Bows of rain

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Anyway, there was a (non-player) character of a Maia who was a servant of Varda, she was named Kalamírë (i.e. "light-jewel") and she was the personification of Rainbow.

Very interesting. Wonder how many other hybrid "children" exist in Arda, meaning beings that intersect two or more magisteria of other Valar. Aule and Varda = meteorites?

In the later days of the Third Age, Saruman takes for himself the title of Many Colours, and this is not seen as a good thing. This breaking of the white light (i.e. as when light passes through a prism), which is what happens to create a rainbow, is considered to be leaving the path of wisdom.

Would then a rainbowic being be necessary on the side of good, or is it clear that I'm reading way too much into this?

[Eönwë]

I never thought about that Alatar. They always seemed to be on the "good" side to me.

Anyway, wouldn't that make all water and crystals bad (as they refract light). And I'm sure Tolkien alsways portrayed those in a good light (no pun intended, seriously!).

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by alatar

Very interesting. Wonder how many other hybrid "children" exist in Arda, meaning beings that intersect two or more magisteria of other Valar. Aule and Varda = meteorites?

Possibly? (Although Varda could make this herself. Only Aulë could help with giving some worth to the famous meteoritic iron...

Originally Posted by alatar

In the later days of the Third Age, Saruman takes for himself the title of Many Colours, and this is not seen as a good thing. This breaking of the white light (i.e. as when light passes through a prism), which is what happens to create a rainbow, is considered to be leaving the path of wisdom.

Would then a rainbowic being be necessary on the side of good, or is it clear that I'm reading way too much into this?

Nah, I wouldn't think so. It is not that rainbow would be something bad by itself (the rainbow over Cirith Ninniach did not mean that Tuor was entering Mordor!), simply just in the particular case that Saruman actually broke the originally white light - the one color he was "appointed" with - into many colors, and Gandalf's interpretation of white light broken referred also to what Saruman did, not to rainbow by itself, that much seems clear - let's not read too much to it. It's easy to try to read something that isn't there.