Thank you! Let me see if I can go more in-depth on the space!Ainur for you:
As far as civilizations go, the Ainur rank just a little bit above a Type II on the Kardashev scale–they’ve harnessed the energy of their parent star(s), and they do currently receive energy from a few other neighboring areas, but it’s only supplementary. In a lot of ways, they’re still quite young on the galactic scale by the time the events of the Quenta Silmarillion.
Their personal belief system about their species’ role in the Music of Creation is clearly related to their own biology. In general, they have heightened sensitivity to vibrations; nuance in speech sometimes results in additional simultaneous pitches added to the words, which is why Earth-native species finds their native language abrasive.
The political body ruling their species are the Valar. Their lifespans are incredibly long, increasingly so as their technology improves, and by the time they become interstellar they have stabilized into a set population continuously replacing or rejuvenating their forms. Thus, if Manwe is referred to at any point, it is the same Manwe referred to at all points.
The term Maiar is used to refer to bodied Ainur not on the ruling council. In addition, there are a great number of un-bodied Ainur still acting and present in society through robotic forms (not necessarily humanoid) running what is essentially a stored imprint of their intelligence.
Melkor is most certainly in lock-down inside one of these forms “in the void” (i.e. in an undisclosed location in space), unable to be killed due to the Valarin moral code but unable to remain bodied for the safety of others. Due to the sinking of Numenor, Sauron is also bound to a robotic form, and the One Ring is his last life-line to regain control of the commandeered technologies his forces once had.
The Ainur the sentient species of Earth are not the only acting groups in this galaxy. There’s a lot going on out there that even they don’t understand.
As for the black birbs, they are my personal concepts and not from Tolkien’s canon. They’re vampiric, parasitic shapeshifters known as the Ahluum, but they are affectionately called sludge birds. Usually I only bring them up in the distant future scenarios, because they’re behind the Ainur in technologic development and also there can only be one group of shape-shifting puppeteers in this neck of the galaxy.
Everything is developing all the time; some thoughts have definitely changed since I discussed them with people back in… 2014? 2015? And that includes with @misbehavingmaiar, there are new and altered details that we’ve never discussed.
(If people want to hear more about my sludge birds, I will gladly and with immense pleasure make a separate post about them. I just really love them a lot, you know?)
so while it’s true that I may be among the more reserved, one might even say prudish silm readers, I feel I should mention that someone once requested that I draw Sauron pole dancing and I did it
Absolutely! I love talking about this topic! I ended up going really in-depth, because I’ve had it long enough that it is an All-Of-Tolkien’s-Mythos in Space AU, so I put everything here under the cut:
Foundation
Aman is not one single continent, as written in the histories, but its own binary star-system, with stars referred to as the “Two Trees” at its center.
The Ainur are their own species, with technology so advanced it is beyond most comprehension. In general, they tend to misunderstand the Children of Iluvatar in the way humans misunderstand other species, and make some Bad Decisions early on in their relationship with them.
Elves are from our Earth, and very much like humans, but the initial exposure to the Valar and the later trip to the new star system changed them. Like, genetically. (I did mention there were some bad decisions.)
Elves who settle on planets closer to the center of the system experience more significant changes, but some planets that are otherwise uninhabitable are populated through (morally-questionable) means. Some smaller locations, such as Formenos, are moons.
The Teleri, at the edge of the populated portion of the Aman system, have the greatest interest in travel. Through their strong relationship with Ulmo and Osse, as well as the length of time they take to make their journey, they end up with access to interstellar travel (i.e. their iconic swan-ships).
Noldor are Noldor. Very much devoted to their crafts and the sciences. Not much change there, except more space.
Now, I do want to be clear about this: the Vanyar are people. They have thoughts and feelings and ambitions. They have an appropriate amount of eyes and noses and mouths. But there are no Vanyar left on Earth after the Sundering of the Elves, because there were never any Vanyar on Earth before the Sundering of the Elves. And no full-blooded Vanyar leave the inner planets of the Aman system, because no full-blooded Vanyar can leave the climates for which they were designed.
First Age
Events play out more or less the same. Just imagine a little less riding horses and a little more riding space ships.
The silmarils are, of course, marvels–more so because they are tiny nuclear reactions. And I imagine, even with immense advancement, possibly beyond nuclear energy, most species get very nervous when another starts experimenting with it. (Elves are proven related to humans, when they try to create the power to hold a star.)
The Darkening is a direct assault on the two stars at the center of the system. Melkor kills for the silmarilli and flees to gain power and take the second half of his revenge. The Valar are unable to pursue because they must now invest almost all of their resources into maintaining and re-stabilizing their star-system, a feat which is possible at their level but draining and time-consuming.
The Noldor assault Alqualonde and take the swan-ships. Feanor’s group use them to cross to Earth and destroy them, to weaponize their remains. Fingolfin’s group must use less powerful ships that are less reliable, take longer than expected and and add a high casualty rate to the voyage through the void between stars.
