(V)Arda Marred: The Evolution of the Queen of the Stars in Tolkien’s Legendarium

Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University

§ Introduction

In a letter to Milton Waldman (circa 1951), J.R.R. Tolkien explained that "once upon a time… I had in mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy story" (Carpenter 2000, 144-5). Although the professor never completed this life’s work, the one most dear to his heart, through the dedicated hands of his son Christopher, a version of this grand tale was finally published thirty years ago as The Silmarillion. One of the most powerful characters, of either gender, to appear in the published form of The Silmarillion is undoubtedly Varda (Elbereth), Queen of the Stars. Complementary in abilities to Manwë, her spouse, she above all others is said to be feared by Melkor (26). It is she who creates the first generation of stars in the early history of Eä, fills the Two Lamps with light, and hallows the Silmarils. Her purposeful creation of the second generation of stars, to illuminate the coming of the Elves, is called the "greatest of all the works of the Valar since their coming into Arda" (48). At the conclusion of this monumental task, she creates the Big Dipper (Valacirca), set to swing around the northern sky as a symbol of Melkor’s eventual demise. Varda also plays a seminal role in the creation of the sun and moon, and designates their motions in the heavens. As Tolkien acknowledged in the letter to Waldman, "Light is such a primeval symbol in the nature of the Universe that it can hardly be analysed" (Carpenter 2000, 148). It is therefore understandable that the Queen of the Stars is referred to more than a dozen times in The Lord of the Rings (mostly calls for her protection), including the explanation by Aragorn that the name of Elbereth is more deadly to the Witch King of Angmar than any blade (FOTR, 210).

However, as Verlyn Flieger (2005, 63) warns us, "the published Silmarillion gives a misleading impression of coherence and finality, as if it were a canonical text, where as the mass of material from which that volume was taken is a jumble of overlapping and often competing stories, annals, and lexicons." Among the significant changes found throughout the evolution of Tolkien’s legendarium are, as Christopher Tolkien explains, the familial relationships, roles and relative importance of the various Valar (e.g. BOLT 80, 202; SOME 275).

The focus of this paper is not the question of the Valar’s limited power as subcreators or governors of Arda (Carpenter 2000, 146; 235), nor the complex etymology of Varda’s panoply of different names. Nor will we appeal to Tolkien’s Catholicism in an attempt to draw parallels with the Virgin Mary. Instead, this paper will iinvestigate the waxing and waning of Varda’s characteristics and relative importance as reflected in five very specific actions – namely her role in the creation of the primordial stars, greater stars, Valacirca, Two Lamps, and sun and moon – as well as descriptions of her attributes of power , regardless of whether she is termed Star Queen, Star Kindler, or Star Maker.

§ First Iteration: The Book of Lost Tales

In The Book of Lost Tales, Varda, who "at the playing of the Music had thought much of light that was white and silver, and of stars" (65), is generally depicted as lesser in power to her husband, and seems to accomplish little of note without his (and Aulë’s) aid and guidance. In this earliest version of the legendarium, Varda’s original efforts of star creation are described as "playing", in which she "set but a few stars within the sky" (69). As in later tales, Aulë created the Two Lamps, but here their light was "gathered lavishly from the sky" by Manwë and Varda (69). After the destruction of the Lamps, Varda "wished to gather new store" of light from the heavens to "set a beacon on Taniquetil", but was overruled by her husband, who did not wish for any more light to be taken from the skies. Instead, he requested that Ulmo gather some of the liquid light found in "blazing lakes and the pools of brilliance" which he brought back to Valinor to fill "two great cauldrons that Aulë fashioned" (70-1).

