Vanyar

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The main part of this article relates to a version of Middle-earth's history that is considered canon by many Tolkien fans (see: Middle-earth canon); it may contradict parts of The Silmarillion or other texts. This subject's portrayal in other versions is discussed in the concept and creation section.

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Vanyar are the fairest and most noble of the High Elves. They are the smallest of the three clans of the Eldar, and were the first to arrive in Aman. According to legend, the clan was founded by Imin, the first Elf to awake at Cuiviénen, his wife Iminyë, and their twelve companions; but it was Ingwë, the first Vanya to travel with Oromë to Valinor, who became their king. They speak Quendya, a dialect of Quenya found only in Valinor.

The name Vanyar (singular Vanya) means "(the) Fair" in Quenya, referring to their golden hair (the original meaning of the word "Vanya" approximating as "light/pale"). They are sometimes known, particularly amongst themselves, by their original name Minyar, meaning "the First". The word "vanya" in Quenya is also listed as a verb meaning "to leave/depart/vanish", which may have either arisen due to the almost complete disappearance of this clan early on in Elven history, or given rise to the noun "Vanya(r)" in later times. However, it is unclear if this is the case, and it appears that Tolkien may have dropped the use of "vanya" as a verb in his later conceptions of Quenya.

[edit] History

According to the Elven legend Cuiviényarna, the Vanyar are descendants of Imil, the first Elf to awake at Cuiviénen, his wife Iminyë, and six other pairs of Elves who were awoken by them. Imil's companions, Tata and Enel, later awoke groups of nine and twelve pairs respectively, and Imil decided that since his group was now the smallest and each group that he and his companions discovered was larger than the last, he would now choose third rather than first in order to make up the numbers. However, only a further two groups were discovered, leaving Imil's group of fourteen by far the smallest of the three Elven clans.

When the Elves were discovered by Oromë, each clan chose an ambassador to return with him to Valinor to verify his claims of its greatness. The Minyar (Imil's companions) sent Ingwë. Upon his return, his people were swayed by his testimony and adopted him as their king (appropriate, as the name Ingwë means chieftan in Quenya), and he led them with Oromë to Aman. Ingwë has since been reckoned the High King of all Elves, and became known as Ingwë Ingweron, the "Chief of Chieftains", and his people were known by the rest of the Eldar as the Vanyar. He dwells with them on the slopes of Taniquetil, beneath the halls of Manwë.

After arriving in Aman, the Vanyar were rarely seen even by other Elves. Very few individual Vanya are named besides Imil, Ingwë, and and his sister (or possibly niece) Indis, the second wife of Finwë (the king of the Noldor) and the mother of Fingolfin and Finarfin, the latter of which founded the only house of Noldorin Elves to sport golden Vanyarin hair. After her husband was killed by Melkor in his attack on Formenos, she returned to her people, along with her daughter Findis.

The pure Vanyar were only seen in Middle Earth once after their departure, when Ingwë's son Ingwion led an armed host of his people from Valinor to fight in the War of Wrath. They returned to Aman, along with most of the Eldar living in the now largely destroyed Beleriand, at the end of the First Age.

Though no pure Vanyar has set foot in Middle Earth after the great journey, save for the War of Wrath, it was through Indis, the second wife of Finwë (the king of the Noldor) and the mother of Fingolfin and Finarfin, that some Vanyar did come to Middle Earth, notably bringing their features such as their distinguishing golden Vanyarin hair.

[edit] Quendya

As the favoured Elves of Manwë, the Vanyar would have been more closely involved with the Valar and Maiar than the Noldor and Teleri, which presumably would have prompted at least some differences in their culture. The Vanyarin dialect of Quenya, known as Quendya, would seem to suggest this, incorporating as it does several words derived from Valarin which are not found in the Noldorin dialect, such as tulka ("yellow, from Valarin tulukha(n)), ulban ("blue", presumably from the same root as Valarin ulu/ullu meaning "water"), nasar (red, original Valarin not given) and miruvózë (from mirubhôzê, from which is also derived miruvor, the cordial of Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings). Vanyarin Quenya also retains a distinct accusative case for noun inflections, which was dropped from the exilic Noldorin variety.

It is interesting to note that all Vanyarin names cited by Tolkien (Ingwë, Indis and Ingwion), begin with a vowel (specifically "I" as part of the syllable "in(g)"), which may be related to the name of their tribe's founder Imil, which literally means "one, first", and retained as a reminder that they are of the first Elven clan. However, this is purely speculation, and this feature of the few isolated Vanyarin names available to us may be of no real significance.

[edit] Other versions of the legendarium

In the earliest versions of Tolkien's mythology (see: The History of Middle-earth), they were called Teleri, while the elves known as Teleri in the published version of The Silmarillion were called Solosimpi.