Tag: irmo lórien

thewincheters:

The  Great  among  these  spirits  the  Elves  name  the Valar, the Powers of Arda, and Men have often called them gods. The Lords of the Valar are seven; and the Valier, the Queens  of  the  Valar,  are  seven  also.  These  were  their names in the Elvish tongue as it was spoken in Valinor, though they have other names in the speech of the Elves in Middle-earth,  and  their  names  among  Men  are  manifold. The names of the Lords in due order are: Manwë, Ulmo, Aulë, Oromë, Mandos, Lórien, and Tulkas.

vardasvapors:

I was thinking about that thing about Gandalf’s name Olorin meaning “dream” but with connotations that more closely mean “imagination” or “fantasy” and also how Irmo/Lorien is the vala of dreaming but also visions, with a more imagination and inspiration sort of bent rather than just the sleep phenomenon specifically and thought–

Could maiar of Irmo do things that could be vaguely described as being the muses of arda, and can they subtly assist – the way Gandalf (who wasn’t even a maia that specifically of Irmo)
went about subtly inspiring people to better wisdom and courage and
imagination – in stimulating storytellers’ and singers’ intuition about rumors and other ‘it is said’s regarding events of the great stories that have no witnesses?

I don’t want to think of this as an explanation – mostly because I hate magical stuff being explained in a way that is “this, instead of any other unexplained and/or unexplainable possibilities,” but say, as an addition. A nebulous and intangible one. As yet another semi-known but mostly mysterious element of storytelling and singing in a magical world, like we have seen in multiple scenes of multiple legendarium stories.

Things like Beren’s dream about the gore crows and the message from Gorlim happen even without any clear interventions (and I think, really do not need any explaining), but there is an interconnectedness still, simply because Middle Earth has a reality made of storytelling. Influences of the ainur are not hardline distinctions from nature – all is song. But even under this whole idea, I think, this wouldn’t make anything firmer or truer, the actual truth of tales told with an alleged spark of muses could not be ascertained by the tellers or listeners. Just sort of encouraged in people’s minds with greater than usual confidence that there’s something there worth thinking about and saying. Those unknowable unprovable ‘it is said’s are still wonderful, and should always hold mystery, I think.

There too grew the poppies glowing redly in the dusk, and those the Gods called fumellar the flowers of sleep — and Lorien used them much in his enchantments. Amidmost of those pleasances was set within a ring of shadowy cypress towering high that deep vat Silindrin. There it lay in a bed of pearls, and its surface unbroken was shot with silver flickerings, and the shadows of the trees lay on it, and the Mountains of Valinor could see their faces mirrored there. Lorien gazing upon it saw many visions of mystery pass across its face, and that he suffered never to be stirred from its sleep

Lorien, the Vala of getting super high 24/7 (The Book of Lost Tales Part I)