The Spirits of Arda (Q."Ardanávër") were an enigmatic race born in the deepness of the creation as living embodiments of Ambar. They were sometimes erroneously considered Maiar but they never were servants of any greater power and many even had never heard of Eru their creator for they only cared for the world of Arda herself and knew little of the timeless halls. However most scholars agreed that the Spirits of Arda might have been Eälar of some sort and related to the Spirits of the Ainulindalë or somehow were awakened or brought to life by Eru with the World herself.
Known Entities often believed to be Spirits of Arda:
- The Bulor-Ilg
- The Bird of Warmth, Embodiment of Spring.
- The Giants, Embodiments of the raw forces of Nature.
- Gilim the Giant, Embodiment of Winter.
- Nan the Giant, Embodiment of Summer.
- Wade the Sea Giant
- Great Glow-worms, Embodiments of primordial Light
- Mother Withywindle, the Embodiment of the river Withywindle, and her daughter Goldberry.
- Tom Bombadil, the Embodiment of the Landscape of the Old Forest.
- Nameless Creatures, earth-eaters or World-eaters, unknown entities embodying the dying of the world.
- Lintips, Mewlips, Gargoyles, and certain Kelvafeär.
Notes[]
J. R. R. Tolkien never mentioned or described this sort of entity or being and never explained what exactly Goldberry, Tom Bombadil, Giants and Nameless things were or where they came from.Only in his early mythology he used the term "Earthlings" to describe beings such as the Wood-giants, Pygmies, Stone Giants, possibly mermaids, but also strangely Dwarves, who later were considered "adopted Eruhini".