Everything about Vanyar totally explained
In the works of
J. R. R. Tolkien, the
Vanyar are the fairest and most noble of the High
Elves. They are the smallest of the three clans of the
Eldar, and were the first to arrive in
Aman. According to legend, the clan was founded by
Imin, the first Elf to awake at
Cuiviénen, his wife Iminyë, and their twelve companions; but it was
Ingwë, the first Vanya to travel with
Oromë to
Valinor, who became their king. They speak
Quendya, a dialect of
Quenya found only in Valinor.
The name
Vanyar (singular
Vanya) means "(the) Fair" in
Quenya, referring to their golden hair (the original meaning of the word "Vanya" approximating as "light/pale"). They are sometimes known, particularly amongst themselves, by their original name
Minyar, meaning "the First". The word "vanya" in Quenya is also listed as a verb meaning "to leave/depart/vanish", which may have either arisen due to the almost complete disappearance of this clan early on in Elven history, or given rise to the noun "Vanya(r)" in later times. However, it's unclear if this is the case, and it appears that Tolkien may have dropped the use of "vanya" as a verb in his later conceptions of Quenya.
History
According to the Elven legend
Cuiviényarna, the Vanyar are descendants of Imin, the first Elf to awake at
Cuiviénen, his wife Iminyë, and six other pairs of Elves who were awoken by them. Imin's companions, Tata and Enel, later awoke groups of nine and twelve pairs respectively, and Imin decided that since his group was now the smallest and each group that he and his companions discovered was larger than the last, he'd now choose third rather than first in order to make up the numbers. However, only a further two groups were discovered, leaving Imin's group of fourteen by far the smallest of the three Elven clans.
When the Elves were discovered by
Oromë, each clan chose an ambassador to return with him to
Valinor to verify his claims of its greatness. The Minyar (Imin's companions) sent
Ingwë. Upon his return, his people were swayed by his testimony and adopted him as their king (appropriate, as the name
Ingwë means
chieftan in Quenya), and he led them with Oromë to
Aman. Ingwë has since been reckoned the
High King of all Elves, and became known as
Ingwë Ingweron, the "Chief of Chieftains", and his people were known by the rest of the Eldar as the Vanyar. He dwells with them on the slopes of Taniquetil, beneath the halls of
Manwë.
After arriving in Aman, the Vanyar were rarely seen even by other Elves. Very few individual Vanyar are named besides Imin, Ingwë, and his sister (or possibly niece)
Indis, the second wife of
Finwë (the king of the
Noldor) and the mother of
Fingolfin and
Finarfin, the latter of which founded the only house of Noldorin Elves to sport golden Vanyarin hair. After her husband was killed by
Melkor in his attack on
Formenos, she returned to her people, along with her daughter
Findis.
The pure Vanyar were only seen in Middle-earth once after their departure, when Ingwë's son
Ingwion led an armed host of his people from Valinor to fight in the
War of Wrath. They returned to Aman, along with most of the Eldar living in the now largely destroyed
Beleriand, at the end of the First Age.
Though no pure Vanyar ever set foot in Middle-earth after the Great Journey, save for those who fought in the War of Wrath, it was through
Indis, the second wife of
Finwë (the king of the
Noldor) and the mother of
Fingolfin and
Finarfin, that some descendants of the Vanyar did come to Middle-earth, notably bringing their features such as their distinguishing golden Vanyarin hair.
Quendya
As the favoured Elves of Manwë, the Vanyar would have been more closely involved with the Valar and
Maiar than the Noldor and Teleri, which presumably would have prompted at least some differences in their culture. The Vanyarin dialect of
Quenya, known as
Quendya, would seem to suggest this, incorporating as it does several words derived from Valarin which are not found in the Noldorin dialect, such as
tulka ("yellow, from Valarin
tulukha(n)),
ulban ("blue", presumably from the same root as Valarin
ulu/ullu meaning "water"),
nasar (red, original Valarin not given) and
miruvózë (from
mirubhôzê, from which is also derived
miruvor, the cordial of
Rivendell in
The Lord of the Rings). Vanyarin Quenya also retains a distinct
accusative case for noun inflections, which was dropped from the exilic Noldorin variety.
Other versions of the legendarium
In the earliest versions of Tolkien's mythology (see:
The History of Middle-earth), the First Kindred of the Eldar were called the
Teleri, while the Third Kindred, the elves known as
Teleri in the published version of
The Silmarillion, were called
Solosimpi ('shoreland pipers'). Prior to being renamed the Vanyar, the First Kindred were referred to in manuscripts as the
Lindar ('Singers'). In the published
Silmarillion, the name Lindar was given as the name by which the Third Kindred referred to themselves, in preference to the somewhat pejorative name Teleri (by that time in the evolution of Quenya meaning 'Stragglers', 'Hindmost'), which is what the other Kindreds called them.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Vanyar'.
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