#varda

[silmalope]

“He sees no stars who does not see them first / of living silver made that sudden burst / to flame like flowers beneath an ancient song.”

Day 2 of @tolkienlatamandcaribbeanweek, Varda kindling the stars with the dew of Telperion, inspired by Panamanian pollera & tembleques.

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

lol at Morgoth being terrified both of Varda and Arien, the source of all the light of Arda via the sun and stars, and of Ungoliant, a source of darkness so profound that it actively consumes light. Pick a lane, my dude.

[elvafil]

Long long years ago... beginning of 90th, the Age of Books before all movies)

Varda Elentári and Yavanna.

[afanofmanyhats]

One of my favorite things about Tolkien's writing is that he has a very specific, recurring trope. For lack of a better term, I'm dubbing this the Tolkien Wife-Guy.

This is mainly obvious in the Silmarillion, but Tolkien loves to write couples where the man is a notable individual- nobility, commits a great deed, or both- but the wife is at least equally notable, if not more beloved or powerful. Manwe is the king of the Valar and Eru's main representative in Arda? Everyone loves Varda more, and Melkor fears her more than his own brother. Elu Thingol is the king of the Silvan Elves? His wife is Melian, whose Girdle is the magic that keeps Morgoth's forces at bay. Beren is a chief among the Edain, who befriends animals and survives one of the most nightmarish places in Beleriand? His wife is Luthien.

Even in Lord of the Rings we see this occur, though the couples are on more even footing. Tom Bombadil is... Tom Bombadil, but Goldberry is the River-daughter, and Tom adores her above everything else, and the hobbits are completely taken in with her when she's their host. Similarly, while Celeborn is a mighty lord among Elves, Galadriel is one of the only Noldor in Middle-earth who saw the Two Trees, and her hair inspired Feanor to make the Silmarils, not to mention her own accomplishments in the war against Morgoth. Aragorn is the king of Gondor and Arnor, but Arwen is the Evenstar of the Elves, the descendant of three(?) different royal Elven lines. And Faramir becomes the Steward of Gondor and is one of the noblest men alive, but Eowyn killed the Witch-king, so you know. She got the grander moment for the saga.

But with (most) of these couples, we never get the impression that the man views his wife as Less-Than, or as a junior partner. Thingol is the main exception to this in how he dismisses Melian's counsel, and that's made out to be his foolishness within the text. Otherwise, Manwe treats Varda as his co-ruler, Beren never tries to downplay Luthien's achievements, and I'm pretty sure most of Tom Bombadil's dialogue is about how gorgeous Goldberry is. It's really sweet.

All of these examples really testify to how much Tolkien loved his wife. People rightly point to Beren and Luthien as the prime example of that, but I think you can find it in these other couples too. Even though Edith is mainly known to history as Mrs. Tolkien, it's evident to me that Jirt saw her as a whole person worthy of admiration outside of being his wife.

[thyinum]

Queen of the Stars

[uvanym]

manwë and varda, inspired by der küss (klimt)

[lucigianart]

Enamel pin designs featuring heraldic devices for (some, but not all) the valar, important characters from Tolkien's legendarium. I will be creating heraldic devices for all the valar (eventually). Which ones speak out to you? Do you have a favorite vala? If I'm honest, I really can't decide, but I do really love Mando's, Ulmo's, and Manwë's devices!

I’m making these via. Kickstarter and will be released as a three-part series. The first campaign is live! 🙌 Here’s a link. 🔗

[mateiru]

Manwë and Varda as the painting "The Kiss" - Gustav Klimt

[yuinevo]

Varda redraw

[thelien-art]

Melkor, Manwë & Varda; Most Powerful of the Valar 

Might also be my favorite Valar just need to add Nienna too design HC below↓

Melkor: This is obviously post Silmaril heist as he is already burnt and has white hair, which I HC him getting after fleeing Valinor, as he is said he took a foul form before being trapped in his body, yet when meeting the Edain, he has a fair form, which I explain by the importance of colour.

