Silm reread: "Of the Darkening of Valinor" Discussion Post

[independence1776]

Of the Darkening of Valinor

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Welcome to this fortnight's chapter discussion!

Important: This is not a spoiler-free zone. It is hard to discuss any chapter in depth without referring to things that happen in later chapters. Proceed at your own risk!


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Summary

After fooling the Valar into thinking he purposed to return to his Middle-earth strongholds, Melkor travels south to the region of Avathar, which lies between the Pelóri and the sea south of the Telerin lands. It is a dark, unexplored region where Ungoliant made her lair. Ungoliant is in the form of a giant spider who eats light.

Melkor, now wearing the form of the tyrant of Utumno he wore in the past and remains in in the future, recruits her to his cause. Ungoliant is wary at first, unwilling to risk disturbing the Valar, but Melkor promises (with every intention of breaking it) to give her whatever she desires. Ungoliant spins a cloak of darkness that no one can penetrate and they make their way to the plains of Valinor.

During this time, the Valar declare a festival on Taniquetil to celebrate the harvest and to heal the lies of Melkor. Tirion and Valmar are deserted. Fëanor is commanded to come, but he does so alone and without the Silmarils. Fëanor and Fingolfin are reconciled to each other in front of the Valar and Fingolfin swears to follow his half-brother where he leads.

At this very moment, Melkor and Ungoliant cross the plains and attack the Trees. Melkor uses a spear to wound them deeply. Ungoliant sucks up the spilled sap and then drains the Trees of the remainder. They die. However, Ungoliant is not satisfied and drains the containers of liquid light Varda keeps. She swells to an enormous size, worrying Melkor.

On Taniquetil, Varda looks down and sees the swift-rising shadow as the Light fails. No sound can be heard in the Darkness, save the cries of the Teleri in the wind blowing inland from the sea. Manwë alone can see through the darkness and he spots a blot of even greater darkness moving north. Pursuit swiftly follows, but upon reaching the Cloud of Ungoliant, it fails. Neither Oromë nor Tulkas can stand against it. Melkor has achieved his vengeance.

Favorite Quotes

~ "For [Melkor] was yet as one of the Valar, and could change his form, or walk unclad, as could his brethren; though that power he was soon to lose for ever."

~ “That narrow land [Avathar] lay south of the Bay of Eldamar, beneath the eastern feet of the Pelóri, and its long and mournful shores stretched away into the south, lightless and unexplored.”

~ "Therefore Melkor said to her: 'Do as I bid; and if thou hunger still when all is done, then I will give thee whatsoever thy lust will demand. Yea, with both hands.' Lightly he made this vow, as he ever did; and he laughed in his heart.”

~ “Below them lay the woods of Oromë, and westward shimmered the fields and pastures of Yavanna, gold beneath the tall wheat of the gods. But Melkor looked north, and saw afar the shining plain, and the silver domes of Valmar gleaming in the mingling lights of Telperion and Laurelin.”

~ "For though the escape of Melkor portended toils and sorrows to come, and indeed none could tell what further hurts would be done to Arda ere he could be subdued again, at this time Manwë designed to heal the evil that had arisen among the Noldor; and all were bidden to come to his halls upon Taniquetil, there to put aside the griefs that lay between their princes, and forget utterly the lies of their Enemy."

~ 'For said Finwë: 'While the ban lasts upon Fëanor my son, that he may not go to Tirion, I hold myself unkinged, and I will not meet my people.'"

~ “'Half-brother in blood, full brother in heart will I be. Thou shalt lead and I will follow. May no new grief divide us.'”

~ "It is told that even as Fëanor and Fingolfin stood before Manwë there came the mingling of the lights, when both Trees were shining, and the silent city of Valmar was filled with a radiance of silver and gold."

~ "But Ungoliant sucked it up, and going then from Tree to Tree she set her black beak to their wounds, till they were drained; and the poison of Death that was in her went into their tissues and whithered them, root, branch, and leaf; and they died."

~ “So the great darkness fell upon Valinor.”