The reader then finds that in Valinor Varda largely has the role of stelliferous interior decorator, resulting in the house of Manwë being "spangled" with stars (73), and the dwelling and gardens of Lórien being set with stars for his "pleasure" (74). Even her role as the creator of the greater stars is devalued, as these stars became an afterthought, following the coming of the Elves. Indeed, what eventually becomes her greatest work, the Valacirca, is originally attributed to Aulë. Tolkien pointedly informs the reader that "Some have said that the Seven Stars were set at that time by Varda to commemorate the coming of the Eldar… yet the Seven Stars were not set by Varda, being indeed the sparks from Aulë’s forge whose brightness in the ancient heavens urged Varda to make their rivals; yet this did she never achieve" (114). Therefore Varda’s greater stars are reduced to a mere copy of a greater work, accomplished apparently by accident by a male Vala. The removal of the Valacirca from her hands also stands in opposition to her later role as an active threat to Melkor, a symptom in this work of her lesser importance in the greater theme of the history of Arda relative to later texts.

Finally, not only is her role as star kindler greatly diminished and devalued, but so initially is her role in the creation and regulation of the sun and moon, both largely ascribed to the male Valar Aulë and Manwë (180-3). For example, Manwë "bade therefore Ilinsor, a spirit of a Súruli who loved the snows and the starlight and aided Varda in many of her works, to pilot" the Ship of the Moon (192).

In the interest of fairness it should be noted that the relative passivity of Varda in BOLT may simply reflect a general theme of traditional gender roles in this early work. For example, in the darkness that followed the destruction of the Trees by Melko(r), "then were Vána and Nessa and Urwen and many maids and ladies of the Valar in tears, but Palúrien [Yavanna] girds her lord as he stands impatiently, and Varda has ridden forth from Taniquetil by her lord’s side bearing a blazing star before him as a torch" (154). In this case, Varda is seen as the most active of all the ladies of the Valinorin court, even though her task is merely that of torchbearer. Even keeping this in mind, it is fair to say that the first iteration of Varda bears little resemblance to the powerful Elbereth Gilthoniel of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, to whom the Elves (and Elf friends) "call at need."

§ Second Iteration: Before The Lord of the Rings

Between c. 1926-1930, Tolkien composed what he termed the "Original ‘Silmarillion’", a sketch of the mythology required as background material for reading the tale of Túrin he had begun in 1918 (SOME 11). As a sketch, many details are undoubtedly left out, but a close reading does offer some interesting changes from BOLT in terms of the role of Varda. The creation of the Two Lamps is inferred to have been done by the Valar, with no name attached to the deed. Unlike the earlier work, there is a single session of starmaking, which Varda (here named Bridhil) does, being "moved" by the darkness of the Outer Lands. It is written that the Eldar awaken "at the making of the stars," an important aspect of Varda’s relationship with the Eldar that endures throughout the evolution of the main legendarium (12). Finally, as Christopher Tolkien notes, the earlier beautiful and detailed myth concerning the creation of the sun and moon "is here compressed into a couple of phrases" (49), and both the creation of the heavenly lights and their "appointed courses" are credited to the Valar in general (20).

A far more detailed explication of the mythology was written in 1930. Named the Qenta Noldorinwa, or Quenta, this work begins to reveal a slowly evolving role for Varda within the mythology. The creation of the Two Lamps is again accomplished from the light "scattered over the airs and lands and seas" but by the Valar in general (SOME 82). As in the Sketch, Varda places the stars into the sky in a single act, the lack of a primordial starmaking made apparent by a reference to the "unlit skies" prior to this event (84, 168). However, in this work we have the creation of the "Sickle of the Gods" (the Big Dipper) by Varda, a "crown of Seven mighty stars… the emblem of the Gods, and sign of Morgoth’s doom" (84). Christopher Tolkien explains that the first appearance of this concept actually occurs prior to this work, in lines 2666-71 of The Lay of Leithian, lines whose composition he dates to April 1-6, 1928 (LOB 259). As in the Sketch, the creation and administration of the sun and moon is generically accomplished by the Valar, and is here allotted the equivalent of a single page of text (SOME 97-8).

In his commentary to The Lost Road, Christopher Tolkien attempts to disentangle the complex chronology of several works composed after the Quenta but before the commencement of The Lord of the Rings (107-8). Those of interest here are (in approximate chronological order) the "earliest" Annals of Valinor (AV1), the Later Annals of Valinor (AV2), the Ainulindalë (text B), and the Quenta Silmarillion (QS).

