Quote:
Originally Posted by Glorthelion
I'm not sure if Tolkien states that the Valar are allowed to have children. But imagine this:
If Manwe and Varda had a child, that child would be immortal, no doubt. But would the child be counted as a Valar or just a Maia?
Glorthelion
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In the original conception of the stories, the Valar could have children. For example, in an early version, the child of Manwë and Varda is Fionwë. I think the idea of Valar and Maiar was less rigid at that point, but he was definitely considered of lower rank than his parents. I think that in the 'final' version, the difference between Valar and Maiar is more one of authority than essence, because, after all, they're all Ainur. The only difference is that the Valar are the ones in charge because they have more power, i.e. are the masters of their element, etc.
Of course, this raises many more questions, such as the nature of the Ainur themselves, and where such an essence would come from. I mean, could you really talk about the fëa of an Ainu? They could probably be called all fëa, but they're also beyond that, because they can create their own incarnations. So how would you be able to get a new being of that high nature? I reckon that's one reason Tolkein abandoned the idea. There's also the whole problem of the Ainulindalë. Would the children have participated in it? If so, then they would have been created outside Eä, in which case it's impossible for them to physically create offspring, and so they would have to have been made by Eru. If not, they would have been created as physical and part of the world, and therefore would not be Ainur at all, as they'd only have a physical form. And then what would they be?
Anyway, to answer your question, I think I'll go back to the case of Fionwë. He was originally conceived to be the child of Manwë, a Vala, but almost nothing else about him was changed by Tolkien when he became my namesake. He still has the same sort of position and role and power. So the answer would be a Maia, I think, from what we know of Tolkien's thoughts.