#varda aesthetic

[thegirlwhohid]

@oneringnet valar event: modern valars

Varda as an astrophysicist

Modern Varda moodboard

The Silmarillion characters: (89/?)

Characters’ moodboards: (367/?)

[alessandrapedrotti]

Varda è la signora delle stelle, degli astri del cielo e della Luce in tutte le sue forme. Ella è la sposa di Manwë, con il quale vive sulla cima del Taniquetil e conosce tutte le regioni di Eä.

[ainurmoodboards]

Varda (Fanuilos Aesthetic) Varda is the Vala of stars and light, the wife of Manwë, one of the Aratar, Queen of the Valar, and the one most beloved by the elves. Her face radiated the light of Ilúvatar and she appeared in shining white fana in visions to the Elves of Middle-earth, and thus was called Fanuilos. Fanuilos is an epithet of Varda and means "bright (angelic) figure ever white (as snow)" When Melkor first began to create chaos, Varda saw his mind, and despised him. Melkor feared and hated Varda the most out of the Valar because he had been unable to control light, which Varda was most associated with. When Manwë contested with him for Arda, Varda came from the deeps of Eä to his side. During the Spring of Arda, she filled the Two Lamps with light. In Valinor she kept the dews of the Two Trees in the Wells of Varda. When Mandos foretold of the coming of the Elves and how they would always look to Varda in reverence, she took it upon herself to set new stars for the Elves to see when they awakened. For this, Varda is the Vala most loved and revered by the Elves. She also hallowed the Silmarils of Fëanor when he created them, so that any being or creature of evil could never handle them without being burned. After the death of the Two Trees, she took the remaining flower of Telperion and the fruit of Laurelin and placed them in vessels made by Aulë. Her handmaiden is Ilmarë, a Chief of the Maiar, who at an earlier stage of Tolkien's writings was her daughter. Olórin (Gandalf/Mithrandir) also served her in addition to Manwë, Nienna, and Irmo/Lorien. In Tolkien's earlier works, the characters Arien (Urwen/Urwendi), Ilinsor (steersman of the Moon), and Telimektar (the constellation Orion) are connected to her as well. In Middle-earth, she was revered by the Elves who called her name and sung hymns to her (such as the Elven Hymn to Elbereth) and perhaps answered to prayers, even to Samwise Gamgee. The very mention of her name was said to be deadly to evil spirits, such as when Frodo uttered the name in the presence of the Morgul Lord. The Valar, being divine beings below the ultimate Creator, Ilúvatar, are thought of as being the Middle-earth equivalent of saints and angels; it has therefore been suggested that Varda, in her role as the most loved and prayed-to Vala, may be an equivalent of the Virgin Mary in Tolkien's own Catholic faith.

[ainurmoodboards]

Maiar of Varda, the Starkindler

Varda is the Vala associated with light and holiness and made the stars and constellations. She is the wife of Manwë and is counted among the Aratar, the eight most powerful Valar. She was one of the first to sense Melkor’s evil and rejected him early on, causing him to hate and fear her more than the other Valar. Her character and the elves’ reverence for her has drawn strong comparisons to the role of the Virgin Mary in Tolkien’s Catholic faith. 

In the Silmarillion, Ilmarë is called the handmaiden of Varda and one of the leaders of the Maiar. Her name comes from an elvish root for starlight that is present in other names like Ilmen and Ilmarin, and in turn comes from the a Finnish word for air. Not many details are given about her, but in early versions of Tolkien’s works she was at one point the daughter of Varda and Manwë and called Erinti. At one stage she was also instead the sister of Salmar-Amillo and Omar-Noldorin, who were both associated with music, and the three of them left Valinor to live with the elves on the island of Tol Eressea. She was associated with love, beauty, and music in these stages, and was also called Lotesse as well as Akairis, which means bride. The second half of January was called Enrintion in honor of her. 

The Maia Olorin, who later became known in Middle-earth as Gandalf and Mithrandir, was a servant of Varda and her husband. He was also a student of Nienna and spent time in the gardens of Lorien as well. When Varda and Manwë decided to send Olorin to Middle-earth as one of the Istari he was reluctant and didn’t feel ready. But they remarked that that was all the more reason for him to go, and indeed he was a key player in the downfall of Sauron and destruction of the One Ring. 

In early works by Tolkien, the Maia Arien is described as a Maia of Varda, whereas in the Silmarillion she is called a Maia of Vana. Her initial association with Varda may have been due to the fact that Arien becomes the guardian of the sun, which is placed in the sky much like Varda’s stars. It’s also worth noting that, while Tolkien doesn’t usually specify what stars are “made of” it’s implied that there is a connection to fire. Before the existence of the Sun and the Moon as well as the Two Trees, the world was lit by two “lamps” which were lit by Varda. Both Arien and Olorin, who are two Maiar who are closely associated with fire, are connected to Varda. 

In Tolkien’s early legendarium, before the Maia Tilion was created, we are introduced to Ilinsor. Ilinsor is described as a sylph, which is a type of air spirit, who loves snow and starlight and “aided Varda in many of her works.” This was at a point in Tolkien’s writings when the Maiar didn’t exist and the Valar were less angelic and more like Greco-Roman deities. In addition to the Valar having children (some of whom eventually became Maiar instead), there were many kinds of minor nature spirits such as sylphs, nymphs, mermaids, dryads, leprawns, pixies, brownies, sprites, fays, etc. Ilinsor was chosen to be the steersman of the Moon because of his familiarity of and association with the sky and starlight. 

Finally, there was one point in Tolkien’s writings where Tulkas and Nessa had a son named Telimektar, whose name means something like Sky Warrior. He was also called Taimondo/Taimordo, which means Shepherd of the Sky. He had a long sword kept at his waist by a silver belt, and he fought alongside his father against Melkor from a young age. It was said that his face and weapons gleam like silver in the dark and he has diamonds on his sword sheath, which will glow red at the Great End. He was placed in the sky to watch over Melkor (and hence is the elvish explanation for the constellation Orion) and Varda gave him stars to mark his presence. His character and story were eventually dropped, and the elvish name for the constellation Orion instead became Menelmacar. A version of his name was given to the 28th King of Gondor, Telumehtar Umbardacil. 

[thegirlwhohid]

With Manwë dwells Varda, Lady of the Stars, who knows all the regions of Eä. Too great is her beauty to be declared in the words of Men or of Elves; for the light of Ilúvatar lives still in her face. In light is her power and her joy. Out of the deeps of Eä she came to the aid of Manwë; for Melkor she knew from before the making of the Music and rejected him, and he hated her, and feared her more than all others whom Eru made. Manwë and Varda are seldom parted, and they remain in Valinor. Their halls are above the everlasting snow, upon Oiolossë, the uttermost tower of Taniquetil, tallest of all the mountains upon Earth. When Manwë there ascends his throne and looks forth, if Varda is beside him, he sees further than all other eyes, through mist, and through darkness, and over the leagues of the sea. And if Manwë is with her, Varda hears more clearly than all other ears the sound of voices that cry from east to west, from the hills and the valleys, and from the dark places that Melkor has made upon Earth. Of all the Great Ones who dwell in this world the Elves hold Varda most in reverence and love. Elbereth they name her, and they call upon her name out of the shadows of Middle-earth, and uplift it in song at the rising of the stars.

Varda moodboard

Lords and Queens of the Valar: (2/14)

The Silmarillion characters: (3/?)

Characters’ moodboards: (42/?)