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Yavanna

Quenya: 'Fruit-giver' (c.f Etymologies in HoMeV: YAB + ANA1)

One of the Valier, the Queens of the Valar, and the spouse of Aulë.

Also called also Kementàri - Queen of the Earth.

All things that grow are dear to her. She concieved the protecters of the forests, the 'Shepherds of the Trees', called 'Ents'. She and Oromë often returned to Middle-earth grieving over the losses and hurts caused by Melkor.

tbc


Comments and Annotations

In an earlier manuscript, called the Koiviéni manuscript, written by Tolkien probably sometime between 1937 and 1941 and stored at the Marquette University Archives, Tolkien seems to have pondered different or alternative names for Yavanna among which the name igdrasil - which seems to have been rejected soon, though - can be found (other forms were ïdarasil and ïrarasil). This closely resembles Yggdrasil.

With Yavanna Tolkien creates a Goddess who resembles the 'Tree of Life' or 'World-tree' myths found in many cultures from all over the world. Not only Yggdrasil in Germanic/Norse tradition - as mentioned above - is an example, also Nyagrodha in the Upanishads, Asvattha in the Bhagavad Gita, even the two Trees in the Garden of Eden are further occurrences of this myth. Depictions of such 'Trees of Life' dating back as far as to the early Sumerian period have been found.


FolderCharacters FolderSpirits FolderCompendium ToDo: Parallels Yggdrasil - Yavanna; evtl -> Mythology

 
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