Uin

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The canonicity of this subject is uncertain. The precise canonical status of this article's subject is unclear. To find out about what is considered "canon" see LOTR:Canon.

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"Uin" (mistakenly depicted as a humpback whale without a dorsal fin) by Alan Lee in Tales from the Perilous Realm
Uin
Biographical information
Titles	Primeval whale Great Whale Gulma's great whale
Birth	Elder Days
Death	On or after the Faring Forth
Realms	Belegaer
Weapon	Might of the Valar
Physical description
Race	Right Whales
Gender	Male

"There are no other references to the dragging of Tol Eressëa across the Ocean by Uin the great whale, to the Isle of Íverin, or to the Battle of Rôs;"

—Christopher Tolkien in The Book of Lost Tales Part Two

Uin, known as the Great Whale and Gulma's great whale, was the primeval whale of Arda that served the Vala Ulmo.

Biography

During the Elder Days, when Ulmo gathered "a host of the greatest fish" to Tol Eressëa, Uin, "the mightiest and most ancient of whales", came among them alongside narwhals and sea lions. Ulmo directed them in using their strength to pull the island across Belegaer to the shores of Hísilómë in Beleriand. Once the Teleri were on the island, Uin and the rest of the host took them to the Bay of Faëry in Valinor before pulling the island back to Hísilómë.

On the trip back to Hísilómë, Ossë noticed Uin pulling the island and was jealous that his island was being used without his permission. Yet when he tried to pursue Uin, he was left far behind because Uin and the rest of the host were granted "the might of the Valar" by Ulmo. Thus, they reached Hísilómë again where the Noldoli got in the island. The second ferrying went as well as the first, save only for a minor annoyance from Ossë.

After the Noldoli were safely in Aman alongside the Teleri, Uin and the other great fish pulled the island for a final trip for the Solosimpi. However, "Ossë cast storms and shadows" to hinder a third trip, causing Ulmo to direct Uin through "devious ways", resulting in the great fish arrive late to Hísilómë. On the return trip back to Aman, Uin and the great fish were waylaid by Ossë and Uinen just as "the mists of the Shadowy Seas" were in sight. Ossë grabbed the island with his great hand, causing Uin, with all his great strength, to only be able to "scarcely drag it onward" since none of the Valar could beat Ossë with strength in water. With Uinen's aid, the island was anchored to the seafloor by making giant ropes out of the centuries old "leather-weeds and polyps" that grew "to unimagined girth" throughout the pillars of Ossë and Uinen's "deep-sea house".

Even with Ulmo aiding Uin and the great fish "with all his godlike power", Ossë gathered many rocks and boulders beneath the island and invited "every kind of deep sea creature" to build homes throughout "the base of the island". With the struggle intensifying and Ulmo vainly trumpeting, Uin stirred the seas into wrath with "his unmeasurable tail lash".

Eventually, Uin and the other great fish stopped pulling the island after Ulmo gave up and went back to Valmar.

A long time after, before the Faring Forth, the Elves convince Ulmo to allow Uin to aid them. As such, when Tol Eressëa is uprooted, Uin pulled it towards the Great Lands, almost "to the promontory of Rôs". Upon doing this, however, enraged Ossë, causing him to try to pull the island back. As a consequence, however, the island broke in two, with the western half becoming the Isle of Íverin, known today as Ireland.

Etymology

Uin is a Gnomish common noun meaning "whale", originating from the primeval whale, Uin himself; originally, the word only meant "wave", but this is only preserved in poetry.

A similar Gnomish word for "whale" is uimoth ("sheep of the waves"), containing the word moth, meaning "sheep or 1000" and indicating its original meaning of "flock" (e.g. mothweg means "shepherd"). Whether uin remained a Sindarin word in the later and final stages of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium is untold.

Uin is also a Qenya word meaning "a fish, the primeval whale", being derived from the root IWI ("fish").

Uin appears in the Qenya Lexicon together with "Queen of the Mermaids", the definition given for Ui Oarista, another name for Uinen. How that name relates to Uin is untold.

The similarity of etymology between the names of Uin and Uinen is somewhat similar to the case of Cetus / Kētŏs and Keto / Ceto in Greek Mythology; whale-related mythological creatures serving the prominent oceanic deities, and sea goddesses (both loved and feared by people), sharing the origins of the etymologies.

