Ingwë

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This article is about the High King of the Elves. For the Mannish King of Luthany, see Ingwë.
Ingwë
Vanya
Alice Falto - Ingwe.jpg
"Ingwe" by Alice Falto
Biographical Information
PronunciationQ, [ˈiŋʷɡʷe]
Other namesIngweron (Q)
TitlesHigh King of the Elves
LocationMiddle-earth
Eldamar (Tirion)
Valinor (Taniquetil)
LanguageVanyarin
BirthBetween Y.T. 1050 and 1102
Cuiviénen[1]
RuleFrom Y.T. 1105
Family
HouseHouse of Imin[2]/House of Ingwë[3]
ParentageIlion[4]
SiblingsUnnamed sister (mother of Indis)[5]
At least one younger brother[4]
SpouseIlwen
ChildrenUnnamed children, including Ingwion[6]
Physical Description
GenderMale
HeightTall[4]
Hair colorGolden and curly[7]
GalleryImages of Ingwë
"But Ingwë was ever held the High King of all the Elves."
Quenta Silmarillion, "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"

Ingwë was the King of the Vanyar, and the High King of the Elves.[8]

History[edit | edit source]

Ingwë was one of the Minyar born at Cuiviénen. He was the eldest son of Ilion, and a descendant of Imin and Iminyë, from eldest son to eldest son. He was beloved by his people, and at some point before the Great Journey he wed Ilwen and had several children at Cuiviénen by the time Oromë found the Quendi.[9]

When Oromë invited them to Aman, Ingwë, along with Finwë and Elwë, were the most eager to visit, and so followed him as ambassadors and travelled to the Blessed Realm. Once there, Ingwë desired to "dwell in the presence of Varda", and was reluctant to return to Middle-earth.[10]

When they returned, they held a great debate, and told their peoples about its beauty and bliss and became their leaders during the Great March. Ingwë was the leader of the Vanyar, the foremost of the clans to follow Oromë, who were the most eager to reach the West, which they did quickly.[11]

After the Great Journey, Ingwë never returned or set eyes upon Middle-earth again.[11]

He lived in Tirion for a while, where he also built the great, white tower at the topmost part of the city, called Mindon Eldaliéva or the Tower of Ingwë. It was never used, except by those who tended to the lamp at its summit.[12][note 1]

There he begot many children, as noted by Finwë when Finwë complained to the Valar about his widowhood.[13]

At some point, however, he went to live on Taniquetil at the feet of Manwë.[8]

Indis, the second wife of Finwë, was of his close kin.[14]

Description[edit | edit source]

Ingwë is described as being tall and beautiful,[9] and his hair as golden and curly.[7] He is also said to have been "more given to thought than arts".[9]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The name Ingwë is in Quenya. It is glossed as "Chief" by Eldamo, being derived from the root ING ("first, foremost"), to which is attached the suffix -wë ("person").[15]

Another one of his names was Ingwë Ingweron ("Chief of the chieftains").[16] His name is also identified with the Vanyar, who called themselves Ingwer, as they considered themselves the leaders of the Eldar.

In the earlier Etymologies, Ingwë is said to be a compound of ing ("first") + the ending -we ("man").[17]

Genealogy[edit | edit source]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Imin
awoke Y.T. 1050
 
Iminyë
awoke Y.T. 1050
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ilion
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
unknown
father
 
unknown
mother
 
INGWË
b. Y.T.
 
Ilwen
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Míriel
d. Y.T. 1170
 
Finwë
d. Y.T. 1495
 
Indis
b. Y.T.
 
 
Ingwion
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
unknown
children
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fëanor
Y.T. 1169 - 1497
 
Findis
b. Y.T.
 
Fingolfin
Y.T. 1190 - F.A. 456
 
Írimë
b. Y.T.
 
Finarfin
b. Y.T. 1230
 

Other versions of the legendarium[edit | edit source]

Early legendarium[edit | edit source]

In the early version of the legendarium, according to The Book of Lost Tales, the character that would later become known as Ingwë was called Inwë.[18]

Inwë was one of the three Elves (the other two being Finwë and Tinwë) that volunteered to go with Nornorë, the messenger of the Valar, to Valinor, after their discovery at Koivië-néni - for Manwë wished to learn about their "coming" and their "desires".[19]

When Inwë arrived to Valinor, he was filled with wonder and longing for the light of Laurelin, one of the Two Trees, and his words moved Yavanna and Vána so that they convinced most of the other Valar to summon the Elves to Valinor to live amongst them. So Inwë and the other ambassadors were sent back to Koivië-néni, and managed to convince most of the Elves to come live with the Valar.[20]

