Nienna: Difference between revisions

| image=[[File:Tania Weil - Nienna, The Mourning Vala.png|250px]]

'''Nienna''' was a Queen of the [[Valar]], the sister of [[Mandos]] and [[Irmo]]. She ranked as one of the eight [[Aratar]], the most powerful of the Valar. Nienna dwelt alone on the western borders of the World.<ref name=SIIb>{{S|IIb}}</ref>

Grief and mourning were Nienna's province; in [[Halls of Nienna|her halls in the distant west]], she wept for the suffering of [[Arda]]. Her part in the [[Music of the Ainur]] was one of deep sadness, and from this grief entered the world in its beginning.<ref name=SIIb/>

She taught pity, wisdom and endurance in grief; though she rarely travelled to the joyful city of [[Valmar]], she went more often to the halls of her brother [[Mandos]] to comfort and counsel those in the [[Halls of Mandos|Halls of Waiting]].<ref name=SIIb/> The [[Maiar|Maia]] [[Gandalf#Names|Olórin]], who was later to travel to [[Middle-earth]] as [[Gandalf]], learned much from her.<ref>{{S|IIc}}</ref>

Nienna played a part in the making of the [[Two Trees of Valinor]]; she wept on the mound of [[Ezellohar]], watering it with her tears.<ref>{{S|1}}</ref> After the destruction of the Trees by [[Morgoth|Melkor]], she once again wept on their wounded remains, cleansing the filth of [[Ungoliant]], and helping to bring forth the last fruit and flower that were to become the [[Sun]] and the [[Moon]].

 

==Names==

''Nienna'' is a [[Quenya]] name meaning "She Who Weeps" (pronounced {{IPA|[niˈenːa]}}). Her other recorded names were:

*Nienna is also called '''''Fui''''' ([[Quenya|Q]]: "Night", {{IPA|[fuɪ]}}), though this is more correctly the name of [[Halls of Nienna#Other versions of the legendarium|her dwelling]].