for @ainurweek | elven servants of the valar
The servants of the Valar are for the most part fellow Ainur, Maiar who are sworn to them, but there are among the Eldar some who devote themselves to the worship, companionship, and tutelage of the Valar. Though Manwë did not ask for it, many were the elves who worshipped him; but his High Priest was Ingwë Ingweron, King of the Vanyar and High King of all Eldar, more a friend to him than a servant. His wife Varda more appreciated the devotion of her disciples, basking in the beautiful music sung in her honor, her favorite hymns composed by the unparalleled Elemmírë. In Aulë’s halls, elves were pupils in smithcraft, and none learned more or better than Mahtan, named Aulendur for his dedication. To Yavanna’s pastures came farmers of all statures, including the Queen of Tol Eressëa, Meril-i-Turinqi; from her, the Queen learned to grow and brew her famed limpë, the drink that cured heartsickness and brought youth. Few were the advocates of Námo, Judge of the Dead, but those who followed his edicts grew powerful in spirit. Some came into his service during their stay in his Timeless Halls, and such was the fate of Glorfindel of Gondolin, who swore to his Vala to bring justice to Middle-earth upon his second sojourn hence. One of the few elven weavers in service to Vairë also came to her in death: Míriel Þerindë, who forswore a second life and spent her days chronicling the deeds of her descendants in thread. The votaries of Irmo were those Eldar who sought the interpretation of dreams and desires, even in later years Finrod Felagund used what he learned from his Vala to find meaning in the cryptic messages of Ulmo. Estë chose her own healers, coming to them in dreams and visions, and neither time nor distance from the shores of Aman prevented her from teaching Elrond Half-elven, the greatest healer in Middle-earth for many Ages. The mourners of Nienna were few, but felt with all their souls the pains of the Children of Eru, and deeply felt indeed was the suffering of the House of Finwë within the heart of Findis, the princess who remained while her kin went into exile. Ulmo and his Maiar were revered by the Falmari and worshipped by the Númenóreans, but his dearest acolyte was Círdan of the Havens, first and firmest of his elven-friends. Oromë gathered about him a mighty Hunt, and to his most faithful followers he gifted the companionship of steeds and hounds. To Celegorm the Fair he granted Huan, the great hound, though he came to rue the trust he placed in that elf when Darkness fell upon Valinor. But Huan found a new master in Lúthien, who learned of Vána’s spring from her mother Melian, a Maia herself, and so Oromë’s gift served the purposes of his wife in the end. Findekáno who was in after-days the High King of the Noldor sparred with Tulkas himself in his youth, a champion of battles well-fought and of the name Astaldo he and his Vala shared; and his mother Lady Anairë, who sought always the holiest places among the Ainur, frolicked ever among Nessa’s fleet-footed dancers, easing the pain of her losses and affirming her love and devotion to the Valar, who despite their mistakes, dearly loved the Children of Ilúvatar, and ever strove for their fulfillment and delight.
