12/24/2020 Ainulindalë - Wikipedia

Ainulindalë
Ainulindalë (Quenya: [ˌai̯ nuˈlindalɛ ]; "Music of the Ainur") is the creation account in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, published as the first part of
the posthumously published The Silmarillion (1977).

In many ways central to Tolkien's "sub creative" cosmology, the Ainulindalë gives an account of the Ainur, a class of angelic beings who perform a
great music prefiguring the creation of the material universe (Eä). The creator Eru Ilúvatar introduces the theme of the sentient races of Elves and
Men, not anticipated by the Ainur, and gives physical being to the prefigured universe. Some of the Ainur decide to enter the physical world to
prepare for their arrival, becoming the Valar and Maiar.

Tolkien wrote the initial version of "Ainulindalë" between November 1919 and the spring of 1920 as "Music of the Ainur", completely rewriting it in
1930. After further revisions by the author, it was published by his son Christopher in The Book of Lost Tales 1.

Contents
Synopsis
Writing
Reception
Analysis
Legacy
See also
Notes
References
Primary
Secondary

Synopsis
"Ainulindalë" recounts the creation of Arda by the deity Eru Ilúvatar. The story begins with a description of the Ainur as "children of Ilúvatar's
thought". They are taught the art of music, which becomes the subject of their immortal lives. The Ainur sing alone or in small groups about themes
given to each of them by Ilúvatar, who proposes a "great" plan for them all: a collaborative symphony where they would sing together in harmony.
Although the Ainur embody Ilúvatar's thoughts, they are expected to use their freedom to assist the development of the "great" plan.

The most powerful of the Ainur, Melkor, is introduced to the music. Although his "loud, and vain" music disrupts the harmony, Ilúvatar stands,
smiles and raises his left hand to begin a new theme. When Melkor again spoils the second theme, Ilúvatar rises sternly and raises his right hand to
begin a third. Melkor tries to corrupt this theme with the volume of his music, but it is powerful enough to prevent him from succeeding. Ilúvatar
ends the music, chastises Melkor and leaves the Ainur to their thoughts.

The deity takes the Ainur to see how music, at the end of the Void, created Arda. When the third theme results in the arrival of the Children of
Ilúvatar, the Elves and the Men, many Ainur want to go into the world to visit them. Although Melkor was the first of the Ainur to be named, Ulmo
was the first to take action in Arda. Despite Melkor's efforts, Ulmo's water cannot be ruined by heat or cold; he and Manwë are revealed as the
primary agents of Ilúvatar's plans.

Some Ainur remains in the Timeless Halls with Ilúvatar, and others go into Arda as the Valar and Maiar. The Ainur begin to prepare for the arrival
of the Children of Ilúvatar; Melkor repeatedly thwarts their preparations, desiring to rule Arda. Manwë summons the Ainur to resist Melkor, who
retreats. When the Valar later assume bodily form, the first war of Eä begins, but Manwë's efforts make the Earth habitable for Elves and Men.

Writing
The first version of "Ainulindalë" (known as "The Music of the Ainur") was intended to be part of Tolkien's The Book of
Lost Tales, written in the 1910s and 1920s and published by Christopher Tolkien in the first two volumes of The
History of Middle-earth.[1] In a letter to Christopher Bretherton, dated 16 July 1964, Tolkien wrote the first version of
"Ainulindalë" between November 1918 and the spring of 1920, while he was working on the Oxford English
Dictionary.[2]

The first draft of the story, written in pencil, does not vary significantly from the published version; future changes
involved the addition of Manwë and Aulë.[3] The narrator in the earlier version is the elf Rúmil of Tirion and the
language differs from that of the Silmarillion version. "Melkor" is spelt "Melko", and Ilúvatar weeps before he creates
the third theme. At the end is a section about the Valar, which was later moved to the "Valaquenta".[3]

Tolkien abandoned Ainulindalë for many years. Although it did not appear in the "Sketch of the Mythology", in which
he summarised his legendarium in 1926,[4] the subject was briefly mentioned in "Annals of Valinor" and "Quenta
Silmarillion". Tolkien rewrote "The Music of the Ainur" during the 1930s, leaving most of its storyline intact.[5]
Tolkien in the 1940s
In 1946, while he was drafting The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote a new version of "Ainulindalë" of which only half a
torn page survives. His legendarium then changed radically, so that Arda has always existed, the Sun existed when the
world was formed and the Moon was formed as a result of Melkor's destruction.[6] Tolkien's concept of the Lamps of the Valar was abandoned in
favour of a more coherent creation myth, with scientific elements. The idea of a spherical world was also abandoned after a reader said that she
preferred a flat one.[6][7]

