The Lands of Arda

Salith Grinn · Vala Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Posts: 336 Location: Baltimore

A gift to you all from Lan, he has been working hard to organize the vast amounts of information. With luck and some effort you will see these dieties on the character creation process...eventually.

Manwë Súlimo

Title: High King of Arda

Alignment: Lawful Good

Spouse: Varda

Appearance: Manwë dresses in long blue robes and has blue eyes. He wields a powerful staff coated in sapphire made for him by the Noldor.

Description: Manwë is the dearest of the Valar to Eru. Manwë is also called Sùlimo "Lord of Arda’s Breathing". Manwë is the Lord of the Gods and Prince of the Airs and Winds and because he understands most clearly the purpose of Ilùvatar, he was appointed to be the first of all Kings, Lord of the Realm of Arda. The mighty Eagles are his messengers and at his command they fly to and from Taniquetil taking and bringing news. He is the King in the World of Gods, Elves and Men and the chief defender against Melkor. By Manwë’s side is Varda and when she stands by his side at the top of Taniquetil he sees further than anybody else through mist and dark and across the endless sea.

Ulmo

Title: Lord of Waters

Alignment: Neutral Good

Appearance: He was said to be fearful to look upon to mortal eye, dressed like a giant wave in glittering green armor, blowing his great horns the Ulumúri.

Description: Ulmo is second in might after Manwë and he lives alone in his halls called Ulmonan and he is Lord of all Water in Arda. He went to the Outermost Oceans and in those deep waters lightless and empty he purposed to dwell. Yet even deep in the sea-halls of Ulmonan he controls the faint stirring of the seas and rules the lakes and springs and rivers of the world. He never stays in one place but travels as he pleases in the depths of the endless seas. He does not like to walk upon land and he seldom clothes himself in the raiment of earth. He is close to Manwë but after the fall of the Almaren he is rarely a guest in the Ring of Doom unless great matters are to be discussed. Ulmo is fearsome to look on for human eyes, dressed as a giant wave in glittering dark green armor with a crown of foam, roaring in his horn, Ulumúri, against the shore. Still Ulmo loves Human and Elves and they love him, once you have heard the music of the sea, it will live in your heart forever. At times he will come unseen to the shores of Middle-earth or pass far inland up firths of the sea and there make great music upon his horns. He speaks to those who listen with voices that are heard as the music of water. All seas, lakes, rivers, fountains, and springs are in his government and the spirit of Ulmo runs in all the veins of the world.

Aulë

Title: The Smith

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Spouse: Yavanna

Description: Aulë is third in might right after Ulmo. He is the Lord of the ground, dust and rocks and all of that which Arda is made of. Aulë is a smith and a master of crafts. Aulë finds joy in all kinds of craftsmanship, large and small, and to him belong the stones and the gold in the depths of the mountains and all of the minerals Human, Elves, Dwarves and Dragons value so highly. Aulë also made the Dwarves.

Oromë

Titles: Aldaron, The Great Rider, The Huntsman of the Valar, and The Lord of Forests

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Spouse: Vána

Description: Oromë is a mighty prince, with a terrible wrath, but he is not as strong as Tulkas. Oromë loves the lands of Earth while they were still dark and he left them unwillingly and came last to Valinor and he comes even yet at times east of the Pelóri. Of old he was often seen upon the hills and plains. He is the hunter of monsters and evil beings and he cares for horses and dogs and he loves the woods and the trees. His horse is Nahar, it is white in the day and silver at night and when Oromë blows his horn, Valaroma, Melkor`s creatures will flee in front of his army.

Namo (Mandos)

Titles: Fëanturi, Judge of the Dead, and Doomsman of the Valar

Alignment: Neutral

Spouse: Vairë

Description: Mandos is Lord in the House of the Dead and he recalls the souls of the fallen ones. He is a Fëanturi, a Master of Spirits. Mandos knows all that is going to happen, except what lies in the will of Eru Iluvatar. Mandos never forgets what has happened and is the Vala-judge, but only at the call of Manwë.

