were in the youth of their days, and he desired to bring forth many children into the bliss of Aman; and he said: 'Surely there is healing in Aman? Here all weariness can find rest.' But when Míriel languished still, Finwë sought the counsel of Manwë, and Manwë delivered her to the care of Irmo in Lórien. At their parting (for a little while as he thought) Finwë was sad, for it seemed an unhappy chance that the mother should depart and miss the beginning at least of the childhood days of her son. “It is indeed unhappy,” said Míriel, 'and I would weep, if I were not so weary. But hold me blameless in this, and in all that may come after. 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.

And this, being almost everything JRRT wrote, leaves us digest it and imagine what might have happened to her. And since I don't play the role, I do not get to decide motivations and "speculative history", but can suggest fates:

"Mírindil" she chose to be called: Míriel's dearest and closest friend, from the first moments elves walked in the world. Since they were not sisters, they arranged that their children be married, even before thy had taken husbands, that they might become true sisters. Indeed, each took a fine husband, Mírindil naming her daughter after her husband's legendary strength. Nerdanel grew to adulthood, but as events unfolded decades later at Fëanor's birth, Mírindil finally escorted Míriel and Finwë to Lorien, staying behind happily, while Finwë had to return, his kingdom to guide. She sometimes appears in elvish dreams, happy under silver willows beside her sleeping, dearest friend.
Or we can go back to "she died."

How to Create RP

2011-05-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

From Second Life's Lexie Lucas by an author who wishes anonymity (tell me is you change your mind, author!) but says, "feel free to post that note card on your blog".

OK!

USING YOUR CHARACTER TO CREATE RP
(or: 'How To Avoid Standing About With Nothing To Do')
reprinted with permission of author
=========================================================

Huge sim-wide roleplays are all good and fun, but what happens on the side and in between? This is where your and others' characters come in. These are just some tips to help inspire players to keep roleplay evolving freely on a variety of levels.

1. Character flaws/habits/quirks.
=====================
Your character's strengths are, of course, ever useful to the land, to friends, in battle and other circumstances. But the fun can often arise from a character's weaknesses or flaws. Consider these carefully and how you might bring them into RP.
Your character may have a phobia... Try putting them in a position where this phobia can manifest itself. Perhaps they are an addict... perhaps they are prone to jealousy... store these facts in the back of your head and play on them.
Give your character a habit or quirk to flesh them out. Not only does this give more depth and insight into them, but it gives them something to do. Think about yourself or people you know in real life for inspiration.

2. Goals.
======
Set goals for your character, long term and day-to-day, from the most mundane routines of life to their grandest ambitions – this not only keeps them motivated, but gets them out and about in the sim where they may naturally bump into somebody and get into conversation. The smallest details in your RP can flesh it out. You are creating a life, and that life needs desires and purpose no matter how ordinary. Examples...
X is hungry. X wants to find a meal.
X is dabbling in potions and needs to find ingredients.
X has a friend who is unhappy. X wants to try to help them or cheer them up.
X ate some bad fish and seriously needs to find either a physician or an outhouse.
X is a demonic power-hungry being who ultimately wishes to overthrow the king. Today, X is going to work on turning the king's personal advisor against him.

3. Jobs.
=====
Everybody has a guild they are affiliated with, their main job. However there are work opportunities in the villages which can give you more play and lead to more and interesting RP. Consider having a skill, craft or trade on the side which your character can perform in times of peace. A strong-armed warrior could double as a blacksmith or butcher... a herbal healer might also run a farm... an apprentice mage could sideline as a tavern maid... etc. If there are players already fulfilling these roles, go and make up some excuse to need their wares or craft skills and go RP with them.

4. Variety - the Spice of Life.
==================
Be rounded and varied in your personal storyline. If others find you entertaining, they will enjoy RPing with you. RP isn't always about 'winning'.. it is about mutual entertainment.
Try not to make it kill after kill or tragedy after tragedy. If you are a 'dark' character, try to think of ways to be bad beyond relentless slaughter, as this can put some players off playing with you. Be creative and clever with it. How can you use people or play them off against each other? How can you trick an individual or make them conform to your whim?
Likewise, try not to find yourself in a cycle of getting captured/injured/in dire tragedy and having people rescue you all the time, as this too can become dull very quickly. If your character has been through a huge tragedy, try to find them a pleasant storyline.. see them happy. The more rounded the character's personal storyline, the more interesting they are for others to play with.

5. The Medieval Era.
=============
Medieval fantasy is set in... whaddya know... the medieval era. This is not only for human players - if you are playing a fantasy character from medieval folklore, be sure to do some research about the era. We all create the authenticity of the medieval world we play in. More so, the medieval setting is there to inspire your play. Explore folklore of the time to inspire character. Medieval folklore is littered with fantastic, imaginative storylines, which are begging to be put to use in RP.

6. Help Each Other.
============
Take an interest in other people's characters and their personal stories and goals. Help each other's stories to develop. In a dull moment, why not share stories of your characters' pasts? Who knows... maybe some seemingly unimportant detail might inspire some further RP.

7. Go With The Flow.
============
RP is more like improvisational acting than creative writing. Anything can happen, simply because there are so many minds together at once. Know your character well enough to adapt to any given situation while still remaining consistent and always keep in mind that other characters have their own agenda and motivations and will not necessarily do what you expect.

8. Have Fun. ;)
========

Dawn of the Fourth Age - "Aule in Mandos"

2011-04-23T00:35:00.000-07:00

When asked by the RP leaders in Second Life's "Dawn of the Fourth Age" RP why Aulë didn't appear in Alqulaondë more often, the obvious answer is that Aulë bases out of distant Valimar. When asked to provide an RP regarding what he'd been doing, I wrote something they liked well enough to post to their blogspot site with no changes at all (a rarity, I'm told). Disappointingly for me, they chose to have others continue the the story arc without my input. Good luck to them.

---------------------------------------------------

This letter is carried by a maia in the form of a badger:

"To the High King of Arda, Manwë Sulímo
A letter from Aulë Talka Marda
Written in the Halls of Mandos, the ancient secret cells of Melko,
On this Spring Equinox of the year eleven of the fourth Age of the Sun and Moon

My dearest Lord High King, Aratar and Brother in the will of Eru Ilúvatar:

It is with regret that I find myself detained interminably in the duty of enlarging the Halls of the Dead in anticipation of the armies of the dead that would arrive here at the passing of the Third Age. Although I am weary of this work, I sending this letter at my first opportunity to explain my prolonged absence and request your further forbearance in the completion of my duties.

My duty is ever to oversee, if not construct personally, the major works and domains of the Vala in the World and the immortal souls that dwell there, and this project no less than others has occupied my thought and energies these many long months. A great deal of the needed space has already been hollowed and finished, nearly enough to accommodate all anticipated need for the next few centuries.

Now the trap of Melko, who dwelt for three long ages here in the Halls of Mandos, has sprung on me. He, while here, was not idle: he left what I can only describe as arcane and obscene graffiti on the dark walls and stones deeps around the perimeter of the caverns of the dead, hidden through four long ages until I and my people discovered the beginnings of them while enlarging the Halls. Some of these diagrams and paragraphs, scrawled in Black Speech, in Valarin, in Quenya and Sindarin and Common tongue, and even, frighteningly, in Khuzdul, describe horrible procedures and rituals for making natural beasts into fell creatures, for subverting fair plant-life into poisonous abominations, for devising destructive energies both physical and magical and emotional torments to break the sane mind. Some appear to be insane and demonic raving. Some are taunts written to me by name. Some are potent wards and spells that catch and bend the mind and body and spirit of those who happen on them.

These dark magics Melko left here are most dangerous and strong. On unexpectedly finding and opening these secret cells and the magics therein, six Maiar were quite badly damaged by the energies unleashed on the opening of the wards: those I sent with escort to the Lake of Estë to rest and recover. Three were rendered insane: those I sent with an escort to the Gardens of Lorien to find peace and calm. I dismissed almost all of the Maiar who aid me in this excavation and stone work in the Halls. The remainder I sent to complete the small remaining work of finishing the new Halls extension, then resume their duties in Valinor. There is some secrecy among us about this discovery, but a secret known to more than three is no secret, therefore I asked no oath of them for silence, only their wisdom in sharing what they know.