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In 1948 Tolkien began a new version, eliminating mentions of the Sun and the Moon, and introducing the concept that Ilúvatar created the world
after the visions of the Ainur died away. In this version, which added several new details,[8] the narrator is the elf Pengoloð.[9]

Reception
Although commentary on The Silmarillion has primarily focused on the work as a whole, the reaction to "Ainulindalë" has been generally positive. A
British writer, Joseph Pearce, called it "the most important part of The Silmarillion" and said, "The myth of creation is perhaps the most significant
and most beautiful of Tolkien's works."[10] Brian Rosebury considered "Ainulindalë" a success, with "appropriately 'scriptural'" prose.[11] Several
Jesuits have praised the story; James V. Schall said, "I have never read anything as beautiful as the first page of The Silmarillion" and Robert
Murray said, "In all literature, from the formation of the sacred books of humanity, it is very difficult to find a comparable mythological story of
creation by its beauty and imaginative power."[10]

According to Fantasy Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide, "Every part of [The Silmarillion] benefits from the power and audacity of
imaginative genius Tolkien and his brilliant style" and "Ainulindalë" has "organ tones".[12] Although Ralph C. Wood called it "one of the finest and
most original of [Tolkien's] writings",[13] the stylistic differences between this story and the rest of The Silmarillion have been the subject of
debate.[14]

Analysis
"Ainulindalë", written early in Tolkien's career, demonstrates the importance of music in his legendarium.[15] According to John Gardner, "Music is
the central symbol and the total myth of The Silmarillion, a symbol that becomes interchangeable with light (music's projection)."[16]

"The Music of the Ainur", as it appears in The Book of Lost Tales, refers to Norse mythology. Like Theogony and Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda, it
answers cosmogonical questions.[17] The story's style has been compared to that of old Norse texts. Although the wording differs substantially, the
Valar and the Æsir are alike in influencing the world and being influenced by their actions; Manwë has been compared to Odin in this context.[18]

Despite the story's Norse pagan elements, such as the Ainur performing the creative work of Ilúvatar, other aspects of "Ainulindalë" reflect Tolkien's
Catholicism.[19] His pre-Christian story[19] has been called "Tolkien's Genesis essay";[20] according to another source, "The Biblical parallels evinced
by the creation account of the Ainulindalë ... are inescapable."[21]

Marjorie Burns, who worked on the different versions of "Ainulindalë", said that Tolkien increasingly Christianised the Valar and reduced the
influence of Norse mythology in successive revisions.[22] In the story, Tolkien expresses a global view of Christianity, with good and evil paralleling
the stories in the Book of Genesis.[13] As Gandalf says to Frodo Baggins, "There was nothing bad in the beginning, even Sauron was not."[23] In
"Ainulindalë", Ilúvatar creates everything good; evil intrudes later.[24] Though evil is brought about in the creation song by Melkor's pride, the
Ilúvatar incorporates it into the conclusion of his divine plan. The theme of evil being a perversion of good correlates to Christian theology regarding
the existence of evil in a world made by a benevolent creator. Even Melkor's pride is Eru's will. As Eru himself declares "no theme may be played
that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite".[25]

Legacy
Adam C. J. Klein composed an opera, Leithian, based on The Silmarillion[26] and Frank Felice composed an orchestral version of "Ainulindalë".[27]

According to Colin Duriez, "Ainulindalë" may have inspired C. S. Lewis to have his fictional world of Narnia created from a song.[28]

See also
Valaquenta Middle-earth
The History of Middle-earth (volumes 1–12) Middle-earth canon
The Lord of the Rings Mythopoeia
The Hobbit Tolkien's legendarium
Cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium

