[ Daily Tolkien / Lord Of The Rings ] A Tolkien Virgin: Of Aule and Yavanna

Wow. So, the Elves and Men--for all their differences--are the Children of Illuvatar, but the Dwarves were made by Aule. This passage is short, but amazing. When Aule raised up his hammer to destroy the Dwarves he made, but Illuvatar gave them life instead, it actually caused me to get misty-eyed. This act of kindness and compassion is truly beautiful.

In this section, we also have our first taste of dissention among the Valar (excluding Melkor). Yavanna fears that Aule's Dwarves will destroy her living things, and when she gets word from Manwe that spirits shall live among her plants and animals and will be aroused to just anger in their defense, she is pleased. Aule isn't impressed though, "Nonetheless, they will have need of wood." That's all he has to say. A peculiarly cold relationship thus develops between Aule and Yavanna--in large part due to Aule's creation of the Dwarves in secret. His sin (although forgiven) and his lack of openness with his spouse has a negative effect on their relationship. Is there a lesson here, for us as well?

Which brings me to a slight tangent: Is it okay for me to be asking if there is a lesson to be learned from this or that section of the book? Is that fair to Tolkien? Did he write to instruct as well as entertain?

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Excellent post.

Absolutely! This theme is repeated all throughout the early chapters and even through the LoTR trilogy. Iluvatar did not share all of his knowledge with the Valar and particularly kept for himself the power of creation, perhaps the greatest power a god could have and the most covetable. The Valar could only mold and shape ME according to the Themes but had no creative power of their own. Aule's attempt at creating 'children' produced malformed, incomplete beings and only through the good will of Iluvatar did they ever have life of their own. Aule's desire for creative power could have led him down the path that Melkor followed and most certainly sowed a seed (pardon the pun) of discontent in Yavanna. Even though he repented and served Iluvatar faithfully from then on, his 'creations' were marked by an unlovliness that set them apart of Iluvatar's children and was the cause of strife between them.

As an aside, I have always wondered if the Ents were the result of her desire to protect the trees... were they a gift from Iluvatar, or did he allow her to fashion them and he breathed life into them?

Melkor lusted after the creative power. I believe it was the heart of his darkness. Ultimately, while he made many dark works, he was only able to twist the creations of Iluvatar, such as the elves, and drag fair things into darkness. The vanity of Saruman caused him to seek after the same- to create beings of his own and if he failed, to further pervert Iluvatar's creations. Thus the Uruk-hai came to be, but they were a mockery of life. I think Gandalf was referring to this when he said that Saruman's betrayal is greater than we know.

Certainly in this day and age, mankind seeks after the same intoxicating creative power that is reserved for God only. Cloning is foremost in my mind. What horrible, malformed beings we can 'create'. My heart breaks for these poor clone-aid babies, they will surely die young and suffer for the vanity of their 'creators'. Without being mindful of where that power originates, mankind could follow the same dark path as these fictional characters.

The apparent origin of the Ents is from the same chapter...

'If thou hadst thy will what wouldst thou reserve?' said Manwë. 'Of all thy realm what dost thou hold dearest?'
'All have their worth,' said Yavanna, 'and each contributes to the worth of the others. But the kelvar can flee or defend themselves, whereas the olvar that grow cannot. And among these I hold trees dear. Long in the growing, swift shall they be in the felling, and unless they pay toll with fruit upon bough little mourned in their passing. So I see in my thought. Would that the trees might speak on behalf of all things that have roots, and punish those that wrong them!'
'This is a strange thought,' said Manwë.
'Yet it was in the Song,' said Yavanna. 'For while thou wert in the heavens and with Ulmo built the clouds and poured out the rains, I lifted up the branches of great trees to receive them, and some sang to Ilúvatar amid the wind and the rain.'

....

Then Manwë awoke, and he went down to Yavanna upon Ezellohar, and he sat beside her beneath the Two Trees. And Manwë said: 'O Kementári, Eru hath spoken, saying: "Do then any of the Valar suppose that I did not hear all the Song, even the least sound of the least voice? Behold! When the Children awake, then the thought of Yavanna will awake also, and it will summon spirits from afar, and they will go among the kelvar and the olvar, and some will dwell therein, and be held in reverence, and their just anger shall be feared. For a time: while the Firstborn are in their power, and while the Secondborn are young."

....

Then Manwë and Yavanna parted for that time, and Yavanna returned to Aulë; and he was in his smithy, pouring molten metal into a mould. 'Eru is bountiful,' she said. 'Now let thy children beware! For there shall walk a power in the forests whose wrath they will arouse at their peril.'
'Nonetheless they will have need of wood,' said Aulë, and he went on with his smith-work.

It may also be where Beorn comes from; although he is a mortal man, he clearly has powers beyond that of mere mortal men, and his powers are that of one of the kelvar - taking the form of a giant bear, and apparently some of his descendants also had this power. Also, Bard's ability to understand the language of birds, a trait inherited from his ancestors, speaks to a similar origin. It is a fading gift, growing weaker in each passing generation, but it is highly suggestive of these spirts of kelvar and olvar, summoned "from afar".

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