After hiding the entries to Melko's cell in Mandos, so that none of the wandering ghosts or spirits nearby will happen here, I and only two of the most magically adept Maia in my service are slowly and carefully dispelling the runes and enchantments we find, and wiping away the danger in the walls of the old cells of Melko in Mandos. The magics sometimes surprise me in the strength and subtlety, but I take grim satisfaction in seeing them dissected and dismantled one by one. We are carefully recording what Melko wrote and devised, for whatever else he is, he is clever and subtle. This prolongs the time it will take us to cleanse them all before we vacate this place for it is too fraught with peril until this work is done, thus I am effectively trapped and cannot anticipate the end of it since Melko spent many long idle years creating this ghastly and abominable testament.

Further, I must confess to you now, my Lord, that your brother Melko anticipated that I would be among those who found these writings, and his writings to me personally do pierce my heart. In example, there is one long quarto laying at my feet the troubles of the Noldor: He writes that my dealings with the Noldor was detrimental to them, that my attitude of teaching the most willing while neglecting the unwilling cultivated elitism among them, that my favoritism of some among them harbored alienation among them, that my teaching metallurgy directly brought about the Banishment of Fëanor and therefore the Kinslaying of the Teleri Elves of Alqualondë, that my renouncing my love for them separated them from the Vala who would aid them in Middle Earth, that they would be better and truer Children of Iluvatar had I not meddled in their affairs, that I did a fine job of molding them to be haughty and dangerous, nearly as well as he might have himself. These are clever deceit and false causation in sooth, but also in sooth these echo some of the fears in my own heart. Even now how can I face the Noldor who have returned to Aman when I forswore my friendship and patronage to them in ages past? I would not treat them with enmity, but my heart is broken still, and I cannot face those I once called "Aulendil". I am uneager to walk under the sun or moon or stars of Aman yet for my heart is too heavy for now.

Now I know that I am missed and loved in Aman and I miss these dear ones also. Yavanna or any of the Valar or Maiar would rush to aid me and even dwarves and elves also at even a hint of my request and need but I would not wish this. You know that this news will dismay many into pointless turmoil and rash actions, thus I must invoke your circumspection regarding it, if you will. I fear that even this outcome, of either isolating myself from my loved ones or placing them in peril, is one that Melko devised as an energy draining and time-consuming, delayed and poignant revenge on me for his own chains. It is only a matter of some finite time, though, before this, my fated work, is done and well done.

In the meanwhile, I pray and request that you will advise me as you will. The maia bearing this letter knows the way to me, and can return safely to me on your order. I further pray that you will find some way to relay something of my situation without alarming those we love, and to convey my best wishes and hopes for a speedy return to those who care for me.

I remain ever yours, in the building of Arda,
Aulë Talka Marda

High Elvish marriage

2011-04-13T23:17:00.000-07:00

Researching High Elvish weddings is a relatively fruitless task. JRR Tolkien's trilogy and Hobbit contain none of them. The Silmarillion, often detailed, give no details at all about ceremony. "While still in his early youth, [Fëanor] married Nerdanel" is about the longest Elvish description you will find. The only Valar wedding described is thus:

Now it came to pass that while the Valar rested from their labors, and watched the growth and unfolding of the things that they had devised and begun, Manwë ordained a great feast; and the Valar and all their host came at his bidding...
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 [the island] Almaren.
Then Tulkas slept, being weary and content.

One unusual wedding website quotes extensively from a "Morgoth's Ring" chapter: "Laws and Customs among the Eldar"

"At the end of the feast the betrothed stood forth, and the mother of the bride and the father of the bridegroom joined the hands of the pair and blessed them. For this blessing there was a solemn form, but no mortal has heard it; though the Eldar say that Varda was named in witness by the mother and Manwë by the father; and moreover that the name of Eru was spoken (as was seldom done at any other time). The betrothed then received back one from the other their silver rings (and treasured them); but they gave in exchange slender rings of gold, which were worn upon the index of the right hand.

Also, among the Noldor, it was a custom that the bride's mother should give to the bridegroom a jewel upon a chain or collar; and the bridegroom's father should give a like gift to the bride. These gifts were sometimes given before the feast. "

I extract these elements from the entire quoted text:

Courtship

♥ usually with familial approval
♥ sometimes since childhood
♥ no pre-marital conjugation

Handfasting

♥ in early adulthood, soon after age 50
♥ the father physically giving the daughter's hand to the groom
♥ the families announce betrothal.
♥ the two exchange silver rings
♥ handfasting lasts one year at least, often much longer.

The return of the rings signals revocation of intent to wed. Recall "one year" in age of the Trees is about 9.5 sun-years, so that is a nice long hand-fasting. In modern parlance, the "engagement" is similar: a time where the couple and their families learn to deal with each other and a large project of arranging the wedding celebration itself.

Marriage Ceremony

♥ brides mother and grooms father join the couple's hands.
♥ those parents bless them, solemnly invoking Manwë, Varda and Ilúvatar
♥ the silver rings are returned to one another
♥ gold rings are exchanged

Júli meldanyan, cuilenya ar melmenya

'To Juli my beloved, my life and my love'

The Wedding Feast

♥ occurs before or around the ceremony
♥ the king and/or father usually presides
♥ jewel and jewelry gifts are given to the couple
♥ food and music and dancing and vast attendance

♥ then sleeping happens and life goes on.

Now, to locate some elvish "solemn form blessings" to make a ceremony.

May It Be

2011-04-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

Before releasing the 2001 "The Lord of the Rings", director Peter Jackson asked Enya to write and sing a song for soundtrack. Thrilled at the prospect, Enya headed to New Zealand to see the preliminary edits of the film.

May it be;

May it be an evening star Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road Oh! How far you are from home

Mornie utúlië (Quenya: darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantië (Quenya: darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadows call Will fly away
May it be you journey on To light the day
When the night is overcome You may rise to find the sun

Mornie utúlië (Quenya: darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantië (Quenya: darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now

Enya worked with long-time collaborators. Roma Ryan, her lyricist. Nicky Ryan produced, arranged, and managed while Roma Ryan wrote the lyrics. They recorded the song through Enya’s contract with Warner Music in the Ryans’ Dublin studio, Aigle Studio. Like most of Enya’s music "May it Be" is classified as New Age.

Enya performed her song at the Academy Awards on March 24, 2002. She was “absolutely” excited about the performance. For her it was the “first time to be nominated, and to get to perform, it’s just wonderful, absolutely wonderful.”

Human - Elvish Marriage

2011-04-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

JRR Tolkien seems to enjoy the theme of mortal man to elf-maid romances leading to marriage. His wife's grave even bears one of these names.

After many alliances in battle and peace, Tuor (a human prince) and Idril (an elven princess) are married by King Turgon (Idril's father) and the entire city celebrates in an early draft. In the final Silmarillion, JRRT only celebrates them with a feast thus:

"the heart of Idril was turned to him, and his to her... So high did Tuor stand in the favor of the King that when he has dwelt there for seven years Turgon did not refuse him even the hand of his daughter;.. Then there was made a great and joyful feast, for Tuor had won the hearts of all that people, save only of Maeglin [a rival suitor] and his secret following; and thus there came to pass the second union of Elves and Men"

The first such was Beren and Lúthien wed in the Silmarillion. In pages and pages of trials, these vows are these:

"as she looked upon him, doom fell upon her and she loved him. But she slipped from his arms and vanished from his sight into the city, even as the day was breaking... and long ago in the Hidden Kingdom she laid her hand in his. Thereafter often she came to him, and they went in secret through the woods together from spring to summer; and no others of the Children of Ilúvatar have had joy so great, though the time was brief"

After Lúthien led Beren before the throne of Thingol, as if he were an honored guest despite her father's outrage at her consorting with a mortal, Beren declares:

"here I have found what I sought not indeed, but finding I would possess for ever. For it is above all gold and silver, and beyond all jewels. Neither rock, nor steel, nor the fires of Morgoth, nor all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms, shall keep form the the treasure that I desire. for Lúthien your daughter is the fairest of all the Children of the World"

Thingol, seething, still echoes his daughters "laying her hand in his" when sending Beren on a deadly quest for a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown, saying: "then, if she will, Lúthien may set her hand in yours."

Later, Lúthien makes her intent clear while Beren is vacillating to continue or end on this quest: "You must chose, Beren, between these two... but on either road I shall go with you, and our doom shall be alike" At last, when Luthien and Beren return to Thingol, 'hand' imagery returns:

"Therefore, at the last he yielded his will, and Beren took the hand of Luthien before her father."