AV1 offers a new brief synopsis of the early history of Middle-earth, in which the Two Lamps are made by Aulë for the "lighting of the world" and no mention is made of the source of their light (LR 263). As in the Sketch and Quenta, the stars are created by Varda just prior to the awakening of the Elves, although in later revisions to AV1 fifty Valian years are allotted for the task (272). As in the Quenta, Varda creates the "Sickle of the Gods… as a threat to Morgoth and an omen of his fall", after which the Elves awaken (264). In later revisions, Tolkien explicitly stated that the creation of the Sickle happened last and as Christopher Tolkien points out, in this text the Elves awake at the completion of the stars’ creation, rather than at the stars’ making in general (as in the Sketch and Quenta) (276). In doing so, Tolkien emphasizes the importance of the Valacirca (as it becomes known) as an omen of Morgoth’s eventual demise, and hence increases Varda’s power and relative importance. In AV1 the creation and administration of the sun and moon are also glossed over, stating "as is elsewhere told the Gods made the Sun and Moon and sent them forth over the World" (118).Page?

According to Christopher Tolkien, the Later Annals of Valinor (AV2) "shows no great narrative evolution from AV1" but does contain "some noteworthy developments in names and conceptions" (LR 109). Among these is a further elevation of importance of Varda’s creation of the Sickle of the Gods, as it is here called "the mightiest of the works of Varda" (LR 111). As in AV1, there is no primordial starmaking, Varda has no stated role in the creation of the Two Lamps, and the sun and moon are the province of the Valar in general. However, in the Ambarkanta, which Christopher Tolkien places in this same general time period but after AV1 (LR 108), it is written that "Varda ordained the courses of the stars, and later of the Moon and Sun" (SOME 236).
In the Ainulindalë text B, the first new "handsome manuscript" of the cosmogonical myth since the Book of Lost Tales, we find no discussion of the creation of the lights of heaven per se. Instead, we have Tolkien’s thoughts from this period on Varda’s general attributes:

Interestingly, in this still-early version of the cosmology, it is said that it is Manwë not Varda whom the Elves and Men love most, "for he is not fain of his own honour, nor jealous of his own power, but ruleth all to peace" (Ibid.).

In 1937 Tolkien composed a revision to the Quenta known as the Quenta Silmarillion (QS) manuscript, which was to remain (with some revisions) the main working version of the legendarium until the completion of The Lord of the Rings (LR 198-9). In this text, Varda is termed "the maker of the stars, immortal lady of the heights, whose name is holy" (LR 205). As in the previous texts of this era, there is only a single epoch of starmaking, which concluded with Varda’s creation of the Sickle of the Gods. In this version, the Elves awoke at the "opening of the first stars" (212). As in the Quenta, the Lamps were created by the Valar (208), but as in the Ambarkanta, Varda is responsible for the motions, if not actual lighting, of the Sun and Moon:

Thus by the time of the commencement of The Lord of the Rings, Varda continued to evolve toward the embodiment of the power of light that she ultimately became in the novel.

§ Third Iteration: Varda circa The Lord of the Rings

As previously noted, the QS manuscript was largely left intact during the writing of The Lord of the Rings, only to be replaced by major revisions after the completion of the novel. However, during the later writing of the novel (during the mid to late 1940s), significant changes were apparently being made to Varda’s attributes of power. For example, although Varda’s name was "holy" pre LOTR, and she undoubtedly had high stature due to her creation of the stars immediately prior to the awakening of the Eldar as well as governance over the sun and moon, there is no mention in the "Silmarillion" texts of her central role in LOTR, namely as the Power whose name is invoked by the Eldar and to whom the Eldar call in times of need. In fact, the first mention of this (and several other expansions of Varda’s powers) in the "Silmarillion" tradition is in the 1951 text called LQ1 by Christopher Tolkien (Phase 1 of the Later Quenta Silmarillion).

