Creatures

The names by which the Eldar and other peoples spoke of the beings of Arda carried force of order. They showed origin, degree of life, belonging to the world itself, and changes of kind. The following summary sets forth those distinctions and names the principal classes.

"Creatures" (Q."onnar") referred to the animals of Middle‑earth, the creatures of Arda or Beasts of Nature, but also to the depraved and misshapen Things of Morgoth.

Origin and standing[]

Beings were distinguished by their origin and by the measure of life or spirit they possessed. Some came forth directly by the will of Eru, some were brought into the world by the Valar and Maiar, some had existence as parts of the Earth itself, and some were Ainur who had entered Arda. Words that traced lineage or begetting marked kinship and claim; words that signified life or being marked vitality as the chief quality.

Ainur and Ealar[]

The Ainur were the great Powers that existed before the shaping of the world; some descended into Arda and laboured within it, others remained apart. The Ealar appeared in certain accounts as beings fashioned by Eru and were reckoned apart from ordinary created things. Their naming set them off from the common orders of living creatures.

Spirits of Arda and nature‑spirits[]

Some powers were not beings that merely dwelt in the world but were expressions of the world's own being. Springs, hills, trees, and stones were associated with spirits bound to those places; these were not simply inhabitants of Arda but, in the speech of the Eldar, aspects or voices of Arda itself. Their nature derived from place and from the ancient pattern of the world.

Eruhini and the Children of Eru[]

The term Eruhini named those whose lineage or special standing was traced to Eru. The phrase "Children of Eru" was used for those who held a direct and privileged place in the order of things. Such names conveyed more than descent; they showed a standing that shaped the duties and relations of those so named within the world. The Elves and mortals including common Men and Hobbit-kin. Dwarves were wrought by Aulë and granted life by Eru, and they were steadfast makers in stone and metal, secretive and firmly bound to the earth and to craft. They were reckoned as Eru's adopted children, Eruhini through his grace.

Olvar, Kelvar, and Eruhini as creatures[]

Names such as Olvar and Kelvar appeared as collective terms for classes of living things. They were held to be creatures in the sense that they formed part of the created order; whether they were regarded as full persons depended on context, usage, and the roles assigned to them in tale or law. Eruhini stood higher in rank by virtue of their ascribed origin.

Favoured beasts, and granted souls[]

Certain creatures or beasts were said to have received special favour or a portion of spirit from Eru. The Great Eagles were the foremost example: they acted at times as messengers or agents and were accounted above ordinary beasts while yet remaining creatures of the One. Other such animals appeared where special dignity or function had been ascribed to them, such as Nahar, Huan the Hound of Valinor, or the Fairy animals, though some of the latter may have been offspring of incarnate Ainur or Spirits of Arda.

Ents as mediators[]

Ents were held to be guardians and mediators between the living vegetation and the speaking peoples. They occupied a middle station: they were of the earth and of slow, deliberate thought, and they performed a mediating office between plant‑like orders and those nearer to Eru.

Corruption and the Uvanimor[]

Those things that Morgoth had perverted were commonly set apart by names that marked their corruption. The Úvanimor were corrupted creatures in that they retained traces of their created nature while being turned from their original purpose. Their naming gave warning that corruption changed standing without necessarily making the thing wholly other.

see:

• Earthlings
• Hnau