Spirits
Spirits are the essential beings who generally dwell in the Unseen, and whose nature generally does not include a corporeal body.
Ilúvatar creates spirits from nothing through the Flame Imperishable.
Groups
Ainur
Before Eä, Eru created the spirits known as the Ainur, the Holy Ones. The greater were called Valar and the lesser Maiar.
Some of the spirits were associated with a certain element, or physical phenomenon:
- Air spirits: Spirits shaped like hawks and eagles delivered messages to Manwë as he sat in his throne in Ilmarin upon Taniquetil.
- Fire spirits: The Maia Arien is said to have been "from the beginning a spirit of fire". Melkor seduced some of the fire spirits, which became known as the Balrogs.
- Water spirits: A host of spirits followed Ulmo to maintain the waters of Arda, of whom the Maiar Ossë and Uinen were the greatest. Perhaps Salmar, and Goldberry and the River-woman were such water spirits.
Evil spirits
All Ainur originally adhered to Eru, but the Vala Melkor became corrupted and fell from the grace of Eru. Upon the creation of Arda, Melkor "gathered to himself spirits out of the voids of Eä that he had perverted to his service", and these became known as the Úmaiar or demons.
It is told that Morgoth sent "spirits of shadows" against Tilion and the vessel of the Moon, as he hated the light of the Sun and Moon. There was a strife in Ilmen, but Tilion was victorious against these evil spirits. They may possibly have been among the spirits Morgoth gathered to his service.
In the late Third Age, spirits of "evil vigilance" are said to have abode in the Two Watchers. The Barrow-wights are furthermore said to be evil spirits who had entered in deserted mounds, stirring the bones of the dead.
Other
Tom Bombadil was probably a "spirit" (of some sorts) of the earth. Goldberry and the River-woman would perhaps belong to such an order.
The fëar are the spirits (souls) that inhabit the bodies of the Children of Ilúvatar; Some fëar also, and "spirits from afar", were sent to inhabit the Ents. Unbodied fëar, could be controlled by necromancy (See also: undead).
Other names
In Quenya, a collective name for the spirits is ëalar, actually meaning "beings". Another word was thúlë, later súlë, from the root THŪ, related to words for "wind". It was also the name for one of the tengwar.
Other versions of the legendarium
In An Evening in Tavrobel, an early poem from Tolkien's youth, tiny, gleaming spirits appear dancing in Tavrobel.
In a draft of In the House of Tom Bombadil, Tom explains that Old Man Willow is a "grey thirsty earth-bound spirit" that had "become imprisoned in the greatest Willow of the Forest".
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 29/05/2026.
