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Uinen (Sindarin; IPA: [ˈuɪnen]) was a Maia spirit known as The Lady of the Sea and the wife of the Maia Ossë. She was a matron to all mariners. Uinen was third greatest of all the Maiar.

Biography[]

Before the Sun and the Moon[]

Uinen loved all creatures that lived in the saltwater streams of the world and the weeds that grew in them. Her love calmed the violent tidal waves and storms created by Ossë her husband by keeping him in line and not going too far. Her hair spread throughout waters and lies on their surfaces. During the early days Arda, Ossë rebelled against his Lord Ulmo (Lord of All Waters) and served Melkor instead, being carried away by the false promises that Melkor gave to him. For a while, there rose great tumults in the sea that wrought great ruins to the lands. Because of this, and because of the prayers of Aulë who created those lands, Uinen helped bring Ossë back to the allegiance of their lord Ulmo by restraining her husband and bringing him before Ulmo. Following that, Ossë was pardoned and gave his allegiance back to the Valar.[1] To the Maiar Uinen and Ossë, Ulmo gave them the task of the governing of the waves and the movements of the Inner Seas. Ever afterwards, Uinen was the one who restrained Ossë's bouts of violence in the seas and on the coasts.[2]

Eventually, when the Teleri remained on the coast of the western seas, awaiting Ulmo to take them to Aman, Uinen and Ossë came among the Teleri and befriended them.[3] After the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, where Fëanor and his host of exiled Ñoldor attacked the Teleri and stole their ships, Uinen wept for the Telerin mariners who had been wickedly slain and tossed into the sea. The sea also rose in great wrath against the Ñoldorin slayers, so that many of the stolen Telerin ships were wrecked and the Ñoldor in them were drowned.[4]

When the Hiding of Valinor took place, Ossë raised the enchanted Isles. Then next, Uinen enchanted those who ever managed to reach the Isles by weaving them in her hair before Irmo (Master of Dreams & Desires) put them to age-long sleep.[5]

Second Age[]

In the Second Age, the mariners of Númenór would cry to Uinen for help, because she was the only one capable of calming Ossë who loved to create tumults in the seas. And the Númenóreans lived under her protection while their respect for the Valar endured. Therefore, the Númenóreans held the Maia Uinen in reverence as equal to the Valar.[1]

Other versions of the legendarium[]

In Númenórean legend, it was told that Uinen had the Isle of Tol Uinen placed in the Bay of Rómenna as a gift to the people of Númenór.[1]

In J.R.R. Tolkien's initial story of the Sun and the Moon, it was Uinen who wove the sails for the ship of the Moon. Uinen had made them as white mists and foam, and some were spread like "glittering scales of silver fish" while others were threaded with tiny stars.[6]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Amharic ዑኢነን
Arabic يونين
Armenian ՈՒինեն
Belarusian Cyrillic Уінен
Bengali ঊইনেন
Bulgarian Cyrillic Уинен
Chinese 烏妮
Georgian უინენი
Greek Ούινεν
Gujarati ઊઇનેન
Hebrew אואינן
Hindi ऊइनेन
Japanese ウイネン
Kannada ಯುನೆನ್
Kazakh Уиньен (Cyrillic) Wïnen (Latin)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic Уинэн
Macedonian Cyrillic Уинен
Mongolian Cyrillic Уинен
Nepalese ऊइनेन
Pashto وینېن
Persian یینن
Polish Uinena
Russian Уинен
Sanskrit ऊइनेन्
Serbian Уинен (Cyrillic) Uinen (Latin)
Sinhalese ඌඉනෙන්
Tajik Cyrillic Уинен
Tamil வினேன்
Tatar Уинен
Telugu ఊఇనెన
Ukrainian Cyrillic Уінен
Urdu یوانان
Uzbek Уинен (Cyrillic) Uinen (Latin)
Yiddish וינען ?

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Silmarillion, Valaquenta, "Of the Maiar"
  2. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch. I: "Of the Beginning of Days"
  3. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter V: "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"
  4. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of the Flight of the Ñoldor"
  5. The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "The Hiding of Valinor"
  6. The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "The Tale of the Sun and Moon"
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