Most well known of all, Aragorn marries Arwen ("the likenes of Luthien") in Minas Tirith in Gondor (image below by the Hildebrandt Brothers) near the end of "The Return of the King":

"last [of the arriving elves] came Master Elrond, mighty among Elves and Men, bearing the scepter of Annúminas, and beside him upon a grey palfrey rose Arwen his daughter, Evenstar of her people.
"and Frodo when he saw her come glimmering in the evening, with stars on her brow and a sweet fragrance about her was moved to great wonder, and he said to Gandalf: "At last I understand why we have waited! This is the ending. Now, not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away!"

"Then the king welcomed his guests, and they alighted, and Elrond surrendered the scepter, and laid the hand of his daughter in the hand of the King, and together they went up into the High City, and all the stars flowered in the sky. And Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undómiel in the City of the Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfillment"

JRRT writes a precursor to this in "the Fellowship of the Rings" in "Farewell to Lorien", when Galadriel, Arwen's maternal grandmother, asks Aragron's desire:

'Lady, you know all my desire, and long held in keeping the only treasure that I seek. Yet it is not yours to give me, even if you would; and only through darkness shall I come to it.'
'Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,' said Galadriel; 'for it was left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.' Then she lifted from her lap a great stone of clear green, set in a silver brooch that was wrought int he likeness of an eagle with outspread wings; and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the leaves of spring. 'This stone I gave to Celebrían my daughter and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. I this hour take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house on Elendil!"
Then Aragorn took the stone and pinned the brooch upon his breast, and those who saw him wondered; for they had not marked before how tall and kingly he stood, and it seemed to them that many years of toil had fallen from his shoulders. 'For the gifts that you have given me I thank you,' he said, 'O Lady of Lórien of whom were sprung Celebraín and Arwen Evenstar. What praise could I say more?'
The Lady bowed her head...

The gift Aragorn dared not ask for was, of course, Arwen herself who dwelt long in Lórien. The hopeful brooch was doubtless the elven marriage gift of a jewel, from the mother of the bride to the groom.

Ring of Doom

2011-03-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Let's say you are to represent the "Ring of Doom"

Here's how to make your representation reasonably close to the ideal:

First, Look up every quote you can find a about it, starting with online wikis and libraries:

Tolkien Gateway:"Ring of Doom" gives:

Máhanaxar also called Rithil-Anamo was the Ring of Doom outside the golden western gates of the city of the Valar. Here the Powers gathered to hold their great councils, bathed in the light of the Two Trees while those Trees still stood, and here some of the most momentous decisions of Eä's history were made. It contains the word Máhan "chief Vala", derived from Valarin Mâchananaškad.

Tracing Mâchananaškad's link gives the Valarin word mâchan "authority, authoritative decision" and *(a)naškad as "ring" whence Black Speech nazg "ring", whence "Nazgul" [Ring-wraith]. A little more work is needed for "Rithil-Anamo" since the link is circular, but you can find risil (or riþil or rithil) "ring" + anamo "of doom" "juridical decision" or "(legal) justice", from nam- "to judge" whence "Námo" [Judge])

Other favorite sites, Encyclopedia of Arda and Lord of the Rings Wiki add a bit more:

Within the circles of the Máhanaxar were the thrones of the Valar and where they pronounced their judgments. Here the great villian Melkor was judged and sentenced for his evils. It was also where the great Ñoldorin elf Fëanor was judged for his deeds in Tirion and where he spoke to the Valar of his intentions, after the killing of his father at the hands of Melkor.

While searching Mahanaxar, you find the image above image by Jacek Kopalski showing tall stone chairs, each with an elvish letter. A central globe shines under the starlight sky. There are eleven lines in the floor, six going to the visible chairs with their gauzy occupants. This suggests eleven chairs. There are Eight Aratar, or 14 Vala that JRRT named that should be there. I cannot justify eleven. No sign of a green mound. No sign of light from Trees. This is a lovely rendering, but not fitting for what we know already.

RULE: Read the actual Tolkien for yourself.

And I got ahead of myself... "Green Mound". From The Silmarillion, Chapter One:

And when Valinor was full-wrought and the mansions of the Valar were established, in the midst of the plain beyond the mountains they built their city, Valmar of many bells. Before its western gate there was a green mound, Ezellohar, that is named also Corollairë; and Yavanna hallowed it, and she sat there long upon the green grass and sang a song of power, in which was set all her thought of things that grow in the earth. But Nienna thought in silence, and watered the mould with tears. In that time the Valar were gathered together to hear the song of Yavanna, and they sat silent upon their thrones of council in the Máhanaxar, the Ring of Doom near to the golden gates of Valmar, and Yavanna Kementári sang before them and they watched.

A lovely description of the Two Trees follows. Well skip over that, other than to note that the Two Trees are very nearby. We're working on the Ring of Doom.

Rule: Look up the word-parts of all Tolkien elvish.

Ezellohar (Quenya [eˈzelːoxar] from Valarin Ezellôchâr) "the Green Mound". From ezello "green" + ?har (Quenya -sar from Valarin -har)(1)"stone" (2) "hard" (3) "trusted".
Corollairë (Quenya[ˌkorolˈlaɪre]) Green Mound where the Two Trees of Valinor grew. Also called Coron Oiolairë ("Koron"), place-name: the "Mound of Eversummer" where the Two Trees grew. Contracted to Corollairë and Corlairë; or spelt with an initial k. From coron (1) "mound" (2) ("Koron"") "globe, ball" + oio 1) "an endless period" 2) "ever" + lairë (1) "summer" (2) "poem" (3) "meadow".

My Quenya Wordlist writes that it's doubtful lairë word carries three meanings, doubting "meadow" as ligitmate. Helge K. Fauskanger also includes some Valarin entries in his Ardalambion (Arda Languages) site

mâchanâz, pl. mâchanumâz "Authorities", used of the greatest Valar, called Aratar in Quenya. The Valarin word was also adapted to Quenya as Máhan pl. Máhani.
machallâm properly one of the seats of the Valar in the Ring of Doom, the source of Quenya mahalma "throne" (WJ:399, cf. UT:305, 317
mâchan "authority, authoritative decision" (WJ:399). The source of Quenya Máhan, one of the eight chiefs of the Valar, though the translation Aratar was more usual. It is an element in Mâchananaškad "Doom-ring", Ring of Doom, adapted to Quenya as Máhanaxar or translated as Rithil-Anamo. (WJ:401)

All this points out that the thrones in the ring are for the Eight Aratar: Aratar ('The Exalted'; arat "high",+ -r = plural). These are named in the Valaquenta:

Nine were of chief power and reverence; but one is removed from their number, and Eight remain, the Aratar, the High Ones of Arda: Manwë and Varda, Ulmo, Yavanna and Aulë, Mandos, Nienna, and Oromë. Though Manwë is their King and holds their allegiance under Eru, in majesty they are peers, surpassing beyond compare all others, whether of the Valar and the Maiar, or of any other order that Ilúvatar has sent into Eä.

In "The Silmarillion" chapter 9, when the Two Trees are extinguished, we learn the area around the Circle is very large:

After a time a great concourse gathered about the Ring of Doom; and the Valar sat in shadow, for it was night. But the stars of Varda now glimmered overhead, and the air was clear; for the winds of Manwë has driven away the vapours of death and rolled back the shadows of the sea. Then Yavanna arose and stood upon Ezellohar, the Green Mound, but it was bare now and black; and she laid her hands upon the Trees, but they were dead and dark, and each branch that she touched broke and fell lifeless at her feet. Then many voices were lifted in lamentation;

Further searching for our keywords, "Ring of Doom" and the elvish words, variations and place names brings up nothing not already covered. At this point, it's

DIGEST ALL THE INFORMATION and USE YOUR IMAGINATION

What were the eight thrones made of? Who sat where, exactly? What decor did they have? Where did the other Ainu and Eldar sit or stand to witness? What was the floor and ceiling? What marks the edge of the circle?

My imagination supplies these answers:

On grassy, green hill, under the starry sky, at perfect triangle point to the boles of the Two Trees, an open circle of eight stone thrones and a space for a ninth toward Valmar gates is surrounded by larger circles of stone seating, ringed about with rivlets of light. Each throne is inscribed with motifs of the intended occupant in this order: Melko (the missing throne), Oromë (trees), Yavanna, (animals), Aulë, (mountains), Varda (stars), Manwë (wind and globes), Mandos (lines), Nienna (tears), and Ulmo (water). Other named and unnamed Ainu and Eldar will have seats nearby, not so grand but equally personal.