~ "Yet no song or tale could contain all the grief and terror that then befell. The Light failed; but the Darkness that followed was more than loss of light. In that hour was made a Darkness that seemed not lack but a think with being of its own: for it was indeed made by malice out of Light, and it had power to pierce the eye, and to enter heart and might, and strangle the very will."

~ "Then the pursuit was begun; and the earth shook beneath the horses of the host of Oromë, and the fire that was stricken from the hooves of Nahar was the first light that returned to Valinor."

~ “But when the Darkness had passed, it was too late: Melkor had gone whither he would, and his vengeance was achieved.”

Alternate Versions

~ In The Book of Lost Tales 1, the story of the Darkening is vastly different. The death of the Trees comes after the theft of the jewels of the Noldor. Melko and his followers stumble upon Móru [Ungoliant] while looking for a place to hide his stolen treasure. Móru is a spirit of unknown origin whose light-eating nets are the reason the light from the Trees does not spread over the world. The Eldar give her many names, including Ungoliont. She and Melko strike up a friendship and he offers her all of the jewels save the Silmarils if she will help him.

The Valar and Eldar notice the cloak of Ungoliant crossing the plains, but think it is a work of Ossë’s (who is currently a Vala). The two safely reach the Trees and Melko nearly dies when his sword pierces the sleeping Laurelin due to the fiery radiance that pours forth, but Ungoliant eats it first. He warns her against attacking Silpion, but she does so and Melko takes out his knife to help. Ungoliant is attacked by an Elf who had a foreboding of great danger, and he is swiftly caught and killed. Melko uses the Elf’s knife-- now stained with Ungoliant’s poison-- to stab and kill the remaining Tree. Melko and his followers flee north and they escape capture by Melko’s tricks. Ungoliant flees southward unimpeded and unpursued. (2)

~ In “The Flight of the Noldoli” (an early alliterative poem abandoned after 146 lines), it’s said that Morgoth and Ungoliant bled the Trees and her webs of venom lead to them escaping the pursuing Valar. (3)

~ The details of the story have greatly changed between The Book of Lost Tales and “The Earliest ‘Silmarillion.’” Here, the order of events is reversed: Morgoth and Ungoliant kill the Trees and then steal the jewels. Also, more details of their journey from Ungoliant’s lair to Valinor appear, such as the ladder Morgoth climbs up the mountain. Morgoth stabs the Trees with his sword and Ungoliant sucks the life out of them at midday. There is no one around to see them. They escape by losing their pursuers in Ungoliant’s glooms. (4)

~ In “The Quenta,” their attack happens at the Mingling of the Lights. More details, such as Fëanor's habit of wearing the Silmarils at great feasts and Melkor laughing as he came down the mountain, appear. (5)

~ “The Earliest Annals of Valinor” as well as "The Later Annals of Valinor" merely record a summary. (6, 7) The latter features a note on the consequences Melkor's return had for Beleriand (increasing number of Orcs; death of Denethor; Thingol builds his underground realm and Melian weaves her magic girdle; Elves either withdraw into Doriath or dwell by bodies of water that are protected by Ulmo). Supposedly, this was added by Pengolod to Rúmil's account of the Darkening. (7)

~ In the Quenta Silmarillion, Melkor first uses a spear to stab the Trees. There is still no mention of Fëanor's and Fingolfin's reconciliation; indeed, none of the Noldor who attend the festival are named. (8)

~ The "Annals of Aman" introduce the idea that Melkor knew Ungoliant from the past and sought her out in Arvalin (Avathar) on purpose. This is also where the festival is first specified as a harvest/thanksgiving festival. (9) In contrast, it started out as a seven-day festival to commemorate the Coming of the Eldar into Valinor, held every seven years, combined with a festival to celebrate the arrival of the Teleri, held every three years (2). After that, the occasion for the festival is not explained (4; 7; 8) or there is no mention of a festival at all (3; 5; 6; 7) until the "Annals of Aman".

