Manwë

Manwë (Quenya: "Blessed One") was the leader of the Ainur, one of the Aratar, King of the Valar, husband of Varda, brother of the Dark Lord Melkor, and King of Arda. He was also known as Súlimo, Mânawenûz, or Valahiru, and lived atop Mount Taniquetil in Valinor, the highest mountain of the world. The winds and airs were his servants.
He was the greatest in authority and power, of all the Valar, Melkor being just as powerful, but having no authority because of his treason. He was, however, the greatest of the Aratar, among whom Melkor was not. It is said that he was the only Vala who took council from Eru from time to time.
== Biography ==
Manwë was (with Melkor) the eldest of the Ainur, and the one that best understood the will of Eru. When Melkor created the discord in the Music of the Ainur, the Second Theme of Eru that rose to counter the discord used Manwë as its chief instrument. When Arda was formed, Manwë was appointed Ruler of Arda, hence his most common title, the Elder King (although Melkor also referred to himself by this title).The Children of Húrin, pg. 64 Manwë was a kind, compassionate ruler, unconcerned with his own power. He oversaw all of the Valar's early attempts to order Arda, but was unable to stop Melkor's rampages until the Vala Tulkas came to Arda to assist his brethren.
Afterwards, the Valar under Manwë made an abode on Middle-earth in the Isle of Almaren and constructed the two Lamps of the Valar to provide light to the world. But Melkor destroyed the lamps, and the Valar retreated to the continent of Aman, which they heavily fortified. Eventually, the Elves awoke in Middle-earth, and Manwë at last went with the other Valar to subdue Melkor. They succeeded, and Melkor was imprisoned in the Halls of Mandos. He extended an invitation to the Elves to journey to Aman and live there amongst the Valar. For the three Ages of Melkor's imprisonment, the Valar and the Elves lived in peace and happiness. But eventually Melkor was allowed to plead for pardon before Manwë again.
As Manwë was completely free of evil, he was unable to comprehend it, leading him to believe Melkor's lies concerning his reformation. He released Melkor from Mandos, whereupon Melkor began plotting the downfall of the Elves and the ruin of Aman's bliss. He began to cleverly spread lies amongst the Ñoldor, who soon grew to resent the Valar because of said lies. Eventually, due to the rebellious actions of the Ñoldorin prince Fëanor, Melkor's lies were uncovered, but he escaped before he could be recaptured. Soon thereafter, Melkor recruited the great spider Ungoliant and poisoned the Two Trees. He then murdered the High King of the Ñoldor, Finwë, stole the Silmarils, and incited Fëanor's leaving Aman with most of the Ñoldor in rebellion.
Soon thereafter, Manwë learned that the rebellious Ñoldor had attacked and slaughtered many of the Teleri. As such, he forbade the Ñoldor from returning to Valinor once they left, and stated also that the Elves would receive no help from the Valar in their war against Morgoth. He then caused Valinor to be hidden by way of the Shadowy Seas and the Enchanted Isles to prevent the Ñoldor from returning.
To hearten the Eldar, he had Aulë fashion the Sun and the Moon, for he knew the rising of the Atani was coming soon, and sent Thorondor and the Eagles to watch them. After Morgoth's fall, Manwë cast him into the void. Manwë dressed in blue robes and had blue eyes. He wielded a scepter of sapphire made for him by the Ñoldor. The Vanyar were his favorite Elves, and they lived with him and Varda on Mount Taniquetil.
== Maiar of Manwë ==
*Eönwë, Manwë's banner-bearer and herald.
*Olórin (Gandalf), the second-in-command (and later leader) of the Wizards sent to Middle-earth to fight against Sauron, Manwë comforted him when Olórin showed uneasiness and fear of Sauron's powers.
== Etymology ==
The name Manwë means "blessed one" or "blessed person", from the Quenya man ("blessed") and wë ("person").The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"
Súlimo literally means "the Breather", from the Quenya súlimë ("wind")The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I and Sindarin sûl ("wind").The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin names
His Sindarin name was Aran Einior, the "Elder King".The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, XI: "The Shibboleth of Fëanor"
=== Titles ===
*Elder King
*King of Arda
*Lord of the Breath of Arda
*King of the Valar
*Lord of the West
== In other versions ==
In earlier versions of the legendarium Manwë and Varda were called with the title of WanwavoisiThe History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales and they were conceived as the parents of Eonwë (called Fionwë Úrion) and Ilmarë (called Erinti). Tolkien later abandoned this idea of the Children of the Valar.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter II: "The Music of the Ainur"
== Trivia ==
Manwë shares many characteristics with the pantheon chief gods of world mythologies, particularly the Greek Zeus and the Norse Odin in the sense of being the associated with wisdom and the skies, and with St. Michael Archangel of the Christian religions in the sense of being second only to Illúvatar in righteousness and authority after Melkor's fall from grace.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Azerbaijani 	Manve
Arabic 	مانوي
Armenian 	Մանւը
Belarusian Cyrillic	Манвэ
Bengali 	মানবে ?
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Манве (Manwë)
Манве Сулимо (Manwë Sulimo)
Chinese (Hong Kong)	曼威 (Manwë)
曼威·甦利繆 (Manwë Súlimo)
Georgian 	მანუე (Manwë)
მანუე სულიმო (Manwë Súlimo)
Greek 	Μάνγουε (Manwë)
Μάνγουε Σούλιμο (Manwë Súlimo)
Gujarati 	મનવે
Hindi 	मन्व्ऐ
Japanese 	マンウェ (Manwë)
マンウェ ・スーリモ (Manwë Súlimo)
Kannada 	ಮನ್ವೆ
Kazakh 	Мэнве (Cyrillic) Ménve (Latin)
Korean 	만웨 (Manwë)
만웨 술리모 (Manwë Súlimo)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Манwэ
Lao 	ມະນວເ
Macedonian Cyrillic	Манве
Marathi 	मानवे
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Манүё
Nepalese 	मन्वे
Pashto 	مانوې
Persian 	(Manwë) مانوه
(Manwë Súlimo) مانوه سولیمو
Punjabi 	ਮਾਨਵੇ
Russian 	Манвэ
Sanskrit 	मन्वे
Serbian 	Манве (Cyrillic) Manve (Latin)
Sinhalese 	මන්වෙ
Tajik Cyrillic 	Манwе
Tamil 	மனவெ
Telugu 	మాన్వే
Thai 	มานเว
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Манве
Urdu 	مانوے
Uzbek 	Манwе (Cyrillic) Manwe (Latin)
Yiddish 	מאַנצע
== References ==
Category:Valar
Category:Aratar
Category:Kings
Category:The Silmarillion characters
Category:Quenya names & words
Category:Characters in The History of Middle-earth
Category:Ainur
de:Manwë
es:Manwë
fr:Manwë
it:Manwë
pl:Manwë
pt-br:Manwë Súlimo
ru:Манвэ
sk:Manwë
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uk:Манве