The Valar (['valar]; singular Vala) are characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They are "angelic … See more

The creator Eru Ilúvatar first reveals to the Ainur his great vision of the world, Arda, through musical themes, as described in Ainulindalë, "The Music of the Ainur".
This world, fashioned from his ideas and expressed … See more

The names and attributes of the chief Valar, as they are described in the "Valaquenta", are listed below. In Middle-earth, they are known by their Sindarin names: Varda, for example, is called Elbereth. Men know them by many ot… See more

Tolkien at first decided that Valarin, the tongue of the Valar, would be the proto-language of the Elves. He developed the Valarin language and its grammar in the early 1930s. In this early conception, as described i… See more

The passage at the start of the Old English poem Beowulf about Scyld Scefing contains a cryptic mention of þā ("those") who have sent Scyld as a baby in a boat, presumably from across the sea, and to whom Scyld's body is retu… See more