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Arien in the heavens

Arien

Biographical information

Other names

Spirit of Fire

Titles

Date of birth

Before the creation of Arda

Year ascended to the throne

Date of death

Realms ruled

Spouse

Weapon

Powers of the Ainur

Physical description

Race

Ainur

Culture

Maiar

Gender

Female

Height

Hair color

Eye color

Peter Jackson's Film Trilogy

Actor

Voice

Character

Arien (Quenya Tengwar: full spelling `C7T`V5 or vowel-abbreviated spelling `7T`V5; IPA: [ˈari.en] or Third Age Middle-earth [ˈarijen]) was a Maia and the guardian of the Sun.

BiographyEdit

Arien was a maiden spirit of fire who once served Vána the Ever-young in the gardens of Valinor, though in some writings she served Varda. She was "from the beginning a spirit of fire" and never listened to Melkor in the least. Her eyes were too bright even for the elves to look at, and Morgoth's servants were terrified of her. While in Valinor she took a form similar to that of the Valar, but when she left she was a "naked flame, terrible in the fullness of her splendour." Arien was more powerful than Tilion, the guardian of the Moon.

When the Two Trees of Valinor were destroyed, Arien took the last surviving fruit of Laurelin in a vessel forged by Aule and carried it away in the Heavens. As Arien is the guardian of the Sun, she is one of the most loved Maiar by mortal men, and her first journey across the sky was the signal of their awakening.

Arien's name means "Maiden of Sunlight" in Quenya from áirë, sunlight, and -ien, a feminine ending. Arien was one of the few Maiar of Flame who did not join Melkor, most of the others being Balrogs. In other writings, Morgoth wanted to claim Arien as a wife, and ravished her, upon which she abandoned her body and "died", leaving the Sun to travel through the skies uncontrollably and burning parts of Arda.^[1]

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ The Silmarillion: Quenta Silmarillion, "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"

External linkEdit

• Arien at Tolkien Gateway