Thereafter, Inwë became the leader of the Teleri, the first clan of the Elves, and led them to Valinor. He was also regarded as the eldest[21] and greatest[22] of all the Elves, and afterwards was considered the King of all the Eldar,[23] and his home was at the highest point in Kôr, a great elven city in Valinor, which had a silver tower "shooting skyward like a needle".[24] The Valar also gave Inwë a seedling of one of the Two Trees, which "blossomed eternally without abating" in his court.[25]

Many years later, after the fall of Gondolin, the Elves of Kôr heard of the plight of the Gnomes who were enslaved by Melko, and against the wishes of the Valar, Inwë led them to the Great Lands to wage war against Melko.

And even though the Elves were victorious, and Melko defeated and bound by Tulkas, Inwë was, however, killed during the war.[21]

After the war, with the Elves being forbidden to return to Valinor,[26] Ingil his son led them from the Great Lands to Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle, where he became their leader.[23]

His kin and descendants were called the Inwir, one of whom was Meril-i-Turinqi his great-granddaughter[21], the Lady of Tol Eressëa at the time of the arrival of Eriol the Mariner, in c. 5th century AD.[18]

In one outline, the island of Tol Eressëa was also called Inwinórë after Inwë, but that was later changed to Ingilnórë, in honour of his son Ingil instead.[27]

Inwë might have spoken Inwelin, a dialect of Telellin spoken by the royal clan of Inwir.[28]

Ingwë of Luthany[edit | edit source]

In later outlines of the Book of Lost Tales, in which Tol Eressëa ceased to be identified with England, the island of Luthany appears as a precursor to England, from which the Elves of the Great Lands sail to Tol Eressëa, now a separate island.[29]

In that conception of the legendarium, there appears a character called Ing or Ingwë, a Mannish King of Luthany who helps and welcomes the Elves to his land, after their war with Melko and, afterwards, with unfriendly Men in the Great Lands.[30]

However, he is not to be identified with the character of Inwë, or that of Ingwë in the later legendarium, even though Christopher Tolkien feels there has to be some connection between the two characters.[31]

Early etymology[edit | edit source]

The name Inwë is in Qenya. In the Qenya Lexicon, it is said to be derived from the root INI ("small"),[32] but the earlier, original gloss of the root was "fairy".[33]

Other names[edit | edit source]

The Gnomish cognate of Inwë is Inwithiel,[23] changed from Gim Githil.[34]

His proper (Gnomish) name, according to the Gnomish Lexicon was Inweg or Im, with Githil being the Gnomish cognate of Isil, another one of his names.[32] Githiel was the poetic form of Githil.[35]

The original Gnomish form of his name was Ginweg, later changed to Gim or Githil.[36]

He was also called Tur yan Eldaron, meaning "King of the Elves" in Qenya, with Tur nan Églathon being its Gnomish equivalent.[37]

In the Sketch of the Mythology, from c. 1926, the name Ing is described as being the Gnomish form of Ingwë, as opposed to the earlier conception of Ing being a rejected Qenya form of Inwë.[38]

Early genealogy[edit | edit source]

INWË
 
 
 
 
Ingil
 
 
 
 
unknown
child
 
 
 
 
Meril-i-Turinqi

Later legendarium[edit | edit source]

Quenta Noldorinwa and the Lhammas[edit | edit source]

In the Lhammas, a text from the 1930s, Ingwë is mentioned as one of the original, and the eldest, of the Elves to be awakened at Cuiviénen, and who led his people, chief of whom were known as the Ingwelindar or Ingwi, to Aman.[39]

In the Quenta Noldorinwa from c. 1930, he was still supposed to be one of the leaders of the Eldar in the War of Wrath (unlike in the later versions, where it was his son Ingwion who led them), and he was still supposed to die in that war, as in the early legendarium in the Book of Lost Tales.[40]

The Three Ambassadors[edit | edit source]

Ingwe was mentioned in several texts which were eventually published in The Nature of Middle-earth. As in the publicshed Silmarillion several of them describe him, as one of the Three Ambassadors, going to Aman and witnessing its splendor.

According to one text, the ambassadors, after their return to Middle-earth, spoke to the Elves at Cuiviénen. There, Ingwë spoke with great reverence towards the three Elf-fathers, regretting the fact that they themselves were unwilling to go and visit Aman, but he nonetheless asked Oromë whether or not they might still go there, and judge for themselves whether or not the Elves should embark on the Great Journey - unfortunately, the three Elf-fathers were unwilling to go.