~ In the "Annals of Aman", Fëanor's invitation and Finwë's refusal to come to Taniquetil are introduced. Finwë's reasoning features a line absent from the final version: '[…] I hold myself unkinged, and will not meet my people, nor those that rule in my stead.' [Emphasis ours] Here is the first mention of Fëanor's and Fingolfin's reconciliation (in words), of Fëanor's attendance without the Silmarils, and of Ungoliant emptying the Vats of Varda after she has killed the Trees. (9)

~ The "Later Quenta Silmarillion offers a more detailed account of the meeting between Melkor and Ungoliant. Ungoliant can no longer leave Avathar because she has grown too weak without any light to nourish her, but Melkor has brought a few jewels to lure Ungoliant out of hiding which also give her strength enough to go with Melkor and weave a cloak of darkness about her. Apparently, she is so strong that she can pierce the rind of the Trees without any help from Melkor, who does not accompany her into Valinor. (10)

~ This account gives us the wording of Manwë's invitation to Fëanor: "Fëanor son of Finwë, come and do not deny my bidding! In my love thou remainest and wilt be honoured in my hall." Fëanor reads this message as a command. Finwë and Fëanor's sons remain in Formenos. (10)

~ In the "Round World Version", Tolkien's explanation for the Darkening of Valinor after the destruction of the Trees is this: Sun and Moon are in existance, but because Melkor has "sullied" their light (Text III) or in order to keep out Melkor's spies (Text IV), Varda has made a dome of cloud over Valinor. This dome is covered with stars in imitation of the 'real' firmament, but it doesn't let sun- or moonlight through so the major sources of light in Valinor are the Two Trees (made before Sun and Moon were "defiled"). After the death of the Trees, the dome is eventually removed and the "polluted" light reaches Valinor, taking away its blessing (11).

Food for Thought

~ If Manwë and Varda could together see and hear further on Taniquetil, why were they unaware of Ungoliant on their borders? Why did they not think someone or something could be hiding there?

~ How likely is it that the Teleri gave no care to the Valar’s concerns or the lies of Melkor? Did they truly not care or did they not wish to be embroiled in the conflict of the Noldor?

~ Was Fëanor playing politics by reconciling with Fingolfin or did he truly do so? If the Darkening had not occurred, could it have become a true reconciliation?

~ Why do you think Tolkien chose to remove the Elf attempting to defend the Trees? Which version do you like better?

~ If you prefer your Arda round and sun-lit from the start, do you find the "dome" explanation for the Darkening satisfactory?

~ This chapter makes mention of the Valar's ability to change their appearance or to go invisible. How do you think they use this ability in everyday interaction with the Eldar – frequently, rarely, not at all? If you think the Valar commonly change their physical form or go "unclad" among the Eldar, do you think the Eldar would have recognised them (as individual Valar) by some other means?

Works Cited

(1) The Silmarillion. Chapter 8, "Of the Darkening of Valinor."

(2) The Book of Lost Tales 1, “Of the Theft of Melko and the Darkening of Valinor.”

(3) The Lays of Beleriand, “Poems Early Abandoned,” (i) The Flight of the Noldoli, lines 1-16 and 23-29.

(4) The Shaping of Middle-earth, “The Earliest ‘Silmarillion,’” 4.

(5) The Shaping of Middle-earth, “The Quenta,” 4.

(6) The Shaping of Middle-earth, “The Earliest Annals of Valinor,” 2990–1.

(7) The Lost Road and Other Writings. Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, "II. The Later Annals of Valinor". V.Y. 2990.

(8) The Lost Road and Other Writings. Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings,"VI. Quenta Silmarillion." Ch. 4 §§ 55 - 59

(9) Morgoth's Ring. Part Two. "The Annals of Aman", Section 4, 1492 §§ 105 – 106 and 1495 §§ 107 - 116

(10) Morgoth's Ring. Part Three. "The Later Quenta Silmarillion", The First Phase, "6. Of the Silmarils and the Darkening of Valinor", and The Second Phase, "Of the Darkening of Valinor", §§ 55b – 59b

(11) Morgoth's Ring. Part Five. "Myths Transformed", Text III, IV and V.