In this text we find the first mention since the Book of the Lost Tales of a primordial as well as pre-Eldar star creation. Here it is said that after the destruction of the Lamps that Aulë had made, the "Earth was dark, save for the glimmer of the innumerable stars which Varda had made in the ages unrecorded in the labours of Eä" (MR 153). Mandos later pronounces the doom that the Eldar "should come in the darkness and should look first upon the Stars…. To Varda ever shall they call at need" (159). It is after this pronouncement that Varda begins her second starmaking, now said to be of "new stars and brighter against the coming of the First-born" (159-60) including the Sickle of the Gods, finally named the Valakirka. Christopher Tolkien points out that among those "brighter stars" are the planets (other than Earth, Venus, and Pluto) (435).

It is in LOTR itself and (to the knowledge of this author) no other text that we find another important power attributed to Varda, in relation to Earëndil. In Bilbo’s Rivendell song, we hear

The Silmaril as lantern light

And banner bright with living flame

To gleam thereon by Elbereth

Herself was set, who thither came

And wings immortal made for him,

And laid on him undying doom,

To sail the shoreless skies and come

Behind the Sun and light of Moon (FOTR 248)

Here, and only here, are we told that it is Varda who sets Earëndil and the Silmaril into the sky and essentially governs his motions. For example, in the Sketch and the first version of the Quenta, seabirds give him the power to sail the skies in search of Elwing (SOME 38, 150), while in second version of the Quenta (SOME 197) is the origin of the idea that the Valar in general set him in the sky. This concept persists in the Quenta Silmarillion (LR 327) and in fact appears in the published form of The Silmarillion (250). According to Christopher Tolkien, there are at least fifteen texts of Bilbo’s poem (TOI 90). However, an analysis of his commentary on the poem’s history suggests that the first reference to Varda (Elbereth) appears in version C (the version which was ultimately published in the novel) and persists even after the poem was further modified, appearing in the "final form" of the poem, named version F by Christopher Tolkien (TOI 90-109). The date of version C is not determined with certainty, but appears to be no earlier than December 1944 and perhaps as late as several years afterwards (96). Therefore, during this time, Tolkien not only raised Varda’s eminence to that of a saint who can be called upon in times of need (Carpenter 2000, 193), but whose very name can affect the Nazgul. In addition, since it is Varda who is responsible for the Star of Earëndil and by default its light in the heavens, each mention of the light of this star in LOTR (such as in the phial of Galadriel) and its powers is yet another reflection upon the might of Varda.

But all was not rosy in Valinor during the later part of Tolkien’s work on LOTR. As Christopher Tolkien notes in Morgoth’s Ring (3, 6), his father returned to the cosmogonic myth of the Ainulindalë before writing The Return of the King. During this time, he became concerned with the scientific realism of his cosmology, including what he later termed "the astronomically absurd business of making the Sun and Moon" (370). During the period c.1945-1948, Tolkien experimented with a radical departure from the canonical cosmology in a text termed Ainulindalë C*. In this text the world was round from the beginning, and the sun coeval with the Earth. Only the pieces of this text which depart from the earlier B text are published in Morgoth’s Ring, and Varda’s name does not appear in these sections. However, given Varda’s role in the formation and regulation of the sun and moon in the published form of The Silmarillion, and the abandonment of the Two Lamps in the Ainulindalë C* (43), it is clear that the adoption of such a serious departure from the main legendarium would herald a downward shift in the relative power and role of Varda. For example, in this text the moon was ripped from the newborn Earth by Melkor, and after his defeat the satellite is moved farther from the Earth by the Valar (41-2). It is also said that Manwë alone knows what Iluvatar has in store for the Elves at the Great End, in contradiction with later texts which state that he and Varda both may know (43).

Fortunately for Varda (and his readers), Tolkien abandoned this text at the suggestion of Katherine Farrar, to whom he had lent both this text and the B ("flat World") version in 1948 (MR 6). Afterwards he crafted the C text, and prior to 1951 the D text (6-7). Both texts write that Iluvatar chose a place for Arda in the "midst of innumerable stars" but it does not state that Varda created them (although it may be insinuated in the C text). In fact, in a late revision to the D text, Varda is said to have "wrought the Great Stars" which Christopher Tolkien interprets as meaning she created only these (39). Text C has no mention of Varda’s role in the Two Lamps, while Text D echoes the published version of The Silmarillion, having Aulë make the Lamps, Varda fill them with light, and Manwë hallow them (MR 32; Sil 35).