In another text, Tolkien changed his mind about the nature of the three ambassadors, and instead proposed that Imin, Tata and Enel, the three Elf-fathers, ought to become the three ambassadors to Aman, with Ingwë, Finwë and Elwë accompanying them as the representatives of the younger generations of the Elves.

There, the three (new) ambassadors were undecided, and therefore, the Elves of Cuiviénen asked their younger associates to speak. Here Ingwë, again, spoke with reverence towards Imin, Tata and Enel, and ultimately agreed with Imin in his desire for the beauty of Valinor.

Finally, Imin agreed to a vote, and about two thirds of the Elves gathered at the time agreed to go to Aman.[10]

Ingwë's family[edit | edit source]
"...It is a long tale..." — Aragorn
This article or section needs expansion and/or modification. Please help the wiki by expanding it.


Notes

  1. This detail is only found in Quenta Noldorinwa and the Lhammas from the 1930s.

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "The Grey Annals": §3
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: XIII. Key Dates", p. 95
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", "The case of the Quenya change of Þ to s", p. 334
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: XVII. Generational Schemes", p. 128
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor"
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, III. The Later Annals of Beleriand"
  7. 7.0 7.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part Two. Body, Mind and Spirit: IV. Hair", p. 186
  8. 8.0 8.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: XVII. Generational Schemes", pp. 127-128
  10. 10.0 10.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: XIII. Key Dates", pp. 96-98
  11. 11.0 11.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
  12. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, V. The Lhammas", p. 173
  13. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Three. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: (II) The Second Phase: The Earliest Version of the Story of Finwë and Míriel", p. 206
  14. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"
  15. Paul Strack, "Q. Ingwë m.", Eldamo - An Elvish Lexicon (accessed 20 April 2022)
  16. Paul Strack, "Q. Ingwë Ingweron pn.", Eldamo - An Elvish Lexicon (accessed 20 April 2022)
  17. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", entries "ING", "WEG"
  18. 18.0 18.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "I. The Cottage of Lost Play": "Notes and Commentary", p. 26
  19. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "V. The Coming of the Elves and the Making of Kôr", p. 115
  20. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "V. The Coming of the Elves and the Making of Kôr", p. 116-8
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "V. The Coming of the Elves and the Making of Kôr", p. 129
  22. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "V. The Coming of the Elves and the Making of Kôr", p. 116
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "I. The Cottage of Lost Play", p. 16
  24. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "V. The Coming of the Elves and the Making of Kôr", p. 122
  25. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "V. The Coming of the Elves and the Making of Kôr", p. 123
  26. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "VI. The History of Eriol or Ælfwine and the End of the Tales", outline 3, p. 280
  27. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", in Parma Eldalamberon XII (edited by Carl F. Hostetter, Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), p. xiii
  28. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", in Parma Eldalamberon XII (edited by Carl F. Hostetter, Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), p. 2
  29. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "VI. The History of Eriol or Ælfwine and the End of the Tales", pp. 300-1
  30. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "VI. The History of Eriol or Ælfwine and the End of the Tales", outline 18, pp. 302-3
  31. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "VI. The History of Eriol or Ælfwine and the End of the Tales", outline 21, pp. 304-5
  32. 32.0 32.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I, p. 256
  33. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", in Parma Eldalamberon XII (edited by Carl F. Hostetter, Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), pp. 42-3
  34. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "I. The Cottage of Lost Play", Changes made to names in The Cottage of Lost Play, p. 22
  35. J.R.R. Tolkien, "I-Lam na-Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue", in Parma Eldalamberon XI (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), p. 39
  36. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", in Parma Eldalamberon XII (edited by Carl F. Hostetter, Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), p. xx
  37. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Sí Qente Feanor and Other Elvish Writings", in Parma Eldalamberon XV (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, Patrick H. Wynne, and Bill Welden), "Names and Required Alterations", Appendix, Text VIII, p. 16
  38. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "II. The Earliest 'Silmarillion': Commentary on the 'Sketch of the Mythology'", p. 44
  39. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, V. The Lhammas", p. 171
  40. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "III. The Quenta: Commentary on the Quenta, [Section] 2", p. 168


Ingwë
House of Imin/House of Ingwë
Born: between Y.T. 1050 and 1102
None
Imin, as Chieftain of the Minyar
High King of the Elves
from Y.T. 1105
None
Incumbent
King of the Vanyar
from Y.T. 1105