When and if it gets built, I'll share an image or two.

Aulë's Fae

2011-02-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

An RP conversation between Namo Mandos and Aulë Talka Marda in a rare quiet moment today
in Tirion Forest Sim (text edited for clarity)

Namo: You have been off on journey's, I hear.
Aulë: Me? oh, the typical things for me.... some mountains and hills needed attention... a few pixies and fae were lost and needed guidance.
Námo: fae needed guidance?

The two Valar laugh together at this.

Aulë: well, of course, Námo Mandos! In your sphere there are many wraiths who assist you, looking into time and responsibility, and each doing their own duties in the area assigned.
Námo: have you been sneaking into the Halls again Aule? You had better not go there: its a cloudy area!

Aulë: well, the commonality is that both fae and wraiths are maiar but the fae honor my Lady Yavanna and myself. Each has his or her own sphere of expertise and responsibility, (and yes, there are a few maia who serve both of us some.) but the difference is that fae are ....

Aulë pauses, searching for the perfect word: ...flighty. They cheerfully head off to look at other pretty things and then find themselves not quite remembering where they were to be and what they were to do.

Námo: I will have to put a fence around the Halls, since they are dying to get in!
Aulë: oh, Brother... I am ashamed of that pun for you. ㋡
Námo: well it is the dead centre of the lands
Aulë pauses, gaping a moment, then chooses to ignore that last.

Aulë: Most of the fae that seemed to be causing "trouble", though are merely lost. They are trying to fulfill the role they were given, but are in the wrong place for it... so harmony is poor.
Námo: and it is my job to show them the way
Aulë: and it is my job to show them the way.
Námo laughs: haha! Somebody has to do it

Aulë: so, I tell you not a day goes by, I do not hear from some fae who is simply distressed. Becasue they know me, and I will guide them, and I help them find their way.

Námo: they do not leave the Halls distressed. I assure you
Námo: smiles
Aulë: I have no cause to doubt that, brother.

Aulë: so, now you, asking the innocent question about my recent travels has no doubt learned more than you wanted to.
Námo: it is quite refreshing

Aulë: Here in Tirion, in Eldamar, the fae have very strict instructions.. even those that reside here...
.. to either appear elvish... or appear not at all. This is no hardship to them... most of the fae are extremely shy.

Námo: but their wings are so beautiful

Aulë: yes, they are... and they are proud of their wings. which is why they hide them in open view in various places: in insects wings, such as beetles and butterflies, and in striations of air, like sunsets and dewy fogs and in the sheen of changing leaves.

All those natural beauties appear as they do because the fae are so proud of their wings. but they are too shy to show their own openly.

Námo: I have not noticed that!
Aulë laughs out loud!
Aulë: well, brother, the fae are my special care, so I know their ways...
Námo: i hope you do not know ALL of them

Aulë: There are some few fae that grow bold from time to time and dare to show themselves but they change in that sometimes. You will, very occasionally see fae in their beautiful native forms flitting about. But almost as soon as you notice them, they are gone.

Námo: well depends who else is in the halls at the time but they can move very quick, I agree.

Aulë: So you only see the flicker of color at the corner of the eye... or the sound of fading laughter...
is all that tells you that fae are here.

Námo grins: if i am lucky
Námo: yes
Aulë laughs.
Námo: what??
Aulë: I'd not spoken to anyone about this for some time! It just rarely occurs to me that not everyone knows all about it, nor that there would be any interest in it.

Námo: Good, I think if you say mach more you will get me in to trouble
Aulë: why woudl I get you int trouble? Are you derelict in your duties, brother?
Námo: oh no, I am always on duty

Aulë: Ah. well, the other piece is that no, I do not know all the fae personally... but they seem to know me...

Námo: yes they do. such is the way of fae. Does Lady Yavanna know about it?

Aulë: oh, yes she does.... both Lady Yavanna and I and several of the more mature Maiar help the fae when we can. But the other piece is that there is no rigid hierarchy among the fae. They are not suited to any military form of government, and most of them unsuited to any government, at all, period.

Námo chuckles.

Aulë: So the best, though, is to first find WHAT each fae in the heart desires to do, then find the place where each can do it. And that, to bring full circle, is how you guide fae.

How to learn Elvish.

2011-02-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

Links:

Tolkien Gateway is a friendly starting wiki, including the tree of the Elvish languages

Wikipedia's Elvish languages (Middle-earth) has some value.

Glǽmscrafu: Tolkien's linguistic cellar
includes "A! Elbereth Gilthoniel!" read by Tolkien himself and other similar.

Ardalambion: Of the Tongues of Arda, the invented world of J.R.R. Tolkien
includes a Quenya Course and excellent Quenya Wordlists

Ardhon Ellammath, the Realm of the Elf-languages has many recordings by many readers.

Maiar and Valar

2011-01-27T09:06:00.000-08:00

this is a mirror post of a notecard in Second Life, used with permission

Elven Pantheon –
as taken from The Simarillion by JRR Tolkien
by Dominique Darkwatch

This is just a quick reference guide to the pantheon of elven divine spirits as described by JRR Tolkien. As a cleric of Eru Iluvatar, I worship the One true Creator God, but venerate all of the ainur as divine beings, much as Tolkien himself as a Catholic would have venerated the saints, angels and apostles.

Elven Name: Iluvatar
Other names: Eru, The One
Deity of: All Creation
Other Notes: Created the Ainur – the Holy Ones – from his thoughts and engaged them in song and music from which all other creations were made. Some of the mightiest of the Ainur came to live on the Arda (Earth), and they became the Valar. Iluvatar is the one true god of the elven pantheon.

THE VALAR – Not gods, per se, but often treated and regarded as such by elves and men. They could be treated as gods by a cleric, in adopting specific practices that venerate and establish a personal relationship with that Vala. The following are just basic facts about each as contained in the Silmarillion. While they were divine, they were not gods. Their spirits had specific interests, hence the description names them as “spirits of” rather than “diety of.”

Elven Name: Morgoth
Other names: Melkor
Spirit of: Darkness, evil and all malice
Other notes: Was once the mightiest of the Valar, but strove against the will of Iluvatar and the other Valar. He claimed lordship over all of the Arda and sought to gain it for himself

Elven Name: Manwë
Other names: Súlimo, King of Arda
Spirit of: Of the wind and all of the air, including the wind and the clouds.
Other notes: King of the Valar, bretheren of Melkor and dwells with Varda, queen of the Valar. Can see all things when he is with Varda.

Elven Name:Varda
Other names:Lady of the Stars, Elbereth
Spirit of: All manner of light
Other notes: Can hear all things when she is with Manwe.

Elven Name: Ulmo
Other names: King of the Sea
Spirit of: The seas, rivers, springs, lakes and all flowing water
Other notes: Always allied with Manwe, and loves men and elves. Speaks to them through the music of the water.

Elven Name:Aulë
Other names: the Smith, Talka Marda
Spirit of: Of all substances of the earth; gems, rocks, soil and iron
Other notes: Master creator and master of all crafts wrought from any material brought from the earth. He is responsible for the creation of the dwarves. Spouse to Yavanna

Elven Name:Yavanna
Other names:Kementari, Queen of the Earth, Giver of Fruits
Spirit of: All things that grow on the earth. Spouse of Aulë. Creator of tree shepherds, to guard the trees

Elven Name: Mandos
Other names:Namo, Doomsman of the Valar
Spirit of: Death, keeper of the House of the Dead and Slain.
Other notes: Spouse of Vaire, the weaver of time, brother of Lorien and Nienna

Elven Name: Vaire
Other names:The Weaver
Spirit of: Time and fate, weaving a tapestry of each person's life in the hall of Mandos
Other notes: spouse of Mandos

Elven Name: Lorien
Other names:Irmo
Spirit of: Dreams and visions
Other notes: spouse of Este, brother to Mandos and Nienna

Elven Name: Este
Other names:
Spirit of: gentleness, healer of hurts and weariness
Other notes: Spouse of Lorien, and together provide refreshment even to the weary Valar

Elven Name: Nienna
Other names:
Spirit of: Grief, sorrow, pity, turns endurance into hope and sorrow into wisdom
Other notes: Sister to Lorien and Mandos