Irmo (Lorien)

Titles: Fëanturi and Master of Visions and Dreams

Alignment: Neutral

Spouse: Estë

Description: Lòrien is the younger brother of Mandos. He is a Fëanturi, a Master of Spirits. Lòrien is the master of visions and of dreams. Lòrien is also the name of where he dwells and that is the most beautiful place in all of Arda. His gardens in the land of the Gods are the fairest of all places in the world, they are filled with many spirits and those gardens comfort everyone who walks therein. The Halls of Lòrien are called Murmuran and they are far away from Valmar. In the midst of the gardens of Lòrien is set a ring of towering cypresses around the vat Silindrin. Here Lòrien, gazing upon its unstirred surface, sees many mysteries that pass across.

Tulkas Astaldo

Title: Champion of Valinor

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Spouse: Nessa

Description: Most youthful is he and strong of limb, and for that is he named Poldórëa. He loves games and the twanging of bows, boxing, wrestling, running and leaping, and songs that go with a swing and a toss of a well-filled cup. Tulkas the strongest of limb and the greatest in deeds of prowess of the Valar. He is brave and a mighty warrior and walks unclothed to battle and sport of which wrestling is his best. He has no weapon but his hands and that is all he needs. He has no steed because he runs faster than any living creature, and he doesn’t know the word tired and there is none more faithful than him. Tulkas cares little about either past or future and is of small avail as counselor but he is a hardy friend. He is called Astaldo in the Elven tongue. Tulkas was the last Ainur who stepped into Arda. Tulkas’ hair and beard are blond and golden, his face is ruddy.

Varda Elentári

Title: Queen of the Stars

Alignment: Lawful Good

Spouse: Manwë Súlimo

Appearance: Varda is said to be too beautiful for words; within her face radiates the light of Ilúvatar.

Description: Varda is she who gives light, she knows all areas of Arda, and her beauty is far beyond words. There is no one Melkor fears more than Varda because the light of Eru Iluvatar is still in her eyes. When Varda is with Manwë at Taniquetil she can hear all the sounds in Arda and it was Varda who brought light into Arda and set the stars in the sky. The Eldar honor her the most of all Valar.

Yavanna Kementári

Title: Giver of Fruits

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Spouse: Aulë

Appearance: When she has taken visible form it has been as a tall woman in green or a great tree spilling golden dew on the earth.

Description: Yavanna is the bringer of Fruit and the Queen of the Earth. She loves everything which lives in the ground, from her womb came the trees and the flowers and all there is growing in Arda. From her came the two trees in Valinor, Telperion and Laurelin, the light of Valinor, and from those came the Sun and the Moon. Yavanna lives with Aulë and she is the next after Varda of the Valier Queens. In Elventongue she is called Kementari, Queen of Earth.

Niënna

Title: Lady of Mercy

Alignment: Neutral Good

Description: Niënna lives alone in her realm of shadow, where her throne is hidden. Her halls are West of West, near the borders of the world and the darkness, and her windows look outward from the Walls of the Night. Her gift is sorrow, and she knows of pain. She cries for all the wounds Melkor has caused to Arda. Yet Niënna is not crying for herself. Those who listen to her will learn the skills of compassion and hope. Niënna turns grief into wisdom and gives strength to the souls and pity is her heart. It is said that even in the Music; Niënna took little part, but listened intently to all that she heard. Therefore, she is rich in memory and farsighted, perceiving that the theme should unfold in the tale of Arda. But she had little mirth, and all her love was mingled with pity, grieving for the harms of the world and for the things failed of fulfillment. So great was her truth that it is said she could not endure to the end of the Music. Niënna seldom comes to Valmar, the city of the gods, where all are glad. She goes rather to visit her brother in his hall Vê. Niënna gathers in her hall the souls of the dead Humans and after their judgment she sends them down to her ship Mournië, which lies at Hanstovánen.