§ Fourth Iteration: The Legendarium post The Lord of the Rings

Several years after the publication of LOTR (circa 1958), Tolkien once again set to revise the legendarium, through texts which followed (with revisions) from LQ1 and related works, as well as further radical departures from the standard "Flat World" mythology, during a period of "prolonged interior debate" concerning the scientific inadequacies of his cosmology (MR 369). In the former category are LQ2 text and the Annals of Aman (AAm). The first of these includes expansions of the cosmogonic texts (including the Valaquenta) as well as fascinating new sections with no apparent direct precedent, such as the Laws and Customs Among the Eldar.

The revision of the LQ2’s Valaquenta text (Vq2) appears in the published form of The Silmarillion (26), and includes a much enlarged and enhanced version of Varda’s powers and importance:

The breadth of Varda’s powers recounted here certainly reflects her majesty as implied in LOTR in a way that previous "Silmarillion" texts fail to do. LQ2 also contains a unique reference to her power which does not appear in the final Silmarillion:

The final of the "Silmarillion"-based texts which appears in the HoME is the Annals of Aman, whose revised typecast Christopher Tolkien dates to circa 1958 (MR 48). Christopher Tolkien points out that Varda is apparently responsible for two starmaking episodes in this text (61), the second of which (including the creation of the Valakirka) is "the greatest of all works of the Valar since their coming until Arda" (71). The Eldar awaken after the completion of this great labor, and "beheld first of all things the stars of heaven. Therefore they have ever loved the starlight, and have revered Varda Elentárie above all the Valar" (Ibid.). She fills the Two Lamps (52) and is given the vessels of the Sun and Moon, which she sets in the sky and determines their motions (130). As in other post-LOTR texts, Varda’s powers appear to be at their zenith, and the repeated references to her in the novel appear consistent and logical.

As noted, it is during this same time that Tolkien embarked on a series of experimental revisions to his cosmology in an attempt to achieve a closer alignment with the universe as it really is. Concerning the essays collectively called "Myths Transformed", among the "chief ‘structural’ conceptions of the mythology that he pondered in those years were the myth of Light… and above all, the power and significance of Melkor-Morgoth, which was enlarged to become the ground and source of the corruption of Arda" (MR viii-ix). This being the case, it is rather obvious that such revisions in the cosmology could have a rather drastic impact on his representation of Varda and her relative importance/powers.

Of the eleven essays published in this collection, only the first four mention Varda directly, while text VI also impacts the presumed nature and powers of Varda as written in other texts. This work affirms that Melkor "must be made far more powerful in original nature…. The greatest power under Eru (sc. The greatest created power)" (MR 390). This directly contradicts the Valaquenta, where Melkor "feared her more than all others whom Eru made" (Sil 26) and is also at odds with the inferred power of Varda in LOTR.

In text I, Tolkien wrote that "the Sun and stars were all older than Arda. But the placing of Arda amidst the stars and under the [?guard] of the Sun was due to Manwë and Varda before the assault of Melkor" (MR 374). In text III Tolkien explained that Aman had been covered by a dome of "mist or cloud down through which no sight would pierce nor light. This dome was lit by stars – in imitation of the great Firmament of Eä" (386). This planetarium-like dome also kept out the polluted light of the sun after the rape of the sun’s fire spirit Árië by Melkor, as described below (386).

Text II consists of two related narratives, here denoted as IIa and IIb, and a short note. Text IIa, written in summary or outline form, lays out a cosmology similar to the actual universe, where the sun and earth are the same age, the moon is created by the Valar to foil the nefarious designs of Melkor, and the solar system is set "in the void ‘amidst the innumerable stars’" (MR 375). It is further said that because of this Varda "cannot be said to have ‘kindled’ the stars, as an original subcreative act – not at least the stars in general." Instead, she sets "certain stars" in the sky after the first battle with Melkor "as ominous signs for the dwellers of Arda to see" (376). Her "original chief concern" in this revised cosmology is the "Primeval Light", from which the Two Trees are lit (377). But as Tolkien himself understood, this revised myth poses problems for calling the Eldar the "Star-folk" due to their awakening after the creation of the great stars (375). Text IIa attempts to save the appearances by having Melkor envelop the sky in a dark cloud before the coming of the First-born. At the appointed time, "Varda arises in her might and Manwë of the Winds and strive with the Cloud of Unseeing." After some dramatic struggle, Manwë manages to blow away the cloud just in time for the Eldar to awaken and behold the stars, including the Valakirka (377-8). The appearances have certainly been saved, but at what cost? One may argue that in this story Varda’s connection to the Elves is significantly minimized.