Elven Name: Tulkas
Other names:Astaldo, The Valiant
Spirit of: Sport
Other notes: Spouse of Nesse. Sometime called a laughing warrior, he is tireless and can outrun anything with legs

Elven Name: Nessa
Other names:
Spirit of: Dance
Other notes: Loves deer but can outrun them, spouse of Tulkas and sister to Orome

Elven Name: Orome
Other names:Aldaron, Tauron, Lord of forests
Spirit of: Forests and hunting
Other notes: Hunts the fell beasts of Melkor. Spouse to Vana

Elven Name: Vana
Other names: The ever-Young
Spirit of: Spring and flowers
Other notes: Spouse of Orome and younger sister to Yavanna

THE MAIAR – lesser ainur who came and served under specific Valar. These are the ones who appear in the writings of Tolkien but there were also many more than those named, hence there may be RP players of Maiar beyond those listed here

Elven Name: Sauron
Other names:Gorthauer
Spirit of: Darkness, evil and Malice
Other notes: Follower and servant of Melkor and later arose to take the place of Morgoth

Elven Name: Eonwe
Other names:
Spirit of: weaponry
Other notes: Herald of Manwe, also the maker and user of all weapons

Elven Name: Osse
Other names:
Spirit of: coastal seas, lakes, rivers
Other notes: Serves under Ulmo, spouse of Uinen

Elven Name: Arien
Other names:
Spirit of: The sun
Other notes: She helped care for the golden tree and later was chosen to guide the sun. serves under Varda

Elven Name: Tilion
Other names:
Spirit of: The moon
Other notes: He cared for the silver tree before it was destroyed, and then was chosen to guide the moon. Serves under the Vala Varda.

Elven Name: Ilmare
Other names:
Spirit of: Stars and star making
Other notes: Uses lightning as a weapon and assists Varda in making stars

Elven Name: Uinen
Other names:
Spirit of: coastal seas, lakes and rivers
Other notes: Spouse of Osse, helps to calm Osse's temper and calm storms also serving under Ulmo

January 21 2011 Noldor Quest in Second Life

2011-01-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

The road to the Princess from Tirion Forest.

Begins in my favorite place in Tirion, where I hid this map.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tirion%20Forest/17/4/26

overland start in the Forest near the port.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tirion%20Forest/251/164/47

choose either the pass: shorter, less cover, more dangerous:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20Dragon%20Quest/82/69/46

or go around the mountains: more cover, more allies in the forest wolves and local elves.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20Dragon%20Quest/107/235/24

unless you take to water, all paths meet between two necessary bridges:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20Dragon%20Quest/232/58/37

provisions here. Meet hospitality with generosity, always...
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20DragonHeart/121/53/24

chose then among several paths from Provisions in the Heart
to the Desolation of the Dome, by water or land.
Avoid the air, for the foes have severe advantage there.
Seek Lord Drak and the Tyr Rik and their allies.

The desolate path is ...
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/81/202/24
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/186/245/25

The main door, the masters of Uhre believe is the only way into Nurutumbo.
Battle fought there will be hard won by invading ground forces:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/239/167/28

Success here you may enter the noxious fortress of Nurutumbo, called Eisengard.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/2/124/31

You must pass or open the black gates somehow
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/108/127/31

because the black gate control is inside at the base of the first tower
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/174/133/30

Up to the roof you find a drawbridge needs opened with a wheel on the far side.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/185/170/63

The second, darker tower looms, wights within.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/186/210/78

Up, up , up... You need a lock-pick.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/188/212/265

Escaping is easier than entry... all the lock keys and magics are on your side.

Only most trusted are given this more physically dangerous path, maybe unguarded and passable for a small, surefooted party, but it is treacherous, diverging at the start of the desolate path. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/81/202/24 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/142/219/33 Treacherous rock & flaming sky. No animal would climb this: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/166/186/48 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/189/124/79 Quiet, quickly... you are exposed: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/248/105/63 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uhre%20LavaDome/252/51/40 If it has not been discovered and barred: secret door: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/4/103/29 This cavern is treacherous... and constantly winding and defended http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/119/19/28 Better to climb past the sleeping dragon: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/137/41/56 Across the gates to the first cleft in the cliff: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/138/185/49 And thru to the open tower to use its magics... and the sales staff? http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nurutumbo/211/213/78 Easiest escape. Get to the roof and pray aloud for an Eagle. They know this place.

The Maiar

2011-01-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy stories, the Ainur are a race of spirits. The Ainur ["Holy Ones", in the ancient Elvish language of Quenya] were the first of the creations of Eru Ilúvatar ['The One Father of All'] out of his thought, who aided in the creation of the world. The few most powerful and greatest of the Ainu are called the "Valar" [powers], the uncountable numbers of others are the "Maiar" [beautiful ones].

in the Timeless Realm, before the world was made, each of the Ainu was taught the art of music. Together, they made the Ainulindalë [Song of the Ainu], called "the Great Music": the story of all creation sung long before the material world was made. Further, each of the Ainu is associated with some element of the world and the Vala that personifies it.

Ainu are shape-shifters. They normally have three forms: one invisible, one like a noble and beautiful elf (because they admire the elves and wish to make them comfortable) and at least one more native form that expresses their purpose in the world. Further shape-shifting is recorded, but not common. While in the world, Ainu are ageless, but can suffer injury and even destruction, when they must revert to bodiless invisible forms.

The Ainu are featured in much of JRR Tolken's "The Silmarillion". The most complete Tolkien description and naming of the countless Maiar is in "The Book of Lost Tales", quoted here as they are leaving the Timeless Realm to create the material world after the Great Music. Translations from Quenya are in [brackets].

-----------------------------------------------------------

[AIR]
Behold, Manwe Súlimo [(good-man) king wind] and Varda [queen] the Beautiful arose. Varda it was who at the playing of the Music had thought much of light that was white and silver and of stars. Those twain gathered now wings of power to themselves and fared swiftly though the three airs…

With them came many of those lesser Vali [powers (also "Valar")] who loved them and had played nigh them and attuned their music to theirs, and these are the Mánir [(good) spirits of the air] and the Súruli [spirits of wind] the sylphs of the airs and of the winds.

[FIRE]

…Now swiftly as they fared, Melko [flame] was there before them, having rushed headlong flaming through the airs in the impetuosity of his speed, and there was a tumult of the sea where he had dived and the mountains above him spouted flames and the earth gaped and rocked; but Manwë beholding this was wroth.

[WATER]

Thereafter came Ulmo and Aulë, and with Ulmo [fluid] were none, save Salmar [harpist] only who was after known as Noldorin [wisdom], for good though the heart of [Ulmo,] that mighty one he thought ever deep thoughts alone, and was silent and aloof and haughty even to the Ainur;

[EARTH]

with Aulë [invention] was that great lady Palúrien [earth-mother] whose delights were richness and fruits of the earth, for which reason has she long been called Yavanna [fruitful] among the Eldar [elves].

About them fared a great host who are the sprites of trees and woods, of dale and forest and mountain-side, or those that sing amid the grass at morning and chant among the standing corn at eve. These are the Nermir [fays of the meads] and the Tavari [fays of the woods], Nandini [fays of the valleys] and Orossi [fays of the mountains], brownies, fays, pixies, leprawns [leprechauns(?)], and what else are they not called, for their number is very great: yet must they not be confused with the Eldar [elves], for they were born before the world and are older than its oldest, and are not of it, but laugh at it much, for had they not somewhat to do with its making, so that it is for the most part a play for them; but the Eldar are of the world and love it with a great and burning love, and are wistful in all their happiness for that reason

[WATER]

Now behind these great chieftains came Falman-Ossë [Surf Maker - Sea Lord]of the waves of the sea and Ónen [Sea Lady] his consort, and with them the troops of the Oarni [sea-dwellers] and Falmaríni [surf-dwellers] and the long-tressed Winglidi [foam-nymphs], and those are the spirits of the foam and the surf of ocean. Now Ossë was a vassal and subordinate to Ulmo, and was so for fear and reverence and not for love.

