Sex Amongst the Maiar (and the Other Beings in Arda)

[Lalwendë]

And from Galin's quote from the Osanwe-kenta...a few things...

'(...) The things that are most binding are those that in the Incarnates have to do with the life of the hroa itself, its sustenance, and its propagation. Thus eating and drinking are binding, but not the delight in beauty of sound and form. Most binding is begetting or conceiving.

We do not know the axani (laws, rules, as primarily proceeding from Eru) that were laid down upon the Valar with particular reference to their state, but it seems clear that there was no axan against these things. Nonetheless it appears to be an axan, or maybe necessary consequence, that if they are done, then the spirit must dwell in the body that is used, and be under the same necessities as the Incarnate. The only case that is known in the histories of the Eldar is that of Melian (...)

'The great Valar do not do these things: they beget not, neither do they eat and drink, save at the high asari, in token of their lordship and indwelling of Arda, and for the blessing and sustenance of the Childre. Melkor alone became at last bound to a bodily form...'

1. It suggests that maybe it was because of Melkor's great lust that he became very much bound to his physical form. He also did a lot of 'begetting' with the creation and mastery of several races and creatures. Note Tolkien says 'begetting or conceiving' which might suggest more than just the standard reproduction.

2. Also eating and drinking can be binding - how much do we see the Istari doing this? We certainly see Gandalf smoking a lot, which might also be counted as something 'done to the body' that may bind him to the hroa he chose.

3. I note that having a child was the most binding, and no doubt Tolkien chose to do this to emphasise that having a child is a serious thing and you can't just flounce off back to your incorporeal form when you choose once you have kids to fend for. In his writing, he always seems to view family responsibilities as a very serious matter.

I'm also interested in whether we view the Valar/Maiar as having a sex or a gender. Because a gender in the modern understanding may not necessarily mean they looked like we might assume someone of that gender to look. In that respect, an androgynous Ainu would indeed be possible. I quite like that Tolkien seems to suggest they had a choice depending on how they felt. Very modern

But when they desire to clothe themselves the Valar take upon them forms some as of male and some as of female; for that difference of temper they had even from their beginning, and it is but bodied forth in the choice of each, not made by the choice, even as with us male and female may be shown by the raiment but is not made thereby.

[Galin]

It was said that the Valar usually took the shape of the bodies of Elves and Men -- of majestic but not gigantic stature (and in some degree radiant), vested in robes expressing their individual natures and functions.

Also, that the Valar and Maiar could assume other shapes (Yavanna as a great tree and so forth, as in Silmarillion), although it's noted in RGEO that the Eldar seldom saw other inhuman forms taken by the Valar. I initially thought that we could easily say the same of the Maiar, but then I remembered this little interesting note from JRRT in Morgoth's Ring: '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.)'

... which has me wondering a bit. Anyway in notes regarding the word fana(r) Tolkien seems to describe the fanar of the Valar and Maiar, but in RGEO (published by JRRT himself), unless I missed something, he speaks there of only the Valar, technically.

In posthumously published notes there is an interesting distinction:

'But the Elves of Valinor asserted that unclad the Valar were perceived by some among them as lights (of different hues) which their eyes could not tolerate; whereas the Maiar were usually invisible when unclad, but their presence was revealed by their fragrance.'

*(...) The Maiar corrupted by him [Melkor] stank'

JRRT, Words, Phrases and Passages

This bit also does not appear in RGEO, in any case.

[Lalwendë]

So Melkor's Maiar were smelly...that has made me chuckle. It probably gives even more reasons to fear a Balrog. And maybe the One Ring was an air freshener.

I wonder what Radagast smelled like?

[Faramir Jones]

So Sauron 'stank', did he? Not surprising, but was this only when he was 'unclad' (as in having no physical form, not as in having no clothes on), or when he was in physical form?

If the second was the case, then he would have had to be careful, in the days when he wore a fair form, to keep himself very clean to avoid detection. Perhaps Middle-earth owed a lot to his taking regular baths and developing the deoderant. Did orcs and others who acknowledged his rule fear him because he insisted that they also wash regularly?

Of course, this would have to have been before the Downfall of Númenor. Now that he was stuck in the form of a dark lord, he wouldn't need to bother with such cleanliness. Perhaps he then abandoned it, and his people followed his example...

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

1. It suggests that maybe it was because of Melkor's great lust that he became very much bound to his physical form. He also did a lot of 'begetting' with the creation and mastery of several races and creatures. Note Tolkien says 'begetting or conceiving' which might suggest more than just the standard reproduction.

Perhaps we have finally answered the age old question of where orcs came from...at least in part.

It is kind of disturbing if you think about it from any number of perspectives whether you consider orcs to be of elvish, mannish, or bestial stock. It puts the "torments" that he inflicted on the progenitors of the race into a whole new light.

*goes to bathe brain in acid*