Mermaids
Mermaids, or water spirits, were creatures only mentioned fleetingly in the earliest versions of the legendarium and linguistic writings of the Eldar. Other names for these creatures were foam-maidens, foam-fays, foam-riders, and nymphs.
History
Mermaids apparently lived in caverns in the sea, that where down to the path of the Sun.
Mermaids are mentioned in the incomplete drafts of The Tale of Eärendel. Young Eärendel befriends the Oarni at the Mouths of Sirion, who love him. Later however he is shipwrecked at the Fiord of the Mermaid by the treachery of Ossë and another kind of mermaids enchant his sailors; Tolkien noted that they were possibly "earthlings or fays? - or both". Later the Oarni save Eärendel at Falasquil when Ossë wrecked him again. Finally, it is mentioned that the Oarni helped him build Wingilot at Falasquil, with which he sailed for Valinor.
Characteristics
The mermaids were part of what apparently was a three-fold division of the lesser Ainu spirits: sylphs (spirits of the air), sprites (spirits of the earth), and water spirits.
In poems, the foam-fays are described as having "blossom-white hair" shining "in the light of the sun", "pale arms on the sea's bosom", and to be "chanting wild songs".
Ui (the precursor of Uinen) was given the title Oarista ("Queen of Mermaids").
Names and divisions
A basic division of two groups of water spirits, with their Elvish names, are given as follow:
- Oarni (troop of Ossë): "spirits of the sea"; also Oaritsi (from oaris, "mermaid")
- Falmaríni and Wingildi (troop of Ossë): "spirits of the sea-foam" (also wingildin, "foam-maidens, foam-fays"; wingild- "nymph", or "foam-maiden"; wingi "mermaid, foam-maid"; and wingil "sea-nymph")
Also mentioned are flathwin or -nir ("foam fay"), and nendil, nennil ("waterfay"). A Qenya gloss is given as nindari ("river-maid, nymph").
Later legendarium
Mermaids are not mentioned in the later versions of the legendarium. Many of the classes of beings references in The Book of Lost Tales were superseded by the concept of the Maiar, which were not introduced until the reworking of the Annals of Valinor into the Annals of Aman.
Inspiration and other mentions
Patrick H. Wynne and Christopher Gilson have noted that Tolkien's use of nymphs (and related spirits) is likely influenced by Paracelsus's chart of four elementals: sylphs (air), pygmies or gnomes (earth), nymphs (water), and salamanders (fire).
According to C.S. Lewis, Tolkien once told him that historical people in a sense did not falsely claim to see "nymphs in the fountains and woods and dryads in the wood", since the production of food was closely connected to one's own land and territory: people came to internalise the nature surrounding them.
Portrayal in adaptations
1995-8: Middle-earth Collectible Card Game:
The Ally card "Nenseldë the Wingild", portraying a unique character, is playable at Dol Amroth.
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 28/05/2026.