[SPIRIT]

Behind him came Tulkas Polórëa, [steady might] rejoicing in his strength, and those breathren the Fanturi [spirit masters] Lórien Olofántur, [the Slumber Dream-master] and Vefántur Mandos, [the Doom-master of the Dead], … and the twain who are known as the Tári [Queens] Fui Nienna, [the Weeping Mistress of Death] and Vána Tuivána, [the Ever-Young Mistress of Life]…

-------------------------------------
Thus the fae, mer and furry fit in Tolkien's world as these Ainu when in visible form.
Enjoy your play!
---------------------------------------

ref:

The Book of Lost Tales - One (posthumous) JRR Tolkien, Ed CR Tolkien
copyright (C) 1983, the Estate of JRR Tolkien

The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien, Ed CR Tolkien
Copyright (c) 1977 by George allen & Unwin Publishers) Ltd,

copyright material quoted under "fair use" rules

Valimar

2011-01-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

From "the Book of Lost Tales" and "the Silmarillion" chapter "Of the beginning of Days", collected descriptions of Valimar in Valinor in Aman in Eä

"Behind the walls of the Pelóri [mountains] the Valar established their domain in that region which is called Valinor, and there were their houses, their gardens, and their towers. In that guarded land the Valar gathered great store of light and an the fairest things that were saved from the ruin; and many others yet fairer they made anew, and Valinor became more beautiful even than Middle-earth in the Spring of Arda; and it was blessed, for the Deathless dwelt there, and there naught faded nor withered, neither was there any stain upon flower or leaf in that land, nor any corruption or sickness in anything that lived; for the very stones and waters were hallowed.

And when Valinor was full-wrought and the mansions of the Valar were established, in the midst of the plain beyond the mountains they built their city, Valmar of many bells.

"But in the plain in the full radiance of the [Two] trees was a cluster of dwellings built like a fair and smiling town, and that town was named Valmar. No metal and no stone, nor any wood of mighty trees was spared to their raising. Their roofs were of gold and their floors of silver and their doors of polished bronze; they were lifted with spells and their stones were bound with magic."

The domains of Oromë & Vána in Valimar:

in Valimar his halls are wide and low, and the skins and pelts 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.

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)

The domains of Tulkas & Nessa in Valimar:

His was a house of mirth and revelry; and it sprang high into the air with many storeys, and had a tower of bronze and pillars of copper in a wide arcade. In its court men played and rivaled one another in doughty feats, and there at times would that fair maiden Nessa wife of
Tulkas bear goblets of the goodliest wine and cooling drinks among the players. But most of all she loves to retire to a place of fair lawns whose turn Oromë her brother had culled for the richest of all his forest glades, and Palúrien had planted it with spells that is was always green and smooth. There danced she among her maidens as long as Laurellin was in bloom, for is she not greater in dance than Vana herself?

The domains of Ossë & Uinen in Valimar:

"Osse, too had a great house when he tired of the noise of the sea. They brought thousands of pearls for its building and its floors were of sea-water and its tapestries like the glint of silver skins of fishes and it was roofed with foam.

-------------
ref:

The Book of Lost Tales - One (posthumous) JRR Tolkien, Ed CR Tolkien
copyright (C) 1983, the Estate of JRR Tolkien

The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien, Ed CR Tolkien
Copyright (c) 1977 by George Allen & Unwin Publishers) Ltd,

The Life and Times of Túna

2011-01-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there was a little hill named Túna.

Actually, at the beginning of time, when things such as hills and valleys and oceans formed under the influence of the Valar powers, the little hill didn't know it was a "tun" [hill] or would be called "Túna" ["this mound"], or even have much idea (if a hill can have ideas... and I think that it can) of what would become of it and what role history would give it.

But, at this once upon a time, this little hill found itself quite serenely under soft starless skies as the susurrussing sea slowly charmed eastern shore-side stones into soft sands. Perhaps bright things traversed it and the sky and the sea of this one particular little hill, but it was really no different than all the other soft rolling hills stretching easily across a gentle continent, except for being a little smoother and rounder [kor] and a littler nearer the rolling ocean than the other little hills. But things changed nearby much faster than the tides and winds usually change little hills.

First came lights: One by one, little stars [elen] appeared floating in the dark sky, then more and more of them. A sudden flash of light far across the waters to the east glowed then faded almost as soon as it appeared. After a dark time, another, brighter light glowed, but this one shined steady and long. As if they had been waiting for that light, soft green grasses and tiny flowers colored Túna and all the hills and valleys, eager to live and grow with urgency that no hill could ever hope to match. Then, when that bright light went out, the little growing things slowed and stopped growing, in a sleep as deep as hills' sleep under dark skies, moving no more than the stones themselves. But these things were all common for all the little hills across the great wide world

If little hills can have a father (... and I think that they can), that is who seemed to appear next. Father, as hills can sense these things, seemed to be piling hill upon hill upon hill to the west, making a huge craggy fence of mountains running north to south perhaps a league inland from the coast. If a hill feels fear, Túna feared that it would be added to the tremendous mountain range, or that the mountains would fall onto it. But little Túna was untouched. Only the hills deep inland were lifted into the fence [pelo] of mountains [oror] that grew impossibly high, and higher. Pelóri, those mountains would be called.

One of those mountains, south-west yet very near to little Túna, grew taller and yet taller. White snow and ice gathered on its slopes even as it grew. Snow-white [lossë] would color the tallest of that tallest of mountain ranges in all the world, forever [oio]. Mount Ever-white, Oiolossë, it would be called. The tip [tillë] of high [tá] Oiolossë is chilled and pale [ninquë]. That lofty place, highest of all places in the wide world, would be a home to gods. Taníquetil, it would be called.

Even as those lofty mountains rose above little Túna, more and more stars populated the dark sky while the green grass slept. And dark things seemed to travel from the lands north and from the sea east to test and cross the new mountains, but they were unable to penetrate their fence. Those dark things took little notice of Túna and the league-wide strip of land between the mountains and the sea under their feet, since there was nothing there to interest them. Soon they left, some back over the sea, some back to the north and some down the coast to the south.

Again light appeared, but now from the west, behind the mountains, bathing the sky in shifting silver and golden glows. Suddenly, some mountains were cleaved and cast down, and the light burst bright onto little Túna as the light [cala] passed thru the cleft [cilya] out over the hills and the ocean to the lands far to the east. Calacirya, would that pass be called.

Even as the last stone fell, the sleeping grasses awoke and grew anew. And because the light was brighter there, Túna's growing things and those nearby took on a lushness and beauty unseen in the rest of the round wide world. Creatures and animals came and went. Trees and forests grew in that long coastal plain that would soon be called Eldamar, "Elf [elda] - home [mar]"

For, slowly streaming through the eastern ocean, a large lone [eressëa] island [tol], borne in the sea-god's arms and bearing the willing elves seeking the light, approached the shore off the Calacirya and pressed itself into the coast, indenting the shoreline. The eager elves departed the traveling island to see the bright lights, escorted by fae and spirits and gods themselves. Too soon, the lonely island retreated away across the sea, leaving the empty Bay of Eldamar to mark its landing right near little Túna, again untouched by the change in terrain.

Finally, noticing our unusually untouched pretty little hill, as history tells us, "The gods named that hill "Kôr" by reasons of its roundness and its smoothness" " pg 132). On that very site, in view of Manwë's snowy palace on Taníquetil in the majestic Pelorí, and the verdant Eldamar stretching south through unnamed forests and north to what will be called Alqualondë, in the light of the Two Trees through Calacirya, the Noldor elves with king Finwë erected a tower to watch [tir] over the pass and sparkling seas for monsters and the elves yet to come, building finally the greatest of cities there. Tirion, after the watchtower, it would be called.

Much has been written of the beauty and flower of Tirion on Túna, once called "Kôr, the town on the round hill", and even "Kortirion, the ancient town built above the rocks of Eldamar, whence the fairies marched into the world", ("The Book of Lost Tales 1", page 296) and more will be written elsewhere.

But happily (if a hill can be happy ... and I think that it can), the island of Tol Eressëa returned to the Bay of Eldamar, within sight of little Túna, where it is rooted to this very day. And in time, even more little islands scattered themselves like mystic stars up and down the coast, shadowing the seas. And, finally, all those islands and all these lands described here (The Undying Lands, Aman, this land is all called) and those living there were lifted off the wide round world toward the Timeless Realm, where little Túna can still be found.

And they lived happily ever after (if a hill can live...

Oromë and the Great March

2010-12-12T01:01:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-11T23:52:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

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

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

2010-10-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-16T03:16:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Who is Aulë?