Please note: We don't know everything and it's perfectly possible that we missed something. These summaries and questions are by no means supposed to be complete and exhaustive. If you have looked further into this particular topic or would like to discuss something that we've overlooked, please share it!

Also, please don't be afraid to talk amongst yourselves. We don't want this to be an echo chamber or for us to be lecturing to you. We want this to be a discussion among the community as a whole: everybody's got something to contribute!

Finally, don't forget to rec your favorite fanworks related to this chapter in the fanworks rec post.

“Of the Flight of the Noldor” is due April 20.

Comments

[hhimring]

My impression of that scene with Feanor and Fingolfin is that Feanor objects so strongly to the setting and to having been commanded to attend that he feels obliged to seem as ungracious and uncooperative as possible, but that as far as Fingolfin himself is concerned he might be willing to reconsider at this point.

[independence1776]

That makes a lot of sense. Though I tend toward the "reconciliation for political purposes" angle myself, I certainly agree Fëanor's in no mood to be more civil than he has to.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I am overwhelmed at the moment. This is one of my very favorite chapters, but I cannot discuss it today either. Maybe tomorrow or Monday.I kept wanting to check back and see what people were talking about, but was to stressed and busy even to come here and bookmark it.

[independence1776]

The post isn't going anywhere! (You have no idea how ecstatic I was when I saw your comment. Lyra and I have been wondering where everyone disappeared to.)

[moetushie]

Ungoliant/Melkor, I ship it.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

You made me choke on my coffee.

[moetushie]

Do we even need to ask who the FATHER of Ungoliant's children is?

[independence1776]

Well, it does say in "Of the Flight of the Noldor" that other spider-shaped beings inhabited Nan Dungortheb and that she ate them after mating with them. But that doesn't rule out Melkor entirely… *shudders*

[hhimring]

The story by Aearwen that I added to the fanworks rec post today more or less says just that!

[tehta.livejournal.com]

The reconciliation... I don't know what to think. I guess it would depend on the story I am writing?

One question I have, however, is what the sons of Feanor were doing during the Darkening? They did not go with their father, so how was Finwe left alone?

[independence1776]

Makes sense to me!

As for Fëanor's sons, it says in Morgoth's Ring, "The Rape of the Silmarils" that they got bored with sitting around and "went riding towards the Green Hills." When the light failed, they turned back to Formenos. Finwë had refused to leave the house, as "a foreboding was on him."

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Fanon (cough! cough!) tells me they went hunting and left Finwe home alone and came back to find him dead. Not sure how that works with canon, but it makes good fanfic. I really should not be commenting here until I do my homework again.

[tehta.livejournal.com]

As you can see above, this is HoMe canon!

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I should have known! Yay! Nothing better than to find out that one's adopted fanon is really canon.

[hhimring]

The question about the Teleri is interesting.
I have, on the whole, tended to think that the kind of fan fic in which the Noldor allegedly already in Valinor, long before the Darkening, have strong prejudices against the Teleri and vice versa is mainly extrapolating backwards from later events, i.e. the Kinslaying in Alqualonde and developments in Beleriand.
But in that particular scene it certainly looks as if they are distancing themselves, despite the tangential involvement of Earwen and her children--but not only from the Noldor, but also from the Valar...
Of course, as fisher folk, they may have less interest in a harvest festival than others might.

[independence1776]

I, too, can't see antagonism before the Kinslaying. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Of course, as fisher folk, they may have less interest in a harvest festival than others might.

Maybe less interest and also very possibly an economic reason to skip it: how long would it take to reach, attend, and return from the festival and how would that time away from the boats affect the Telerin food supplies (and maybe trade)?

[angelica-ramses.livejournal.com]

at this time Manwë designed to heal the evil that had arisen among the Noldor; and all were bidden to come to his halls upon Taniquetil, there to put aside the griefs that lay between their princes, and forget utterly the lies of their Enemy.
I've always found Manwe's solution to the "Noldor problem" amazingly dumb: ok, guys, you've been at each other's throats, Melkor - who's free because of me- is gone, your king instead of being a symbol of union refuses to return because of how I handled the whole affair, now be good boys and make up your quarrel in front of everybody. And he's surprised that Feanor didn't bring the Silmarils! I think Fingolfin and Feanor might have reached a better understanding given time and a better mediator (Maedhros?)

