The Valar - Tumblr Posts
Manwë, to Melkor, who is drinking vodka: That is going to kill you one day. You know that, right?
Melkor: Yeah I do. I'm trying to speed this shit up.
The Ainulindalë, basically
Eru and the Valar: *opera singing ripe for Broadway musicals*
Melkor:
Melkor: *gets out bass guitar, starts playing heavy metal*
I like the idea that the Valar can grant boons to men or elves they favor. Sometimes visible– glowing markings, feathers, claws– and sometimes not. Attitudes of these blessings ranged from fear to reverence to jealousy, often reflecting opinions of the Valar more generally.
Galadriel's special treelight hair came from Finarfin. Finarfin got it as a result of Manwe's favor. Given how rare it was for Manwe to bestow such gifts, this caused quite a stir. Later, Morgoth would spread rumors that Manwe was trying to set Finarfin up as the new Noldor crown prince, bypassing Finwe's older children.
Namo gave Fingolfin a blessing, and no one was particularly sure why, Fingolfin included. The truth was that Namo had already foreseen Fingolfin's death, and wanted to give him the strength to let him wound Morgoth before falling to him. Namo has always felt a sense of responsibility for those who choose to come to his halls, even if he's powerless to change their fates.
Celegorm was blessed by Orome, given the kind of teeth and claws that a few of his best disciples had been granted over the years. Orome couldn't take those gifts back, so Celegorm kept them for all his life. You wouldn't know that looking at paintings of him, though, because none of them show him with the marks of Orome's hunt. Whether this was a choice made by him or by later revisionists trying to minimize his connection with the Valar is unknown.
Varda gave blessings to both Earendil and Gil-Galad in the final years of the First Age. Both of them are said to have shone like stars afterwards, and there were some darker rumors that like the hallowed Silmarils, they would burn any unholy flesh that touched them. Some speculated that the blessings were Varda's way of apologizing for leaving the elves to face Morgoth alone for so long.
Ulmo is probably the Vala who's given out the most blessings– Cirdan, Turgon, Finrod, and Tuor all recieved boons from him, among others. But everyone who's gotten blessings from Ulmo is weirdly secretive about it. There's lots of gossip floating around– Ulmo is the reason Cirdan has a beard, Ulmo is the reason Turgon is taller than Maedhros, Ulmo is the reason that everyone likes Finrod so much, actually everyone blessed by Ulmo gets gills and he has secret underwater meetings with them– you get the idea. Well, probably no reason to consider that last one. I can't imagine any of the Valar using their power for something that foolish.
There is fierce scholarly debate on whether Thingol received a blessing from Melian, and whether her descendants could, theoretically, do the same. Elrond would like everyone to please stop asking him about it. Elrond would also like everyone to please stop talking about Gil-Galad's hair turning silver after the two of them took a very normal hunting trip together.
(Multiple Valar have tried to take credit for just how amazingly luscious and wonderful Finwe's hair is. But no, that wasn't a blessing. He's just like that.)
FËANOR OF THE NOLDOR
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“For Fëanor was made the mightiest in all parts of body, and mind: in valor, in endurance, in beauty, in understanding, in skill, in strength and subtlety alike: of all the Children of Ilúvatar, and a bright flame was in him.”
Fëanor of the Noldor. He was a linguist, lore-master, warrior, and the most prolific gem-master of his age; creator of the Tengwar script, and the Palantíri. He was considered the best in body, mind and countenance of the elves.
Fëanor was also the creator of the three Silmaril jewels; before Sauron and the one Ring, the Silmarils were the most deeply desired forged objects of the First Age. He made them from the light of the Two Trees of Valinor, and shined with a brilliance beyond anything in the known world. Fëanor wore them proudly, and came to greedily covet his creations. Melkor (later known as Morgoth, Valar of Ruin, master to the future dark lord Sauron) also coveted the Silmarils and eventually stole them, after he and Ungoliant (the great spider, mother of Shelob) destroyed the Trees of Valinor. When asked to give up the Silmarils so that their light may revive the two great trees, Fëanor refused—and took it even further. Taking up his sword, he—and all his sons—swore a blood oath to kill any who would keep that which was rightfully his: the the Silmarils. His brilliance and fury would put in motion everything that would lead to the first Kinslaying among the elves, the destruction of the Noldor, the fall of half of Middle Earth into the sea, and the greatest deeds and tragedies of the First Age. Under the deceptive guidance of Sauron, his grandson Celebrimbor would go on to forge the elven Rings of Power.
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Fëanor is my favorite. I cannot and will not explain why.