Notes
1. Tolkien 1984, p. 67. 16. Gardner 1977.
2. Tolkien 1981, p. 345. 17. Le Berre 2004, p. 344.
3. Tolkien 1984, pp. 88–90. Christopher Tolkien described the 18. Vos 2011.
difference between the initial and final versions of Ainulindalë. 19. Gough 1999.
4. Tolkien 1986, p. 42. 20. Bramlett & Christopher 2007, p. 36.
5. Tolkien 1987, p. 155. 21. Fisher 2011, p. 47.
6. Tolkien 2002, pp. 4–6. 22. Burns, Marjorie. "All in One, One in All" in Agøy 1998.
7. Tolkien 2002, pp. 369–371. 23. Tolkien 1954, Chapter 2.
8. Tolkien 2002, pp. 3–44. 24. Rosebury, Brian. "Good and Evil" in Drout 2007, p. 250.
9. Tolkien 2002, pp. 29–30. 25. Degani, Jason (2005). "Of Faith and Fairy-story" ([Link]
10. Pearce 1998, pp. 87–89. org/web/20160706060550/[Link]
11. Rosebury 1992, p. 97. l1/[Link]) (PDF). The Gray Book Online Journals of Middle Earth.
Archived from the original ([Link]
12. Tymn, Zahorski & Boyer 1979, p. 167.
ol1/[Link]) (PDF) on 2016-07-06.
13. Wood 2003, p. 11.
26. Eden 2010, p. 161.
14. Smith 1986, p. 866.
27. Eden 2010, p. 164.
15. Eden, Bradford Lee (2004). "The Music of the Spheres: Relationship
between Tolkien's Silmarillion and Medieval Religious and 28. Bramlett & Christopher 2007, pp. 141–142, citing Duriez 1992.
Cosmological Theory" in Chance 2002.

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References

Primary
Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954). The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-345-33971-3.
Tolkien, J. R. R. (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Allen & Unwin, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-05699-6.
Tolkien, J. R. R. (1984). The Book of Lost Tales. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-0-395-35439-1.
Tolkien, J. R. R. (1986). The Shaping of Middle-earth. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-317-47339-1.
Tolkien, J. R. R. (1987). The Lost Road and Other Writings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-45519-7.
Tolkien, J. R. R. (2002). Morgoth's Ring. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-261-10300-9.

Secondary
Agøy, Nils Ivar, ed. (1998). Between Faith and Fiction. Tolkien and Gough, John (1999). "Tolkien's Creation Myth in The Silmarillion—
the Powers of His World. Oslo. ISBN 978-91-973500-0-6. Northern or Not?". Children's Literature in Education. 30 (1): 1–8.
Bramlett, Perry C.; Christopher, Joe R. (2007). I Am in Fact a Hobbit: doi:10.1023/A:1022476101121 ([Link]
An Introduction to the Life and Works of J. R. R. Tolkien ([Link] 22476101121). S2CID 141295897 ([Link]
[Link]/books?id=8ef3-s6fixIC&pg=PA86). Mercer University orpusID:141295897).
Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-894-7. Le Berre, Aline (2004). From Prometheus to the steam engine
Chance, Jane (2002). Tolkien the Medievalist. Routledge Studies in Cosmogonies and myths through time and space. Presses
Medieval Religion. ISBN 978-0-415-28944-3. Universitaires de Limoges. ISBN 978-2-84287-336-3.
Drout, Michael D. C. (2007). J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Pearce, Joseph (1998). Tolkien: Man and Myth. London:
Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Routledge. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-274018-0.
doi:10.4324/9780203961513 ([Link] Rosebury, Brian (1992). Tolkien: A Critical Assessment. St. Martin's.
1513). ISBN 978-0-415-96942-0. ISBN 978-0-333-53896-8.
Duriez, Colin (1992). The J. R. R. Tolkien Handbook. Baker Books. Tymn, Marshall B.; Zahorski, Kenneth J.; Boyer, Robert H. (1979).
ISBN 978-0-8010-3014-7. Fantasy Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide ([Link]
Eden, Bradford Lee (2010). Middle-earth Minstrel: Essays on Music [Link]/details/fantasyliteratur00tymn). R. R. Bowker Co.
in Tolkien. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4814-2. ISBN 978-0-8352-1153-6.
Fisher, Jason (2011). Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Smith, Curtis C. (1986). Twentieth-century fiction writers ([Link]
Essays ([Link] [Link]/details/twentiethcentury0000unse_v9c2). St. James' Press.
McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6482-1. ISBN 978-0-912289-27-4.
Gardner, John (12 October 1977). The World of Tolkien. The New Vos, Holger (2011). Die Weltdeutung im 'Silmarillion' von J. R. R.
York Times Book Review. Tolkien ([Link]
A44) (in German). Grin Verlag. ISBN 978-3-640-81106-9.
Wood, Ralph C. (2003). The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of
the Kingdom in Middle-earth ([Link]
ingt00wood). Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-
664-22610-7.

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