Sylphs
| Sylphs | |
|---|---|
| Race | |
 | |
| "Sylph dancing in the evening sky" by Jenny Dolfen | |
| General Information | |
| Other names | air-spirits |
| Affiliation | Manwë |
| People | Mánir, Súruli |
| Members | Ilinsor |
| Physical Description | |
| Lifespan | Immortal |
- "sylphine maidens of the Air
whose wings in Varda's heavenly hall
in rythmic movement beat and fall" - ― The Lay of Leithian, Canto XIII, vv. 4077-9
Sylphs were creatures only mentioned fleetingly in the earliest versions of the legendarium and nomenclature by the Eldar.[1][2]
Characteristics and divisions[edit | edit source]
The sylphs were part of what apparently was a three-fold division of the lesser Ainu spirits: sylphs (spirits of the air), sprites (spirits of the earth), and water spirits.[1]
Manwë had "two clans of air-spirits",[3] a basic division of two groups of sylphs which, with their Elvish names, are given as follow:
- Qenya Mánir (or Mānir[4]): "spirits of the air";[5] Gnomish môna or môni[3]
- Qenya Súruli/Sūruli, also Suluthrim) (sing. Sūru): "spirits of the winds"; Gnomish Sulus (pl. Sulussin)[3][5]
An individual Súru mentioned by name was Ilinsor, steersman of the Moon. Ilinsor "loved the snows and the starlight and aided Varda in many of her works".[6]
Commentary[edit | edit source]
It has been suggested that the concept "air spirits" is used "metaphorically [...] for the winds that these spirits govern".[7]
Other versions of the legendarium[edit | edit source]
Sylphs are not mentioned in the later versions of the legendarium. Many of the classes of beings references in The Book of Lost Tales were superseded by the concept of the Maiar, which were not introduced until the reworking of the Annals of Valinor into the Annals of Aman.[8]
Inspiration[edit | edit source]
Patrick H. Wynne and Christopher Gilson have noted that Tolkien's use of sylphs (and related spirits) is likely influenced by Paracelsus's chart of four elementals: sylphs (air), pygmies or gnomes (earth), nymphs (water), and salamanders (fire).[9]
See also[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "III. The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor", p. 66
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lays of Beleriand, "III. The Lay of Leithian: Canto XIII (Beren and Lúthien in Angband)", pp. 301, 306 (§4077-9)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, "I-Lam na-Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue", in Parma Eldalamberon XI (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), pp. 57, 68
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "I-Lam na-Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue", in Parma Eldalamberon XI (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), p. 31
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Index
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "VIII. The Tale of the Sun and Moon", pp. 192-5
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Early Elvish Poetry and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets", in Parma Eldalamberon XVI (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, Patrick H. Wynne, Carl F. Hostetter and Bill Welden), p. 59
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Two. The Annals of Aman: Notes [on Section 1]"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Early Qenya and The Valmaric Script", in Parma Eldalamberon XIV (edited by Carl F. Hostetter, Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, Patrick H. Wynne, and Bill Welden), p. 8