Este

Title: The Gentle

Alignment: Neutral Good

Spouse: Irmo (Lorien)

Appearance: Grey is her raiment, and rest is her gift.

Descripton: Estë is lives with Irmo in his gardens of Murmuran which lay in the blessed land Aman. Her dress is grey and her gift is to heal the wounds and bring relief to the tortured mind. Estë does not walk around during the day but sleeps in the shadows on the shores of an isle in the dark lake Lorellin in Lòrien. There, upon the isle, her fountains bring refreshment to the peoples of Valinor. All things could be healed in Aman and in this was Estë the most skilled. With her handmaids she took care of the hurts, of both mind and body, of all who came to Aman.

Vairë

Title: The Weaver

Alignment: Neutral

Spouse: Namo (Mandos)

Description: Vairë weaves all that has ever happened in time into her tapestry which hangs in the ever growing Halls of Mandos.

Vána

Title: The Ever-young

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Spouse: Oromë

Description: Vána the ever-young, the Queen of flowers who has the beauty both of Earth and Heaven upon her face and in all her works. Flowers bloom when she looks and birds sing when she is near.

Nessa

Title: The Dancer

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Spouse: Tulkas

Description: Nessa is sister to Oromë and wife to Tulkas. Like her husband, she is fast and has a springy step. She runs like an arrow from the bow, with wind in her hair. Her love is to dance upon the never-fading green grass in Valinor. She dances with her maidens upon the Lawns of Nessa. As dancer she is the greatest of all.

Morgoth

Title: Dark Enemy of the World

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Description: Melkor was the greatest and the first Ainur in Eru Ilùvatar’s mind. He was also brother to Manwë. But while all other Ainur were singing to the grace of Eru, Melkor tried to take over the theme of the song. Melkor’s song twisted and turned the song of the nearby Ainur as it was growing. Eru then raised his hand in a friendly manner and tried to bring Melkor into the theme again. Melkor, however, resisted. Eru raised his hand again and tried to force Melkor back in, but still Melkor kept on his unharmonious theme, raising it higher and higher. The third time Eru raised both hands and in one accord higher than the sky and deeper than the abyss, he stopped the song and said: "The Ainur are mighty and amongst them Melkor is the mightiest, but he and all of you will know that I am Iluvatar, and I will show you all what you have done. And for you Melkor, you shall know that there will be no sound which does not come from me, nobody may change the song against my will, and he who tries will be my tool in an even more magnificent piece which he will not understand". Melkor was ashamed of himself. It is from this episode that came his secret anger. In the beginning he thought he was working for the creation of Arda, but he truly wanted to be master and rule the world.

Sauron

Title: Gorthaur the Cruel

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Description: Sauron served in the beginning Aulë but Melkor had him dragged to his side and Sauron became his prince and greatest servant. While Melkor was held in the fastness of Mandos, Sauron continued the work, forging evil and spreading lies.

Ungoliant

Title: Gloomweaver

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Ungoliant is an evil being from before the world that took on the form of a spider. During the great feast where Manwë sought to heal the evil that had arisen in Valinor, Melkor returned with Ungoliant. Melkor smote each Tree to the core with his black spear, and Ungoliant plied her foul lips to their wounds and sucked the blood of the Trees until they were drained. Thus the Two Trees were destroyed. Ungoliant then escaped to Middle-Earth with Melkor who had stolen and brought along many jewels, including the Silmarils. Upon her arrival to Lammoth, in Middle-Earth, Ungoliant claimed her reward for helping Melkor destroy the Two Trees. He gave her all the jewels he had stolen, except the Silmarils; Ungoliant then attacked Melkor because he withheld the Silmarils from her. Being afraid of her, Melkor called out for help and the Balrogs came to his aid. Their whips of flame drove Ungoliant away and she fled into Nan Dungortheb.