Colour is important for our welfare as it influences our moods, stimulates our brains, and decides how we experience the world, I find it exciting for Melkor, as a manipulator, to use colour to manipulate, which especially is seen in Angband, and also use it on his body, so when he gets stuck in a physical body, I interpret that as him being unable to fully shed a body, unable to roam simply as a power, and getting his crayons ability to use colour taken from him as punishment, so when the Ainur says he is trapped in a body, all elvers just assume that they mean only one body, and when asking into it the Ainur more or less confirm this as they have problems seeing the difference between being stuck in a body you can change, and being stuck in a body you CAN´T change.

And as always I like to think Melkor created a lot of pressure metal/gemstones, and as is canon in Morgoth´s ring, gold holds the biggest part of him after he poured himself into the world, so gold he shall be clad in😌

Manwë: I take great inspiration from the wedge-tailed and Golden eagle, as well as biblical angels, and peacocks for his clothes. I like the idea of his hair being a part of the sky, just like with Varda giving the "Lords of all Wind" a different sweet respect. He and Melkor, when first making bodies, took forms that looked alike, which he kept, so he looked closest to what Melkor looked like before his downfall.

I give him bronze as it has a warmer told, and I while I don´t doubt he can be cold, I always read him as someone who´s trying to cater to everyone even if it doesn't always go like he wants it to.

Varda: Rearely do I think she goes down to the Eldar, which also means she has a tendency to blend the light of the stars into her body a bit more than what might be safe for those who are not of the Ainur, making her almost transparent with inner light at times, and although she quickly corrects it when she accidentally does it the Eldar says that the reason it hurts looking at her is because of her beauty, much to her own amusement. And then, of course, the underside of her hair is the same night sky you can see closest to the door of night and the gates of morning where it is at its clearest.

I give Varda silver as that was one of the things Melkor couldn´t put his power in, including water, and a little headcanon of mine is she might have had a hand in the star metal being untainted...

Support me on Ko-Fi - get early access drawings + WIPs

[akzgaj]

Varda sketch.

I want to thank you for every follow of my instagram account akzgaj.autorka. It is very important to me ❤️. As I promised, I will try to add sketches related to Silmarillion more often.

[baiyeliuhuo]

Halfway through the poker series…

♣ : K Manwe Q Varda J Namo

♠ : K Feanaro Q Galadriel J Maglor

(Because there are too many characters in the book, I can't draw all the characters. Ijust draw whoever comes to mind)…Maybe more

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

L'une chante, l'autre pas (Agnès Varda, 1977)

[l-otr]

Sowing stars by Valera Lutfullina

[violecov]

Manwë Sulimo, Lord of the winds. (baby).

Edit: The original drawing has been found and I have been sent the link!! Here you guys have.

[velvet4510]

I just want to say to my fellow female Tolkien fans that we should not feel ashamed for loving these books that are admittedly male-centric.

It’s tempting to call Tolkien a sexist for including so few female characters in his legendarium - and I admit that yes he was not entirely free of sexism - but we must remember that the women he did include are the epitome of girl power and some of the best role models we could ask for: strong and willful and noble and brave, without sacrificing their femininity to prove themselves.

It’s glorious to me how you can flip through the books and see page after page of men doing everything … and then suddenly:

There’s Varda creating the Stars, Sun, and Moon!!

There’s Yavanna saving her trees by inspiring the creation of the Ents!!

There’s Melian making an Elf king forget his own people and then shielding an entire kingdom!!

There’s Lúthien defeating Sauron himself AND Morgoth himself!!!

There’s Idril preventing the complete annihilation of her people by creating the secret path out of Gondolin!!

There’s Galadriel resisting the One Ring!!

There’s Éowyn killing the lord of the Nazgûl!!

There’s Ioreth saving the victims of the Black Breath through her knowledge that the king will be the healer!!

There’s Arwen bridging the gap between Elves and Men as Queen of Gondor!!

There’s 100-year-old Lobelia beating Ruffians with her umbrella and leaving money in her will to help homeless hobbits!!

There’s Rosie raising 13 kids while simultaneously serving the whole Shire as Mistress of Bag End!!

There’s Elanor guarding and preserving the Red Book so that we can read it now!!!

That’s why I just can’t hold too big of a grudge about this. Yes, Tolkien didn’t write female characters too often, and it would’ve been fantastic if there were more. But when he did write them, they were amazing.

And on top of that, his male characters display literally our dream level of healthy masculinity in a man. Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Faramir, etc. are our wish fulfillment. We have every right to enjoy that.