Ainulindalë
~ of Ilúvatar & the Music of the Ainur~

he first words of the Ainulindalë (Quenya: "The Music of the Ainur") introduce us to the name Eru - 'There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar...'. This wording can be seen as suggesting that Eru is the 'true' name of the supreme being, but in fact this doesn't seem to be the case - Eru is just Elvish for 'The One'.
Ilúvatar created the World and the beings who inhabit it, and only he fully knows its fate. Ilúvatar means "Father of All" and it is he whom created the Ainur, or Holy Ones. These primordial spirits, existed with Ilúvatar, and with Him created the world through the Music of the Ainur.
The Ainur are many and vary in power from the humblest spirit of tree or stone to the mightiest of the Powers of Arda - these are the Valar. Among the Valar nine were of chief power and reverence; but one is removed from their number, and eight remain.
The Aratar are the Exalted Ones of Arda. The eight greatest of the Valar - Manwë, Varda, Ulmo, Yavanna, Aulë, Mandos, Nienna and Oromë. Though Manwë was held to be the High King of Arda, all these eight were held in equal reverence, and were said to possess a majesty that surpassed even the other Valar. Melkor was arguably the greatest of all the Aratar, for he posessed a measure of all the gifts of his bretheren. But Melkor - later called, Morgoth Bauglir - ('Morgoth'

means 'Black Enemy'; 'Bauglir' is 'The Constrainer'), turned aside from that path decreed by Ilúvatar and became the first Dark Lord.
The Valar spirits who took physical form and entered Arda after its creation to give order to the world and combat the evils of Melkor, were fouteen in number. They dwelt originally on the Isle of Almaren, but after its destruction long ages before the Awakening of the Elves they removed to Aman and there founded the realm of Valinor.

Valaquenta
~ of the Lords of the Valar ~

Manwë Súlimo

Manwë Súlimo, King of the Valar, Lord of the Winds - Manwë is dearest to Ilúvatar and uderstands most clearly his purposes. He was appointed to be, in the fullness of time, the first of all Kings: lord of the realms of Arda and ruler of all that dwell therein. In Arda his delight is in the winds and the clouds, and in all the regions of the air, from the heights to the depths, from the utmost borders of the Veil of Arda to the breezes that blow in the grass. Súlimo he is surnamed, Lord of the Breath of Arda. All swift birds, strong of wing, he loves, and they come and go at his bidding.

Ulmo

Ulmo is the Lord of Waters. He is alone. He dwells nowhere long, but moves as he will in all the deep waters about the Earth or under the Earth. He is next in might to Manwë, and before Valinor was made he was closest to him in friendship; but thereafter he went seldom to the councils of the Valar, unless great matters were in debate. For he kept all Arda in thought, and he has no need of any resting-place. Moreover he does not love to walk upon land, and will seldom clothe himself in a body after the manner of his peers. If the Children of Eru beheld him they were filled with a great dread; for the arising of the King of the Sea was terrible, as a mounting wave that strides to the land, with dark helm foam-crested and raiment of mail shimmering from silver down into shadows of green. Th trumpets of Manwë are loud, but Ulmo's voice is deep as the deeps of the ocean which he only has seen.
Nonetheless Ulmo loves bothe Elves and Men, and never abandoned them, not even when they lay under the wrath of the Valar. At times he will come

unsen to the shores of Middle-earth, or pass far inland up firths of the sea, and there make music upon his great horns, the Ulumúri, that are wrought of white shell; and those to whom that music comes hear it ever after in their hearts, and longing for the sea never leaves them again. But mostly Ulmo speaks to those who dwell in Middle-earth with voices that are heard only as the music of water. For all seas, lakes, rivers, fountains and springs are in his government; so that the Elves say that the spirit of Ulmo runs in all the veins of the world. Thus news comes to Ulmo, even in the deeps, of all the needs and griefs of Arda, which otherwise would be hidden from Manwë.

Aulë

Aulë, the Smith - Aulë has might little less than Ulmo. His lordship is over all the substances of which Arda is made. In the beginning he wrought much in fellowship with Manwë and Ulmo; and the fashioning of all lands was his labour. He is a smith and a master of all crafts, and he delights in works of skill, however small, as much as in the mighty building of old. His are the gems that lie deep in the Earth and the gold that is fair in the hand, no less than the walls of the mountains and the basins of the sea. The Noldor learned most of him, and he was ever their friend. Melkor was jealous of him, for Aulë was most like himself in thought and in powers; and there was long strife between them, in which Melkor ever marred or undid the works of Aulë, and Aulë grew weary in repairing the tumults and dis-orders of Melkor. Both, also, desired to make things of

their own that should be new and unthought of by others, and delighted in the praise of their skill. But Aulë remained faithful to Eru and submitted all that he did to his will; and he did not envy the works of others, but sought and gave counsel. Whereas Melkor spent his spirit in envy and hate, until at last he could make nothing save in mockery of the thought of others, and all their works he destroyed if he could.

