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Secret Fire

2009-02-25T12:37:12Z

88.195.121.132:

The '''Secret Fire''' is a mysterious power. It is the same as the [[Flame Imperishable]] and probably also the [[Flame of Anor]].

The Secret Fire, seems to refer to that aspect of Eru [[Ilúvatar]] which is his Power of Creation. It was with Ilúvatar at the beginning, and later Ilúvatar set it (or an aspect of it) at the centre of [[Arda]].

{{quote|Therefore Ilúvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Eä.|[[Valaquenta]], [[the Silmarillion]]}}

The Secret Fire is also described as being part of all [[Fëa and hröa|feä]]: it is that Gift which makes sentient beings capable of independent thought.

[[Gandalf]] the Grey referred to both the Secret Fire and the Flame of Anor at the Bridge of [[Khazad-dûm]]:

{{quote|You cannot pass, I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass.|[[The Fellowship of the Ring]], [[The Bridge of Khazad-dûm]]}}

==Inspiration==
This is an alternate name of the Holy Spirit in Tolkien's mythos, like [[Eru]] is the name of God. In ''Tolkien & The Silmarillion'', Clyde S. Kilby refers to a discussion he had with Tolkien: "Professor Tolkien talked to me at some length about the use of the word 'holy' in The Silmarillion. Very specifically he told me that the 'Secret Fire sent to burn at the heart of the World' in the beginning was the Holy Spirit." (p. 59)

==See also==
* [[Fëa and hröa]]

[[Category:Concepts]]
[[de:Das Geheime Feuer]]
[[fi:Salainen Tuli]]

Secret Fire

2009-02-25T12:36:24Z

88.195.121.132:

The '''Secret Fire''' is a mysterious power. It is the same as the [[Flame Imperishable]] and/or the [[Flame of Anor]].

The Secret Fire, seems to refer to that aspect of Eru [[Ilúvatar]] which is his Power of Creation. It was with Ilúvatar at the beginning, and later Ilúvatar set it (or an aspect of it) at the centre of [[Arda]].

{{quote|Therefore Ilúvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Eä.|[[Valaquenta]], [[the Silmarillion]]}}

The Secret Fire is also described as being part of all [[Fëa and hröa|feä]]: it is that Gift which makes sentient beings capable of independent thought.

[[Gandalf]] the Grey referred to both the Secret Fire and the Flame of Anor at the Bridge of [[Khazad-dûm]]:

{{quote|You cannot pass, I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass.|[[The Fellowship of the Ring]], [[The Bridge of Khazad-dûm]]}}

==Inspiration==
This is an alternate name of the Holy Spirit in Tolkien's mythos, like [[Eru]] is the name of God. In ''Tolkien & The Silmarillion'', Clyde S. Kilby refers to a discussion he had with Tolkien: "Professor Tolkien talked to me at some length about the use of the word 'holy' in The Silmarillion. Very specifically he told me that the 'Secret Fire sent to burn at the heart of the World' in the beginning was the Holy Spirit." (p. 59)

==See also==
* [[Fëa and hröa]]

[[Category:Concepts]]
[[de:Das Geheime Feuer]]
[[fi:Salainen Tuli]]

Flame Imperishable

2009-02-25T12:35:34Z

88.195.121.132:

The '''Flame Imperishable''' possessed by [[Eru]] alone, seems to represent the creating spirit or aspect of [[Ilúvatar]]. The power to give life and substance, through it he granted free will and true life to the beings he created. The [[Ainur]] and [[Eä]] were made through it.

[[Melkor]] was envious of it and sought it in the [[Void]] but the Flame was only with Eru.

Also called the '[[Secret Fire]]'.

[[Category:Concepts]]
[[category:cosmology]]
[[de:Das Geheime Feuer]]
[[fi:Sammumaton Liekki]]

Secret Fire

2009-02-25T12:33:59Z

88.195.121.132: /* Inspiration */

The '''Secret Fire''' is a mysterious power. It is perhaps the same as the [[Flame Imperishable]] and/or the [[Flame of Anor]].

The Secret Fire, seems to refer to that aspect of Eru [[Ilúvatar]] which is his Power of Creation. It was with Ilúvatar at the beginning, and later Ilúvatar set it (or an aspect of it) at the centre of [[Arda]].

{{quote|Therefore Ilúvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Eä.|[[Valaquenta]], [[the Silmarillion]]}}

The Secret Fire is also described as being part of all [[Fëa and hröa|feä]]: it is that Gift which makes sentient beings capable of independent thought.

[[Gandalf]] the Grey referred to both the Secret Fire and the Flame of Anor at the Bridge of [[Khazad-dûm]]:

{{quote|You cannot pass, I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass.|[[The Fellowship of the Ring]], [[The Bridge of Khazad-dûm]]}}

==Inspiration==
This is an alternate name of the Holy Spirit in Tolkien's mythos, like [[Eru]] is the name of God. In ''Tolkien & The Silmarillion'', Clyde S. Kilby refers to a discussion he had with Tolkien: "Professor Tolkien talked to me at some length about the use of the word 'holy' in The Silmarillion. Very specifically he told me that the 'Secret Fire sent to burn at the heart of the World' in the beginning was the Holy Spirit." (p. 59)

==See also==
* [[Fëa and hröa]]

[[Category:Concepts]]
[[de:Das Geheime Feuer]]
[[fi:Salainen Tuli]]

Eru

2009-02-25T12:33:00Z

88.195.121.132: Eru isn't a "god", because he isn't one of the Valar.

