Animal Spirits

[easterlinge]

In "Of Aule and Yavanna" Yavanna complained that the kelvar and olvar (plants and animals) had no defence against sentient beings, especially the trees.

Manwe told her that it was revealed to him by Iluvatar that spirits came from elsewhere and dwelt in the trees and these became the Shepherds of the Trees.

But the spirits also dwelt in animals, if I remember correctly. Is any mention made at all of these spirit-animal guardians? Does this have anything to do with werewolves and Beorn's shape-changing?



And just as an aside: in SE Asia and India there are no legends of werewolves because there aren't any wolves. But we do have legends of man-tigers (or wer-tigers if you like), the result of dark magic.

[Ñólendil]

I believe she said that the Kelvar (who were not specifically under her realm of Authority) could defend themselves, but that the Olvar could not. So no, I don't believe there were any reference to spirits dwelling among animals in that chapter. There is some elsewhere. Werewolves are verily supposed to be filled with some evil spirits of one sort or another, and in very late writings Tolkien declares (or perhaps speculates) that Huan was a Maia, or a Maian spirit set within the body of a Hound. Which I think is an interesting improvement of the story.

It seems that either Oromë made Huan's form for him (which is stated to be something the Valar could do), for some mysterious reason to go under the service of Tyelcormo (Celegorm), or Huan assumed it himself. Either way it was definitely not as mere 'raiment'. Like Melian did for Thingol, perhaps Huan too assumed a permanent body subject to death and all that for love of Celegorm. Perhaps he erred somehow as a Maia and repented, and so was put under the service of an Oromendur (possibly a valid term, Aulendur is, 'servant of Aule') to prove his good faith. Either way we have here a Maia, perhaps the only one, who followed the Noldor into Exile and was entangled in the Curse of Mandos. I think it would be cool if Huan indeed repented of some evil and was put into the body of a Hound to prove his good faith, became a friend of Celegorm and so chose to follow him to Middle-earth, and perhaps by his choice it was prophesized by someone that he would enter combat and be slain by one of the demon-wolves of Morgoth (if that's what they were).

Also Tolkien speculated that Thorondor might have been a Maia, but commented that it was a pity that Gwaihir is said to be descended from him in the Lord of the Rings. I don't personally think that's a problem, an uncountable amount of people are descended from Melian. We must assume Thorondor too became as one of the Incarnates, if you want to accept he wasn't just an Eagle. You also have Ungoliant, of whom all the Spiders of Mirkwood in the Third Age were descendants (through Shelob) and some in the Shadowy Mountains, never seen in narrative.