Posted: February 21, 1999 at 22:18:35: by Michael Martinez
: : Though this is not a topic I have recently seen discussed,
: : what reason did Tolkien have for giving the Valar genders. I
: : understand in most mythologies, the theme of powerful
: : indivuals acquiring their abilities from their godly
: : ancestory is present. I understand the reasoning for giving
: : the Maiar genders, but why the Valar. Tolkien mentions
: : somewhere in the Silmarillion I believe, that the Valar
: : marriages were different in the since from our perception of
: : marriages. This is one question that truly puzzles me. : In some of Tolkiens earlier(?) work he had the Valar have
: children. Fionwë (Eonwë) was supposedly the child of Manwë and
: Varda. : Genders really weren't that important. I read up on this
: subject a few years back, and if recall correctly, genders
: were more a representation of personality. Tulkas, for
: example, is a great warrior, a classic male roll. Therefore he
: embodies a male. : But keep in mind, Valar and Maiar have no bodies. They can
: take any form that pleases them, so I wouldn't really say that
: any of the Maia or Vala have genders at all. Well, in the conception published in THE SILMARILLION they have what might be called an inherent gender preference -- hence, the distinction of "male" and "female" among them was there. I believe Tolkien was simply holding gender over from the original mythology for England which had abandoned. As some people have noted in past discussions, he began to return in some ways to that concept late in his life, and had he lived to finish his work (if he could have) he might have altered all the stories incredibly in several ways. One way would have been the restoration of Aelfwine, the Anglo-Saxon traveller who uncovered the ancient stories and preserved them (although how he would tie all that into the RED BOOK OF WESTMARCH, I'm not sure). On the other hand, Tolkien was moving away from the original mythology altogether. He created male and female gods as seemed appropriate according to "real" or "folk" mythologies of the northern world. Their genders seem to be more important in real mythology. But after THE LORD OF THE RINGS was published, when Tolkien turned his attention back to "Quenta Silmarillion", he began to slowly evolve the opinion that the Eldar were highly civilized and perhaps more advanced than we are (or were, say, in the 1960s) in knowledge and understanding of the universe. From this point of view, he couldn't reconcile the Elvish stories of the creation of the stars, the world, the sun and the moon, and Earendil's star (Venus) with the Elves' profound widsom and lore. So he began to "speculate" that the stories (which we now read in THE SILMARILLION) were actually Mannish tales, adapted from older Eldarin lore which has changed through the ages. Even so, the creation of Sun and Moon, the awakening of Men, and other elements were being considered for radical change -- the story of the Two Trees might have vanished altogether. So, too, one may guess, might the genders and grand personalities of the Valar have vanished into a more Christian-like adaptation. And yet that might throw into peril the story of Beren and Luthien, who was the daughter of Melian the Maia. I'm sorry Tolkien never finished the work, but I'm glad he did not remake the stories -- I think their beauty would have been diminished, although he might have introduced other beauty to replace the old.
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Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, Revised Edition
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