According to texts published under the title
Myths Transformed (Morgoth's Ring), Tolkien seems to think Huan might be a Maia ... and also that he wasn't... actually in Text VIII he began:
Quote:
'Huan and Sorontar could be Maiar -- emissaries of Manwe. But unfortunately in The Lord of the Rings Gwaehir and Landroval are said to be descendants of Sorontar.'
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But JRRT ends this same text with a statement that included Huan as not being a Maia in any case.
And on Text V, again Tolkien jotted:
Quote:
'Living things in Aman. As the Valar would robe themselves like the Children, many of the Maiar robed themselves like other lesser living things, as trees, flowers, beasts. (Huan.)'
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So yes and no... and yes again? but I'm not sure if this note on Text V was written before or after Text VIII in any case. So maybe!
And at least in the essay
Aman (Myths Transformed, Morgoth's Ring), it is said there were (noting without 'fear' meaning without a
fea, which roughly translates as 'spirit'):
Quote:
'... a great multitude of creatures, without fear, of many kinds: animals or moving creatures, and plants that are steadfast. There, it is believed, were the counterparts of all the creatures that are or have been on Earth, and others also that were made for Aman only. And each kind had, as on earth, its own nature and natural speed of growth.'
'... all those creatures that were thither transplanted or were trained or bred or brought into being for the purposes of inhabitation in Aman were given a speed of growth such that one year of the life natural to their kinds on earth should in Aman be one Valian Year.'
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In this text 1 Valian Year = 144 Sun Years. So that if a dog usually lives 15 years in Middle-earth, it will live 15 Valian Years in Aman or 15 X 144 (for Sun Years). It could not get sick, seemingly, for it was also said:
'For in Aman no creature suffered any sickness or disorder of their natures; nor was there any decay or ageing more swift than the slow ageing of Arda itself.'
If this text was really going to stand, in all ways, for an ultimate conception anyway.