2009-06-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

In the Arda continent of Second Life:

Character formal name:
Aulë ("Inventor" in Quenya Elvish) Talka (Smith) Marda (of the World)

Name of player:
Arth Karas

Additional character names and titles:

Aulë "the Smith", Patriarch of House Aulë in Valimar. Curumo (the Smith), Aratar (Exalted) Lord of the Valar (Powers), of the race of the immortal Ainur (Holy Ones), offspring of the thought of Eru Illúvatar (The One Father of All). Mâlon ni Noldor (Elf-Friend of the Noldor), Mahal Khazâd (Dwarvish: Dwarf-Maker), Aĥûlêz(Ancient Valarin: Invention). Regional variants of the above include: Oli, Ola, Ola Mar, Aulë Mar, Maltagros, Tagros, Taglos, Mbartano, Martamo, or (subtle pun) Barthan (Sindarin Elvish).

Short character description:

Older than time, the fifth most powerful being in all Eä (Creation), Lord over all substances of which Arda (Earth) is made. Gifted in & delighting in workers & works of skill & invention, arts & crafts, magic & science, stone & mineral. While Arda exists, Aulë will inhabit & sustain it with other Valar.

Typical character appearance:
He is natively invisible and undetectable to mortals and elves. As an Aratar Ainur, Aulë is a shape shifter of skill, and might be found in any shape or size at all. In the presence of elves and men, he appears a tall, noble & muscular elf, to show his respect and friendship for them. He is fond of wearing stones (diamonds, amethysts), metals (mithril), and rich fabrics.

Where the character lives, plays, & works

In the Timeless Realm, Aulë dwelt with other Ainur & Eru Illúvatar, singing his part of The Song of Creation. He was near & saw clearly the first Vision of the World, of what was, is, & is to come. Aulë willingly left the Timleless Realm to aid in the building of Arda (Earth) in preparation of the Coming of the Children of Illúvatar (Elves and Men).

In the First Ages, Aulë made & fashioned all lands & habitats of Arda, in fellowship with the host of Valar & Maiar & despite the meddling of Melkor. He is comfortable & is found ANYWHERE: day, night, air, mountains, underground, earth, water, ice or fire.
In later ages, he is usually in & around his Forge in Valimar (City of Valar) in company of his family, peers, protégés, students & friends. His palatial home, crafted of webs of light, is very near the city. While easily found in their chosen domain, the remote & oft hidden continent of Aman (the Undying Lands), he & the other Valar might travel to Middle-Earth as invisible spirit or may take some other unassuming living form there. In the final ages, Aulë's role is undetermined.

Character relationships: (spouse, children & how they get on with other races, individuals or groups of characters)

Aulë works & plays well with others: The other Valar, Ainu and Elves assist, admire & rely on his work & willingness. Openly & genuinely friendly & admiring of creativity & skill wherever he finds it, & often found learning & teaching, Aulë has little love for incompetence, but will patiently assist the willing.
He wearies of repairing the mischief of the hated Melkor (Mighty) & his misguided Balrogs (terrors), Orcs (monsters) and minions, who seek to mar & destroy, imprison & subjugate. He is not a willing battler, but the tools, builds, weapons & defenses he makes are legendary.
Particularly fond of the crafty Noldor Elves & Dwarves (his secret creation, ultimately approved & adopted by Illuvatar), & of his many proteges, vassals & aides among the Maiar (Makers) of the Ainur (Holy Ones), Aulë loves (even though he often neglects them for his work) his family: his spouse & Valier (Valar Queen) Yavanna (Giver of Fruits) Kementári (Earth Mother), their son Oromë, (Trumpeter), their daughter Nessa (Youth), & their houses.

Key vision and values

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

Key motivators

Enabling of creation, creativity, craft, skill & education thereof, & sharing works of all types, whether of beauty, of utility, of protection or offense, or of any cleverness & cunning.

Typical behaviours:

Making stuff. Helping others make stuff. Fixing stuff. Help others fix stuff. Giving stuff. Helping others give stuff. Delighting in well-done stuff. He is carefree (rarely insisting on ceremony or protocol or formality), moving from interest to interest rapidly, quick with words (he invented at least two languages in wide usage), a fastt friend (even if he chooses his friends & protégés poorly), and he seeks & gives good counsel & aid, especially in the arts & crafts, magics & sciences.

References:

JRR Tolkien: The Ainulindalë, The Valaquenta, The Silmarillion, The Book of Lost Tales.

Encyclopedia of Arda Online

Quenya & Valarin wordlists at Ardalambion

(This is a reprinted article from http://secondherald.blogspot.com/2007/09/herald-in-valimar.html)

Music for "Lay of the Last"

2009-06-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jump to a recording of this short version

We have seen many friendships, as we crossed over oceans, as we crossed over mountains to be

Here forever undying, in the land ever living, where our homes, and the stars, meet the sea.

We are here, where we’re destined, where we live, we are loving. We know others who travel will be

Welcome here in the ages that will come, when they come here, to this land under stars o’er the sea.

E’er we each in our fashion live the life that we fashion. E’er to last, where we live, we will be

Called the last, ever lasting, home at last, we “tell airy” loving songs, for the stars, and the sea.

Called the last, ever lasting, home at last, we “ Teleri ”, loving songs, for the stars, and the sea.

Closing verses of “Telerilindalë”,

translated to the common tongue

as “The Lay of the Last”

by Aulë (Arth) the Finesmith.

~~~~~~~~~~

My dearest Lord Olwë, King of the Teleri:

Today, in response for your request for personal tales of the Teleri Elves of Alqualondë, I offer this translation of"Telerilindalë", the teaching song that young Teleri elves learn as introduction to their languages and history. I have not repeated the original lyric here, in its multiple languages, since every Teleri knows it since childhood, and there are many sources for an eager student.

In the attached short sample of preserved music, the melody and musical structure are simplified from the original, although the key change after each verse remains, signaling progress in the Great March and the change of characters in the song. I placed annotations and internal references to the languages, characters, and locations as notes in the common lyric. Thus, students and singers unfamiliar with the Teleri ballad might find some glimmer of the original significance.

In the full version, some formal aspects of the original lyric survived in this translation. Each verse:

comprises two lines of metric anapestic heptameter,
includes the words "be", "stars" and "sea" (for linguistic comparison),
includes a repeated idiom,
includes a phrase of each category: subject, predicate, vocative, subjunctive and preposition, and
every word is sung in common tongue,

to echo the teaching value and purity of each language sample in the original.

A great deal of the cleverness and charm of the original relies on the play of words across the varying languages in the verses. I attempted the sweetly sad lyrical style that the Teleri master so well, but I am no master. If this work pleases, I am pleased.

The making, like the travel or the singing, is its own reward.

In love and respect, Aulë (Arth) the Finesmith

References:

Overview of the Teleri History

"The Lay of The Last", in entire

Another link to this recorded version

THE LAY OF THE LAST

2009-06-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

~~~In ancient Sindarin

Elwe, King of the Teleri

Will ye go to the places where the light is much sweeter, where the homes of the powers will be?

We will ford mighty rivers; we will climb giant mountains, to the West, where the stars meet the sea.

Enel of Cuiveinen

You may go to seek power; you may go to seek glory. By this lake I will forever be.

It’s enough to be joyful in the place I was wakened, under stars of the East, by the sea.

Enel’s companions, the Avari (Unwilling)

We will stay with our father; we will stay with the others, where our hearts and our spirits will be

Ever singing the wonder of the place where we wakened, by this land, by these stars, by this sea.

~~~In Old Telerin

Orome, the Valar Guide

I will lead you in safety, you who go, who are willing. You who stay, we allow peace to be.

You, who go, follow closely, for the land is still wild, lit by stars on the way to the sea.

Wanderer in the Eastern forest

I cannot travel onward, for this land is too lovely. Maybe more wondrous sights there will be.

But I love the small singing of the forest and meadow under stars. I could not go to sea.

His companions in Middle Earth, the Úmanyar

All the grass is still green here; all the stars still are shining. Go and bless if you will blessed be.

All we wish for great beauty, all we wish for great comfort is right here. We will not cross the sea.

~~~In Nandorin

Inwë, High Vanyar King of Elves at the Anduin River Shores..

We all camp by this river while our guide forges pathways thru the mountains that on our path be.

While we wait, greet companions you so love and admire, then we go beneath stars to the sea.

Lenwë, who walks slowly, at Misty Mountains.

I cannot cross those mountains. All my will has gone misty. I cannot live while travel will be

All my life and my living. I cannot go so quickly by the stars to the far western sea.

