#kelvar

its a real word

Finally I have enough time to go through this. Sorry for the delay.

The kelvar and the olvar are indeed of the sphere of Yavanna who created them.

‘When the Children awake, then the thought of Yavanna will  awake also,  and it  will summon spirits from afar, and they will go among the kelvar  and the olvar, and some will dwell therein …’ (The War of the Jewels, HoME, JRRTolkien)

Even though they have different levels of consciousness (self-awareness) and some are able to show feelings, to talk and to abide by moral judgements, they do not bear fëar (Quenya for ‘spirits’). Only Ilúvatar can instill fëar into hröa (Quenya for ‘bodies’). Hence, only the Children of Ilúvatar (the elves and men) at first instance have fëar. The Dwarves also do, because Ilúvatar felt pity of Aulë and he and only him could had granted it for them.

I know that in the quote above it says that some will have ‘angelic’ spirits inhabiting their bodies, and one could point that Ilúvatar could had created different kinds of spirits or Maiar inhabited some of the kelvar and olvar (or became like them with time). In the book from which I quoted this passage the discussion ends abruptly with no deeper insights on the nature of such spirits and which specific kelva or olva they dwelt in. So, from now on I will continue my discussion following that these are not the same in nature as fëar.

Because of the fëa, the minds (actions and feelings) of these beings cannot be controlled by any external force per si (only Ilúvatar could do it, but he does not act in this manner - I’m not entering also in the debate over the nature of the orcs, but if you wish for me to do so, then just send me a message), they have free-will, higher consciousness and their destiny is out of the Ainur hands. So even high sentient beings such as the Eagles (which were first devised as Maiar but then had their nature changed* to common animals that had been “taught language by the Valar, and raised to a higher level”) were vassals of Manwë and had no fëar. The same applies to Huan, Shadowfax, Wargs and Roac for example, which are kelvar with ranging levels of sentience and consciousness.

Now, we can answer the first and the last question.

“But  for  their  delight  and  use there were in Aman also a great multitude of  creatures,  without  fear,  of  many kinds: animals  or  moving creatures, and  plants  that   are  steadfast. There, it is believed, were the counterparts of all  the creatures that are or have been on Earth,(6) and others  also that were made for Aman  only.  And each kind had, as on Earth, its own nature and natural speed of growth. (…) For in Aman no creatures suffered any sickness or disorder of their natures; nor was there any decay or aging  more  swift  than  the slow aging of Arda itself. So that all things coming at last  to fullness of form and  virtue remained  in that state, blissfully,  aging and wearying  of  their  life  and  being  no  swifter than  the Valar themselves.” (Morgoth’s Ring, HoME, JRRTolkien)

They were allowed to do so, and the great among them became the equivalent of the ‘gods’ of traditional mythologies; but a condition was that they would remain ‘in it’ until the Story was finished. They were thus in the world, but not of a kind whose essential nature is to be physically incarnate. They were self-incarnated, if they wished; but their incarnate forms were more analogous to our clothes than to our bodies, except that they were more than are clothes the expression of their desires, moods, wills and functions. Knowledge of the Story as it was when composed, before realization, gave them their measure of fore-knowledge; the amount varied very much, from the fairly complete knowledge of the mind of the Creator in this matter possessed by Manwë, the 'Elder King’, to that of lesser spirits who might have been interested only in some subsidiary matter (such as trees or birds). (#200 from Letters, JRRTolkien)

Based all I have read, I do believe those kelvar who were inhabited by these ‘angelic spirits’ would not return to Aman after their death, but rather stay in the world until “ the Story was finished“. There were also those who were first created in Aman and there they abide till the end of time. The kelvar which were not inhabited by lesser spirits would simply die.

Yavanna - Illustration

Deity of Kelvar and Olvar, mother of the forest. She's one of the valar from Silmarillion.

(//since the last question made me talk with a friend about that)

Most of the Kelvar were first created in an 'original form', by various Valar (really mainly Yavanna, some also by Nessa, Oromë, Ulmo and Manwë). After that, some Maiar started to modify these animals - they changed their colors or their shape, they attached horns or claws or stingers to them, they made them make different sort of noises and taught them to hunt or forage for food or build their own dwellings (nests, burrows), etc. pp.