{{Pronounce|Eru.mp3|Ardamir}}
{{quote|But [[Rúmil the loremaster|Rúmil]] said: 'Ilúvatar was the first beginning, and beyond that no wisdom of the [[Valar]] or of [[Eldar]] or of [[Men]] can go.' 'Who was Ilúvatar?' asked [[Eriol]]. 'Was he of the [[Gods]]?' 'Nay,' said Rúmil, 'that he was not, for he made them. Ilúvatar is the Lord for Always who dwells beyond the world; who made it and is not of it nor in it, but loves it.' |''[[The Book of Lost Tales Part 1]]'', Volume I, "[[Music of the Ainur]]"}}
[[Image:Ted Nasmith - Melkor Weaves Opposing Music.jpg|thumb|Eru during the [[Great Music]].]]
'''Eru''' ("The One"), also called '''Ilúvatar''' ("Father of All"), is the name in the legendarium of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] for the supreme God. He is considered the father of the [[Ainur]], thus in lineage charts Ainur are shown as children of Ilúvatar. However, not all of the Ainur were considered to be siblings. For instance, Manwë, Varda, and Melkor's father is Ilúvatar, and Melkor and Manwë were considered brothers; Varda was not considered their sister. He is the single omnipotent creator, but has delegated most direct action within Eä to the Ainur, including the shaping of the Earth ([[Arda]]) itself. Eru is an important part of the stories of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' but is not mentioned by name in Tolkien's most famous works, ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' (He is alluded to as "the One" in the part of ''[[The Return of the King]]'' Appendix A that speaks of the downfall of [[Númenor]]).

== Eru as Creator God ==
[[Elves]] and [[Men]] were created by Eru directly, without delegation to the Ainur, and they are therefore called "Children of Ilúvatar" (''Eruhini''). The [[Dwarves]] were "adopted" by Eru in the sense that they were created by [[Aulë]] but given sapience by Eru. Animals and plants were probably fashioned by Ainur after themes set out by Eru in the [[Music of the Ainur]], although this is questionable in cases where animals exhibit sapience, as in the case of [[Huan]], or the Eagles in the ''Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit''.

== Tolkien on Eru ==
Tolkien understood Eru not as a "fictional deity" but as a name in a fictional language for the actual monotheistic God, although in a mythological or fictional context. In a draft of a letter of 1954 to Peter Hastings, manager of the Newman Bookshop (a Catholic bookshop in [[Oxford]]), Tolkien defended non-orthodox aspects as rightly within the scope of his mythology, as an exploration of the infinite "potential variety" of God (''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien|Letters]]'', No. 153). Regarding the possibility of reincarnation of [[Elves]], Hastings had written:
:''God has not used that device in any of the creations of which we have knowledge, and it seems to me to be stepping beyond the position of a sub-creator to produce it as an actual working thing, because a sub-creator, when dealing with the relations between creator and created, should use those channels which he knows the creator to have used already''

Tolkien's reply contains an explanation of his view of the relation of (divine) Creation to (human) [[sub-creation]]:
:''We differ entirely about the nature of the relation of sub-creation to Creation. I should have said that liberation "from the channels the creator is known to have used already" is the fundamental function of "sub-creation", a tribute to the infinity of His potential variety [...] I am not a metaphysician; but I should have thought it a curious metaphysic — there is not one but many, indeed potentially innumerable ones — that declared the channels known (in such a finite corner as we have any inkling of) to have been used, are the only possible ones, or efficacious, or possibly acceptable to and by Him!''

Hastings had also criticised the description of [[Tom Bombadil]] by [[Goldberry]]: ''"He is"'', saying that this seemed to imply that Bombadil was God.

Tolkien replied to this:
:''As for Tom Bombadil, I really do think you are being too serious, besides missing the point. [...] You rather remind me of a Protestant relation who to me objected to the (modern) Catholic habit of calling priests Father, because the name father belonged only to the First Person.''

== Inspiration and Development ==
The title "The Father of All" is thought by some to be borrowed from the god Odin in Norse mythology, though the New Testament also refers to God as the "one God and Father of all". Tolkien, as a Catholic and a scholar of northern European mythology, was probably influenced by both sources. (The name itself is probably based on the Old Norse ''Alfóðr'', a name for Odin, however.) As Tolkien was highly educated in Finnish mythology, it would be no surprise if the name of Ilúvatar were influenced by Ilmatar, Maid of Air, one of the primal spirits of creation.

It is to be noted that in earlier works of the legendarium the name Ilúvatar meant "Sky-father", but this etymology was dropped in favour of the newer meaning in later revisions. Ilúvatar was also the only name of God used in earlier versions — the name Eru first appeared in the ''[[Annals of Aman]]'', published in ''[[Morgoth's Ring]]'', the tenth volume of ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]''.

[[de:Eru]]