In other versions

In Roverandom, after Roverandom's adventure on the Moon and the seagull, Mew, took him back to the cove of the sand-sorcerer, he found Psamathos Psamathides having a discussion with Uin, who was very large and "the oldest of the Right Whales". The dog Rover described Uin as looking "like a mountain" and having "his great head in a deep pool". Uin allowed Rover to ride in his mouth on the journey to see the wizard Artaxerxes at the bottom of the Deep Blue Sea. According to Psamathos Psamathides, Uin was prone to coughs from scratches and bites. When Rover tried to back out, Mew and Psamathos Psamathides pushed him into Uin's mouth.

Unlike other whales, Uin was considerate enough that he did not swim with his mouth constantly open to catch food. Uin was said to be very exceptional among whales. He was capable of resting underwater for long periods of time. Uin was also capable of swimming across the world with ease. He also worked in some capacity for Psamathos Psamathides, for after Rover told him that Artaxerxes did not change him back, he reported to Psamathos Psamathides's cove. Uin had some ability of foresight, since after his tail knocked a sea-tree over, he predicted that Artaxerxes was going to be a failure at his current job.

Uin was kind enough to be willing to give the two Rovers multiple rides to many places in the Outer Lands and seas. During one of these rides, Uin took them to "the eastern edge of the world" where Uin let loose a burst of water that sailed "so high that a lot of it was thrown right off the world and over the edge". During another ride, Uin travelled as far as he dared to the other side of the world where they had many adventures in the Uncharted Waters. One of which involved Uin taking the Rovers pass the Shadowy Seas to the great Bay of Fairyland beyond the Magic Isles. Due to the light of Faery, Roverandom became one of the few living beings to have had a quick "glimpse of the city of the Elves on the green hill" that lay before the Mountains of Elvenhome "in the last West".

After Uin took a sudden dive, he became worried that he might "catch it" if it was ever discovered that he took the two Rovers to the Bay of Fairyland.

After the exile of Mr. and Mrs. Artaxerxes regarding the failure of the PAM to deal with the ancient Sea-serpent, Uin took the two and Roverandom on his back and swam towards the surface.

Uin took them to a shore quite distant from the cove of the sand-sorcerer, where he waited with Mrs. Artaxerxes while Mr. Artaxerxes (with Rover in his pocket) went to a sea-side town to make a few mundane purchases. When they returned, Mr. Artaxerxes smoked a pipe while he leaned against Uin.

Later on, when the wizard forgot that he did not destroy all of his belongings, Uin began winking. After Mr. Artaxerxes reversed Rover's curse, Rover thought that everything seemed smaller and funnier, including Uin. When Rover bid them all farewell, Uin winked at him. It was later suggested that Rover never found out what happened to Uin after he departed the beach.

Inspiration

The "host of the greatest fish" may represent a host of whales as J.R.R. Tolkien described in his 1957 letter to Michael George Tolkien regarding his translation of The Book of Jonah that disambiguation between "whale" and "fish" wasn't important to him during the translation.

Tolkien may have made Uin a Right Whale because the Genus of that species, Eubalaena, means "true whale" or "good whale" and so on. Right whales were also historically one of the closest of all whales in terms of relating to human histories. Understandably for New Zealand cultures, right whales, being regarded as "(one of) the most important or symbolic whale to New Zealand", can be seen as an important role in the creation myth of the nation, commonly known as the legend of "Whale Rider", or as a guardian deity called Taniwha. Right whales' curious and playful natures sometimes allow humans and kayaks to ride on their back as well, possibly influencing Rover being able to ride Uin in Roverandom.

In adaptations

Middle-earth Role Playing

In the Middle-earth Role Playing, Uin is said to be a merfolk. Aamumeren Isa, a Maia, takes a form of a humpback whale with twice the size of normal adult humpback whales, is also a merfolk. Especially cetaceans are direct realms of Ulmo, and dolphins are called Ulmodil ("friends of Ulmo"). Uin's etymology can be seen on several terms such as Uini meaning "whales", and Hûb-in-Uinin, the "Bay of Whales".

Gallery

Uin at the bottom left on Tolkien's 1917 I Vene Kemen map of Arda

Uin (top left) on top cover of Roverandom

Uin as a humpback whale, or different rorqual, behind Ulmo, by Gregthoth.

Uin as a Sperm whale in the ocean city

An illustration of Uin as a bowhead whale from the Middle-earth Roleplaying Wiki

External links

• North Atlantic Right Whale on Wikipedia - one Right Whale was named after Gandalf in 2020.