Text IIb, told in story form, explains how Varda was given a holy light by Ilúvatar, which she brought into Eä. It is for this reason that she is "the most holy and revered of all the Valar, and those that name the light of Varda name the love of Eä that Eru has, and they are afraid, less only to name the One" (MR 380). Once in the world, Varda selects the fire spirit Árië to accompany the sun and gives her some of the holy primordial light. This light is permanently lost to the world after Melkor rapes Árië and she commits suicide. The moon is constructed by Manwë, Varda, and Aulë in order to prevent Melkor from causing trouble under the cover of night (382). In a short, scribbled note which Christopher Tolkien associates with these texts, his father wrote that Varda gave the holy light to the Sun, the Two Trees and to "the significant Star", whose "meaning is nowhere explained" (385). Given the massive revisions here planned in the cosmology, might it be possible that this reference is to the Evening Star (i.e. Venus), especially if Tolkien meant to dissociate this heavenly body from Earëndil and the Silmaril?

In text IV, Tolkien lays out a detailed revision of Varda’s relationship to the stars. Here it is said to be

She is therefore said to have designed the major constellations, notably including the Valacirca. Tolkien writes that it is chiefly from her creation of the Dome of Valinor described above "but also from her original demiurgic labours" that she has the title "Star-Kindler" (388). Among the "Myths Transformed" texts, this essay arguably presents the clearest explanation for the Eldar’s love for and reverence of Varda. But this text also describes Varda as the "most foresighted of all the Valar, possessing the clearest memory of the Music and Vision in which she had played only a small part as actor or player, but had listened most attentively" (388). Christopher Tolkien notes that a similar description is instead assigned to Nienna in the AAm* text of the Annals of Aman (389). In labeling her action in the primordial drama "a small part" and painting her in the passive role of attentive listener, Tolkien significantly curtails Varda’s potency relative to the "Silmarillion" texts of that era.

Christopher Tolkien has found that references to the Dome of Varda persist in revisions to the Annals of Aman as well as the Later Quenta Silmarillion (386-7), demonstrating that although these experimental texts were not integrated into the legendarium en masse, certain aspects were incorporated. Another possible example can be found to the final revision of the Ainulindalë text D, where Varda’s starmaking is limited to the "Great stars" (MR 384). However, the fact that these experimental texts remained largely that – experiments – possibly reflects an understanding by Tolkien that "his ‘old’ mythology was a more successful construction than his later conception" (Hammond 2000, 28).

§ Conclusion

Like any real-world mythology, Tolkien’s legendarium evolved in its repeated telling, leading to sometimes significant changes in the relative importance and powers of certain characters. This analysis has demonstrated that Varda, Queen of the Stars, is a rather vivid example of this character development. From her earliest stages as companion of Manwë who "played" at placing stars into the heavens, Varda had clearly become one of the mightiest of the Powers by the time of the LOTR, perhaps only second to Ilúvatar himself. However, in light of the "Myths Transforned" texts and their related amendments to works such as the Annals of Aman and the Ainulindalë D, one can speculate that Varda might have, to paraphrase Galadriel, diminished and gone into the West, if Tolkien had continued tinkering with the legendarium in any concerted way.

Hammond (2000, 27), quoting an unnamed "enthusiast", reminds us that "there are Tolkien’s latest thoughts, his best thoughts, and his published thoughts, and these are not necessarily the same." Perhaps from Varda’s point of view, with the exception of the anomalous "Myths Transformed" essays, these three may actually be close to synonymous.

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