His companions, the Nandor

We will not ford that river, we will not cross that mountain. For our feet are too weary to be

Marching on in this hurry. We will wait, and then someday make our way by the stars to the sea.

~~~In Sindarin

Melian, a beautiful Maia in Nan Elmoth in Doriath

I have seen you by tree-light, I have seen you in beauty, and I see that we ever may be

Pledged together in marriage, pledged in love, pledged in honor by the stars, by our hearts, by the sea.

Elwe, King of the Teleri.

You are beauty in living; you are beauty in breathing. I forsake all my travels and be

Here with you in our beauty. Here is magic, enchanting. I forsake even stars and the sea.

His companions, the Eglath (Forsaken) Sindar

We cannot travel onward, for our lord has goen missing, and our lord, yes, he ever will be.

We will seek him in friendship. We cannot travel onward to that land the where stars meet the sea

~~~In Telerin of Tol Eressëa

Ulmo, the Valar of the sea

You are here by my waters. You are here on my island. I will carry you over to be

In the land where the others that you follow are living, where the light blesses stars and the sea

Cúrdan the Shipwright, on Tol Eressea.

I would stay by these waters, for they chime with such beauty that my heart ever peaceful will be.

While my friends travel onward, I would stay on this island, so alone, under stars in the sea

His companions, the Falmari (Sea-elves)

We can see in the distance all the light we were promised. Here and now, we’re contented to be

Here and now, on this island, with the songs of the water and the waves and the stars and the sea.

~~~In Lindalambë (Aman Telerin)

Ossë, the Maia of the Middle Earth seas

I must teach you to travel by the wind over water, but I grieve, for I’d teach you to be

Here with me to delight with, but I’ll teach you to leave me, with my swans, under stars, o’er the sea.

Olwë in Alqualonde

We are glad of your teaching, we are glad of your friendship, but we must travel on til we be

Safe at home in swan harbor where we have the great blessing of the land where the stars reach the sea.

**His Companions, the Foam Riders

We have seen many friendships, as we crossed over oceans, as we crossed over mountains to be

Here forever undying, in the land ever living, where our homes, and the stars, meet the sea.

~~~In Quenya:

Finwë, the Noldor King in Tirion

Lord, my friends and you singers, we rejoin our sweet kinfolk in this land, and we always will be

With our hands and our talents, ever pledged to your service in the light of the stars and the sea.

Eärwen, Olwë’s daughter, in Tirion

Lord, we thank you for making such a fond and sweet welcome, we are glad and delighted to be

In the places you fashioned as we followed your footsteps to this land where the stars meet the sea.

The Noldor & Vanyar Elves

Be at last made ye merry, for at last you have joined us by the light of the trees that will be

Ever shining while friendship binds our hearts to each other, and at last, to the stars and the sea.

~~in Valarin:

Manwë, The Valar High King in Valinor

You are here, as we wished you. You are here, as we led you. Know that others who tarry will be

Welcome here in the ages that will come, when they come here, to our land where the stars meet the sea.

~~~in Common

**All Lead Singers

We are here, where we’re destined, where we live, we are loving. We know others who travel will be ->

Welcome here in the ages that will come, when they come here, to this land under stars o’er the sea.

**All Teleri, everywhere

E’er we each in our fashion live the life that we fashion. E’er to last, where we live, we will be

Called the last, ever lasting, home at last, we “tell airy” loving songs, for the stars, and the sea.

Called the last, ever lasting, home at last, we “ Teleri ”, loving songs, for the stars, and the sea.

~~~~~~~Here ends Telerilindalë, a Teleri elven teaching-song,

translated to the common tongue as “The Lay of the Last” by Aulë (Arth) the Finesmith.

Teleri Elves

2009-06-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

All the first Elves awoke to starlight and water in ancient times by the shores of Cuiviénen, a lake on a bay on the ocean far to the east of Middle Earth. By their own whims and by the invitation of the Valar, they scattered thru Arda (the world) in tribes.

According to "The Lost Tales" legends, the Teleri (singular ‘Teler’) were descended from Enel, the third Elf to awake in Cuiviénen, his spouse Enelyë and their 72 companions. The Teleri were the third and largest group of elves to awaken by Cuivínen. The Vala Oromë discovered the elves and escorted the Teler Elwë and two other tribal leaders to Valinor and back to urge their people to make their way to Valinor. Many, including Enel did not attempt the Great March.

Aman is 1) the Blessed Realm, comprising (Valinor (the central valley) and Eldamar (coastal montains and plains) together; or 2) the great western continent, including all the above and more.

The Teleri were the last (tella means "last" in Elvish, whence “Teleri”) tribe to set out toward Aman. So great were their numbers, they had two lords: Elwë Singollo (which signifies Greymantle) and his brother Olwë. The History of Middle-earth, states: '…Olwë beget many children', suggesting other unnamed children apart from Eärwen. While traveling West to Aman, groups of Teleri (notably the Sindar and the Nandor) stopped and settled along the way, including Elwë. Each sundered group took its own name and language over time.

When Olwë and his followers were ready to leave Middle Earth over the sea, the Valar Ulmo (who had already escorted other, faster Elves to Aman) uprooted The Lonely Isle called Tol Eressëa from the Bay of Balfalas. Once on the island, Ulmo transported the Teleri to the bay of Eldamar in the Blessed Realm but stopped short and rooted the island in the sea within sight of Aman at their request, long ages before the rising of the Sun and Moon.

The elves of Aman and Tol Eressëa are usually known simply as "Teleri", but they are properly just the branch of the Teleri people that travelled farthest west across the ocean. The Teleri tongue is Telerin or Lindalambë (tongue of the Lindar (singers)), a dialect of Quenya similar to Common Telerin (whence Sindarin and Nandorin were also derived) and Common Eldarin. From their love of the ocean, these sea-crossing Elves were given the particular, rarely used name Falmari, (from the Quenya word falma, meaning [crested] wave, loosely translated as 'Sea-elves' ), for they had became enamored with the sea and made music beside the breaking waves.

After many years on the island of Tol Eressëa, at the request of the other Vala, the great Maia Ossë taught the Teleri the art of ship-building, and many Teleri finally sailed to the shores of Aman itself.

There, they dwelt on the starlit beaches of the Undying Lands and built their chief city of Alqualondë, (Swan Harbour) walled and built in a natural harbour under a natural rock arch. It features the great harbours where the Teleri swan-ships were moored, and it housed the tower of King Olwë, The city was covered with pearls which the Teleri found in the seas and jewels given by the Noldor. From the skimming of their ships over the starlit waves, these Terleri also acquired the name of “the Foam-riders, folk of waters, Elves of the endless echoing beaches".

Aulë (Arth) the (Fine) Smith

2009-06-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have the alt Aule Finesmith now. This solved three problems for me:

Problem one: when one account gets so busy and in demand that Second Life becomes more like a second job, it's time to make a new account just for having fun. I'd spent so much time that I wasn't even posting to this blog for months.

Problem two: in the Builders of Arda sims, where I role play the J.R.R.Tolkien character Aulë the Smith, there are many sims where I need land rights or group rights to play my role effectively. The owners and organizers are more than happy to grant me those right, but I need open groups because of
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Limits

Groups:
* Max. # of groups you can belong to - 25
o Roles within groups are sort of like sub-groups. In many cases, you can use them instead of creating new groups.
* Min. # of members in a group - 2
o A group with only 1 person for 48 hours will be disbanded (cancelled). Unless the group owns land.
* Max. # of roles allowed in a group - 10 (including "Owners" and "Everyone", which can't be deleted)

Problem three: when your name is "Arth Karas", but the other players are supposed to remember to call you "Aulë" regularly and with some respect, you want to make it easy for them. Notecards, IM and floating text over the avatars heads are fine, but matching the role to the avatar name is even better.

Opportunity: When I saw new players using the last name "Finesmith", I located where I could register it using the SL name search website, and made Aulë right away. The name was too perfect to overlook.

Since I make most of my own clothes, skins and attachments now, it's been easy to make Aule a mirror of Arth as Aulë. Many players hardly notice the change right away, except as Aule befriends them.

I'll gradually wean Arth out of Arda, so he can continue operating in the rest of Second Life while Aulë has fun being a Tolkien fan in the Arda sims and forums.

I"ll use this blog for Tolkien specific postings and save "The Second Herald" for ethics, legal and general Second Life postings.