Oromë

Oromë, the Golden, the Great Rider - Oromë is a mighty lord. If he is less strong than Tulkas, he is more dreadful in anger; wheras Tulkas laughs ever, in sport or in war, and even in the face of Melkor he laughed in battles before the Elves were born. Oromë loved the lands of Middle-earth, and he left them unwillingly and came last to Valinor; and often of old he passed back east over the mountains and returned with his host to the hills and the plains. He is a hunter of monsters and fell beasts, and he delights in horses and in hounds; and all trees he loves, for which reason he is called Aldaron, and by the Sindar Tauron, the Lord of Forests. Nahar is the name of his horse, white in the sun, and shining silver at night. The Valaróma is the name of his great horn, the sound of which is like the upgoing of the Sun in scarlet, or the sheer lightning cleaving the clouds. Above all the horns of his host it was heard in the woods that Yavanna brought forth in Valinor; for there Oromë would train his folk and his beasts for the pursuit of the evil creatures of Melkor.

Námo Mandos

Námo Mandos, Judge of the Dead - The Fëanturi, masters of spirits, are brethren, and they are called most often Mandos and Lórien. Yet these are rightly the names of the places of their dwelling, and their true names are Námo and Irmo. Námo the elder dwells in Mandos, which is west-ward in Valinor. He is the keeper of the Houses of the Dead, and the summoner of the spirits of the slain. He forgets nothing; and he knows all things that shall be, save only those that lie still in the freedom of Ilúvatar. He is the doomsman of the Valar; but he pronounces his dooms and his judgements only at the bidding of Manwë.

Irmo Lórien

Irmo Lórien, Master of Dreams - Irmo the younger is the master of visions and dreams. In Lórien are his gardens in the land of the Valar, and they are the fairest of all places in the world, filled with many spirits. From the fountains of Irmo and Estë all those who dwell in Valinor draw refreshment; and often the Valar come themselves to Lórien and there find repose and easing of the burden of Arda.

Tulkas Astaldo

Tulkas Astaldo, Champion of Valinor - Greatest in strength and deeds of prowess is Tulkas, who is sur-named Astaldo, the Valiant. He came last to Arda, to aid the Valar in the first Battles with Melkor. He delights in wrestling and in contests of strength; and he rides no steed, for he can outrn all things that go on feet, and he is tireless. His hair and beard are golden, and his flesh ruddy; his weapons are his hands. He has little head for either the past or the future, and is of no avail as a counsellor, but is a hardy friend.

Queens of the Valar
~ the Valier ~

Varda Elentári

arda Elentári - Lady of the Stars, who knows all the regions of Eä. Too great is her beauty to be declared in the words of Men or of Elves; for the light of Ilúvatar lives still in her face. In light is her power and her joy. Out of the deeps of Eä she came to the aid of Manwë; for Melkor she knew from before the making of the Music and rejected him, and he hated her, and feared her more than all others whom Eru made.

Yavanna Kementári

Yavanna Kementári - The spouse of Aulë is Yavanna, the Giver of Fruits. She is the lover of all things that grow in the earth, and all their countless forms she holds in her mind, from the trees like towers in forests long ago to the moss upon stones or the small and secret things in the mould. In reverence Yavanna is next to Varda among the Queens of the Valar. In the form of a woman she is tall, and robed in green; but at times she takes other shapes. Some there are who have seen her standing like a tree under heaven, crowned with the Sun; and form all its branches there spilled a golden dew upon the barren earth, and it grew green with corn; but the roots of the tree were in the waters of

Ulmo, and the winds of Manwë spoke in its leaves. Kementári, Queen of the Earth, she is surnamed in the Eldarin tounge.

Estë

Estë, the Gentle - Estë the gentle, healer of hurts and weariness, is Irmo's spouse. Grey is her rainment; and rest is her gift. She walks not by day, but sleeps upon an island in the tree-shadowed lake of Lórellin.

Nienna

Nienna, Lady of Mercy - Mightier than Estë is Nienna, sister of the Fëanturi; she dwells alone. She is acquainted with grief, and mourns for every wound that Arda has suffered in the marring of Melkor. So great was her sorrow, as the Music unfolded, that her song turned to lamentation long before its end, and the sound of mourning was woven into the themes of the World before it began. But she does not weep for herself; and those who hearken to her learn pity, and endurance in hope. Her halls are west of West, upon the borders of the world; and she comes seldom to the city of Valimar where all is glad. She goes rather to the halls of Mandos, which

are near to her own; and all those who wait in Mandos cry to her, for she brings strength to the spirit and turns sorrow to wisdom. The windows of her house look outward from the walls of the world.

Vairë

Vairë, the Weaver - She who weaves all things that have ever been in Time into her storied webs, and the halls of Mandos that ever widen as the ages pass are clothed with them. She is the spouse of Námo.

Vána

Vána, the Ever-young - The spouse of Oromë is Vána, the Ever-young; she is the youn-ger sister of Yavanna. All flowers spring as she passes and open if she glances upon them; and the birds sing at her coming.

Nessa

Nessa - The spouse of Tulkas is Nessa, the sister of Oromë, and she also is lithe and fleetfooted. Deer she loves, and they follow her train whenever she goes in the wild; but she can outrun them, swift as an arrow with the wind in her hair. In dancing she delights, and she dances in Valimar on lawns of never-fading green.