#pe17

When not “wearing” their fanar, which while in Arda was their “normal ‘raiment’” (PE 17), the Valar were invisible to incarnates, and yet “Glimpses of other manifestations were seldom given to them [the Eldar],” which implies that on occasion, the eälar of the Ainur could be visualized, though this was rare. While in their spiritual state and unbound by a fana, they could travel anywhere in Arda in an instant:

“They could go where they willed, that is could be present at once at any point in Eä where they desired to be.”

—Parma Eldalambaron No.17

(Those noted to have “passed over the Sea” from Valinor to Middle-earth were Oromë, Ulmo, and Yavanna.)

Their fanar are “self-made,” express their inner self, and can change at any time:

“They houseless[?] as spirits could go where they would (either slowly or immediately), and could then reclothe themselves.” (PE 17)

Additionally, “the Elves of Valinor asserted that unclad and unveiled the Valar were perceived by some among them as lights (of different hues) which their eyes could not tolerate; whereas the Maiar were usually invisible unclad, but their presence was revealed by their fragrance.”

Melkor, however, was said to be in this sort of manifestation “invisible, and his presence was revealed only by great dread and by a darkness that dimmed or blotted out the light and hues of all things near him” (PE 17). Also, his Úmaiar stank! But that was only when they were not wearing a physical form. Any of them could, just like other Ainur, appear with a fana, which they could “make to appear beautiful to Elvish eyes.” (See: Annatar.)

This ability was apparently not used or else taken from them after Melkor destroyed the Trees:

“After that Melkor (Morgoth) and his servants were perceived as forms of evil and enemies undisguised.” (PE 17)

This makes me wonder if they just didn’t feel the need for that kind of deception any longer, or maybe Melkor forbade them from appearing beautiful? We know that when Melkor’s hands were burned by the Silmarils, they were burned forever after, and he had a hard time changing his shape and appearance. This is also made clear when Fingolfin gives him a permanent limp after their duel:

“Morgoth went ever halt of one foot after that day, and the pain of his wounds could not be healed; and in his face was the scar that Thorondor made.”

—The Silmarillion, “Of the Fall of Fingolfin and the Ruin of Beleriand”

Personally, I lean more toward Melkor forbidding his Úmaiar to do much changing of shape out of jealousy and rage at his own condition, as we know for a certainty that at least one Úmaia, Sauron, was able to take on a fair form later on, long after Morgoth’s ultimate downfall, for he came to Eregion as Annatar in a fair disguise that fooled many. Yet even Sauron lost this ability, in part:

“But Sauron was not of mortal flesh, and though he was robbed now of that shape in which he had wrought so great an evil, so that he could never again appear fair to the eyes of Men, yet his spirit arose out of the deep and passed as a shadow and a black wind over the sea, and came back to Middle-earth and to Mordor that was his home. There he took up again his great Ring in Barad-dûr, and dwelt there, dark and silent, until he wrought himself a new guise, an image of malice and hatred made visible; and the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure.”

—The Silmarillion, “Akallabêth”

The fana is called a “raiment” because it is a “cloak” over the true being-ness of the eäla. But it is a physical object, and is subject to (at least some of) the laws of physics:

“Their fanar which were originally devised out of love for the ‘Children of Eru’, the Incarnate, whom they were to guard and counsel, had the properties of the material of which the koar [note: later hröar] (or bodies) of the Elves (and also of Men) were formed; so they were not transparent, they cast shadows (if their inner luminosity was dimmed); they could move material objects, and were resisted by these, and resisted them. These fanar were, however, also personal expression (in terms suitable to the apprehension of the Incarnate) of their individual ‘natures’ and functions, and were usually also clad in vestures of similar purpose.”

—Parda Eldalamberon No.17

Fanar were also intentionally created in the manner of the bodies (hröar) of Eru’s Children:

“These were the bodily forms (like those of Elves and Men), as well as any further vestures, in which the Valar were self-incarnated. These fanar they assumed when after their demiurgic activities they came and dwelt in Arda (“the Realm”), that is the Earth; and they did so because of their love and yearning for the ‘Children of Eru’, for whom they were to prepare the world, and for a time govern it. The future forms of the bodies of Elves and Men they knew, though they had no part in their making. In these forms they presented themselves to the Elves (though they could assume other and wholly alien shapes), appearing usually as persons of majestic (but not gigantic) stature. The High Elves said that these forms were always in some degree, variable according to the occasion, ‘radiant’, as if a light from within suffused the fanar.”

—Parma Eldalambaron No.17

Thus, while fanar generally resemble the bodies of Elves and Men but more “majestic” (and always glowing at least a little from within (though while in Middle-earth “they usually occluded their radiance”), the Valar can also appear rather eldritch when they wish to (“other and wholly alien shapes”). “Majestic stature” is then further elaborated:

“The fanar of the great Valar were said by the Eldar who had dwelt in Valinor usually to have had a stature far greater than that of the tallest Elves, and when performing some great deed or rite, or issuing commands, to have assumed an awe-inspiring height.”

—Parma Eldalambaron No.17

So they were larger than elves, but not gigantic, except when they were doing “great deed[s]” or issuing commands. That of course brings to mind the Doom of Mandos, where Námo likely towered far above the Noldor; I also envision giant Valar presiding over the Ring of Doom. Námo himself is probably most often in this sort of form, as well as Manwë.

~

I have a lot more thoughts (and quotes) to share on what the Valar look like, but this is where I will end Part I’s general overview of the properties of fanar. In Part II I will go over what specific Valar look like, both canonically and in my own personal headcanon!