The longer the Noldor or the Ainur are away from Aman, the more their resources dwindle. That’s why Melkor is diminished by the end of the First Age; he simply lacks the resources to replenish himself and his armies, and while he does show off some of his most impressive technological creations, he can’t match a unified direct intervention by the rest of the Valarin Council.
This around the point where the Valar finally realize that they can’t be actively involved in other species’ development, and withdraw from our own star system.
Second Age
The mental stand-out is of course, the advancement of the Numenorians over the centuries, leading up to their attempt to assail the shores of Aman. Thank Sauron for helping with some of those lost technologies that let them skip forward a couple more centuries! Now the edges of their star system are securely monitored, and unrecognized ships are destroyed. Also, their base of operation was destroyed, including his, but this is Not Going To Stop Sauron.
There’s some other stuff with like, Celebrimbor. And the rings. I haven’t thought as much about those, but I mean, having rings which alter the actions of things and people around you seems like the sort of shady and dangerous stuff that the Ainur as a whole–I mean, that Sauron would know a lot about.
…uh, to be quite honest I always forget some details of the second age. Maglor is my favorite character in the canon, and as soon as he disappears I lose track of the rest of the book…
Third Age and Beyond
Not only the loss of resources but also the loss of people who understand interstellar travel begins affecting the reach of Earth’s inhabitants. The people of Middle Earth are a people in-decline even in canon, and it’s no different here. There are still little remnants of the great technologies once used by Ainur, Elves and Men, but even the most advanced manufacturing techniques are useless if you don’t have the resources to reproduce them.
The Valar’s rule of aggressive isolation, protecting themselves and the remaining elves in their star system, prevents us from receiving contact from the one guaranteed alien race that we know about, and soon enough they fade from memory.
There’s significant overlap for me at this point in my creative development between the Eldritch Abomination Valar and the general sci-fi setting, because why can’t there be life out there in the void of space which is incomprehensible? But this is a setting which does not require them, and in fact, I’d probably feel better if Thingol didn’t get it on with Melian if there’s an outlying chance that she sometimes looks like way too many birds occupying a single place.
I’ve worked on it for some time with my buddy @urloth. There are some things we haven’t discussed at length but a lot of the development is because I’ve gotten to talk with her about it. We also have a Space Elves Extended Universe which happens way off in the future, where we have fun with our favorites and introduce more aliens to the mix, because I love them and they’re great.
tl;dr: space elves is the first part of the silmarillion in space and then over time less happens in space because going into space is a lost technology. also, the ainur make some bad choices.
yess yeEESS YAAAAAAASSS HERE IT IS THE SPACE ELVES
I have never seen a video of such concentrated Aulendur wisdom before in my life. I think this man may be Narvi, or a wizard. I agree with him about the dragons.
Please enjoy these extremely Welsh tingles and the good artistic advice.
SORRY ABOUT THE META SPAM, IM CLEANING OUT MY INBOX AFTER LIKE TWO MONTHS OF SITTING ON A PILE OF ASKS
This is described better in the HoME volumes than it is in the Silmarillion.
Essentially, the reason Melkor loses his ability to change forms is because he invests so much of himself in earthly matter.
The Ainur are creatures of pure spirit whose visible forms are just extensions of their thought, which they can change at will. The more they engage with earthly matters, and the more of their power they put into the world, the more they are bound to it and are subject to its laws. (If I remember correctly, Tolkien includes eating, drinking, loving, having children, etc., as some of the other ways an Ainu can become more earthbound, besides directly infusing their power into things like Orcs).
This is why one of the volumes is titled “Morgoth’s Ring”, coming from the quote where Tolkien explains that, like Sauron who invests his power into the One Ring in order to gain power of the world, Melkor invested himself in Arda, making Arda his “Ring”. This is why he becomes so fragile and hides away for most of the Silmarillion; most of his power is invested in Arda, “marring it” as they call it, and therefore what is left of him is severely weakened and subject to the laws of matter– i.e., he can be hurt, captured, Sung to sleep by elf witches, etc.
According to Tolkien, Melkor put some of himself in ALL the matter of Arda. He talks about how the material world is suffused with a “Melkor-ingredient” (which is the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever read with my eyes, but w/e) making it inherently corruptible, subject to entropy, and the ravages of time. By contrast, matters of the spirit remain incorruptible at their core, unable to be altered except from within. But spirits are generally attached to a flesh body, and the body can be manipulated with fear and lust and temptations, etc, so having power over the material world helps one gain power over people’s spirits by extension.
This is why both Melkor and Sauron put vast quantities of their innate power into objects and creatures, giving them immense power over the world even while it limits their mutability and makes them vulnerable.
MisbehavingMaiar: Tumblr Archive 