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Myth-ing the Big Picture

© Douglas Charles Rapier

There is a sublimely beautiful website called 'The Valaquenta' (http://www.valaquenta.com) which is dedicated to the appreciation of Tolkien's creation myths as revealed in 'The Silmarillion'. The site and its creators devote particular attention to the second book of that posthumously published volume, the one for which the site has borrowed its name: 'The Valaquenta' - the Account of the Valar, those spirits of godly powers which created Arda, the physical arena in which Middle-earth, in turn, exists.

The Valar are the primary players in the eons old drama of Middle-earth which culminates with the defeat of Sauron (a spirit much like the Valar though of lesser power called a Maia), the coronation of King Aragorn Elessar as the rightful ruler of the re-united kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor and the end of the Third Age. To fully appreciate the Saga with which Tolkien has enriched our experiences, the Valar and their servants, the Maiar, must be examined.

So, let's take a further step back to before the creation of Arda, before the beginning of the world and get a grounding on just who or what these primary players were. We must look at the first book of 'The Silmarillion' for this information. Before the inception of Ea (i.e. all that is, the physical world) Ilúvatar, the Brahma-like creator of the world, brought the Valar and the Maiar (known collectively as the Ainur, the Holy Ones) into being. They "were the off-spring of his thought."

Ilúvatar then propounded to them themes of music. Following his initial creation of these spiritual beings, the very first act of this deity was to teach his creations, the Ainur, music. (I love that.) Then he taught them to sing - first as soloists, then in duets, trios, quartettes and finally as a choir. Their singing the themes as taught them by Ilúvatar produced an aural vision of a the world that was to be. Thus the first book of 'The Silmarillion' is entitled 'Ainulindale'- the Music of the Ainur. Here, then is where and when all that was thenceforth to transpire in the world was set into motion. Here is when, before the irresistible mechanism of time was set in motion, before the beginning of Ea, universe - here was when Evil strove its first battle, when Evil was first born amidst the beauty of creation. The Music of the Ainur was the symphonic incantation from which the melodic themes of life and the motif signifying all that was Arda flowed.

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