Wife of Manwe.
Aratar.
Valie. She is the Queen of the Stars, who lives
upon Ilmarin, upon the vast and tallest mountain of Arda named
Taniquetil. She is called the "Queen of Light" for that is her
element. Her eyes shine like stars reflecting off of the light
surrounding the Lamps of the Valar which she lit with only the drops of
dew from the Trees of the Valar.
Upon her face reflects the moon and the sun, which
she placed in the heavens, most beloved by my kind (elves, I'm
Legolas), and
known by many titles of honor given to her by my people -- Tintalle,
Elentari,
Fanuilos, and Gilthoniel -- for she awakened us when she rekindled the
light
that shone upon the bountiful heavens (stars), for she is the most
beautiful
Queen among the Valar, and the most honored Valar Queen of my
race.
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In Quenya, vard- is "rule, govern", vardar is
"king", varni is "queen" so this could be translated in context as
queen.
In Sindarin, Varda was called Bridhil,
cognate with Quenya vard-. Other Sindarin names are Timbridhil and
Tinwetari.
Reference: Book of Lost Tales I "Appendix".
March 26, 2005 (continued, using The Silmarillion)
Varda is not a true name but a title. A number of
her names reflect that she is the highest ranked female Valar, or
Valie.
"The Exalted"
"The Lofty"
"Queen of the Valar"
Many other names/titles reflect her work with the
stars before the Elves awakened at Cuivienan as "Lady of the Stars".
Elbereth "Star Queen". The
language is Sindarin and her usual name.
Elentari "Queen of the Stars",
"Star Queen". Used in Galadriel's lament in Lorien in Fellowship of the Ring. ele "behold", the exclamation the
first Elves were said to have used when they first saw the stars, so
the words for star derive from that. el
and elen are ancient words
for "star". elda and elena are adjectives that mean "of
the stars". Thus Eldar for
the "people of the stars", originally used by Orome for all Elves,
later only referring to those three kindreds that set out for Valinor
whether or not they made it, as distinct from the Avari who refused to go. In
Sindarin, the strict equivalent of Elda
is Eledh, while an often used
equivalent is Edhel, plural Edhil.
tari "she that is high, Queen", from tara Quenya for "lofty", with tar used for the masculine.
Tintalle "The Kindler". Used in
Galadriel's lament in Lorien in
Fellowship of the Ring. tinta
"cause to sparkle" Quenya. tinwe
Quenya "spark". tin-
"sparkle".
Reference: Silmarillion
text and the "Index of Names", "Appendix" for name elements
see also: Stars
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Image
"Varda Elentari". Artist: Laura Saunders. Rolozo Tolkien page
Image
"Varda". Artist: Olga Kukhtenkova. Rolozo Tolkien page
Image
Varda. By Natalia Nikitin and copyrighted; Rolozo page.
Picture located by Salmar-(Valar)
Image
"Varda". Artist Alexandra Koskinen.
Rolozo Tolkien page.
Image
"Varda". Artist Marta Aquado. Rolozo Tolkien page.
Image
"Varda and Manwe". Artist Natalia Nikitin. Rolozo page.
Image
"Varda". Artist Maria Lombide Ezpeleta. Rolozo page.
Image
"Lamp of the Valar". Artist Ted Nasmith. Rolozo page.
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