The War of the Jewels:
Quendi and Eldar -
Note on the "Language of the Valar"
Quote:
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The element maxan, said to mean 'authority, authoritative decision', was also used in the form Máhan, one of the eight chiefs of the Valar, usually translated as Aratar.
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Here it is explicit that there were eight of the Aratar.
Another quote taken from
Morgoth's Ring:
The Later Quenta Silmarillion: Phase II -
Valaquenta. This is a commentary by Christopher Tolkien on the statement in the
Valaquenta that there are "Seven Great Ones of the Realm of Arda":
Quote:
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At the end of the account of the Valar and Valier appears the name and conception of the Aratar, the High Ones of Arda, of whom there are eight after the removal of Melkor. This contrasts with the conception of 'the Seven Great Ones of the Realm of Arda' (p. 147, §10a), among whom Melkor is numbered, but not Oromë, nor Mandos.
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Concerning Yavanna and Varda being siblings:
Quote:
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The statement in §5 that Yavanna is the sister of Varda does not appear in QS, but it was merely derived from that in QS §8, that Vána is 'the younger sister of Varda and Palúrien'. This goes back to Q (IV. 79, 167), but no further. Varda and Yavanna were still sisters in AAm (p. 49, §3), but the idea was abandoned in corrections to LQ 2.
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This is also from
Morgoth's Ring - it is found in
The Later Quenta Silmarillion: Phase I; it is a comment by Christopher Tolkien found in the notes of the Chapter I:
Of the Valar.