If you prefer your Arda round and sun-lit from the start, do you find the "dome" explanation for the Darkening satisfactory?
No, I think the Professor didn't find a satisfying solution to introduce the Round World and still keep the Trees making sense. The dome reminds me of the Simpsons' movie

[independence1776]

I've always found Manwe's solution to the "Noldor problem" amazingly dumb

I wonder how much of it has to do with the Valar just not understanding the Eldar and Fëanor in particular. Maybe they wanted it public to show everything that it's been settled but missed that it's public humiliation as well.

No, I think the Professor didn't find a satisfying solution to introduce the Round World and still keep the Trees making sense.

Fair enough! (I'm in the "dome makes sense and uses it in her fic" camp, so I'm curious why it doesn't work for you.) But I've never seen the Simpson movie, so I'm lost…

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I think, at that point, if I were Feanor, and I do identify with him to a degree, or if not identify at least understand him a bit, it would have taken some acceptance of culpability on the part of the Valar to make a reconciliation bartered by Manwe acceptable to me. He would not have to grovel necessarily, but at least admit the business of Melkor went badly, and explain why he was surprised by that or, if not surprised, why the Noldor were not warned.

Frankly, I have never seen Tolkien explain any of that in a way that even approached anything I could easily swallow. We know the Greek and Roman gods and also the Norse gods are fickle and arbitrary. But he tends to present Manwe, et al., with the exception of Melkor, as being on the moral high ground in comparison to the Noldor and I frankly am not strongly convinced. The Noldor are only human, whereas the Valar have significantly more information and experience available to them, which means greater responsibility.

[independence1776]

Yes, I think even a partial accepting of responsibility would have gone a great way towards reconciliation and understanding on everyone's part. While I do like the explanation that Manwë couldn't break his own oath to free Melkor after his imprisonment in Mandos, that doesn't explain why the Valar didn't keep a closer eye on him, or at least warn the Eldar. Maybe they thought that Melkor had truly reformed or that the Elves remembered history well enough to pay attention? Maybe everyone thought that nothing truly bad could happen in Aman (though Míriel's death should have been enough to disprove that)? Either way, hindsight's 20/20 and this is one of the those questions that will be endlessly debated with no real answers to be found.

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

I don't think that the Valar had much culpability, if any. The Elves were supposed to rule themselves. The Valar only got involved because the Noldor clearly couldn't, at least by the peaceable standards of the time and place. The Elves didn't have any history of internecine war, or even resource conflict. So the family disagreement leading to factions thing would have been a new and alarming thing for everyone, including the Valar. And at the point where Melkor was released, there was nothing to warn the Noldor about, and no indication that the Valar were aware that he had been quietly poisoning the minds of susceptible Noldor. The Valar weren't conducting surveillance on either Melkor or the Noldor.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

We will have to agree to disagree upon this one. Argument would be futile from my perspective and you state your position as though you are certain and confident of it also. I have long since agreed to disagree with Tolkien's intent here as far as I have been able to determine what it is after obsessing about this daily for at least seven or eight years. I have considered the points you make at leisure during that time.

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

My opinion is my own and also not unconsidered. I do not presume to consider it universal. I have stated it here as a point of discussion merely.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

One point about the assumption that the Noldor had no experience with conflict. That is simply not factually based. The first Avari that the Noldor encounter when they return to Aman are their original tribal brothers of the Second Clan of the Quendi, the Tatyar, and their descendants. They didn't like Finwe's people before they left to embark on the long journey across Middle-earth to the sea and they are not prepared to feel any warmer towards them upon their return. So the Noldor do have a history of contentiousness dating way back.

If the Valar as a whole were not conscious of the original sundering of the Elves and the continuing splits thereafter (among all except the Vanyar), then given the paternalistic position that they intended to take as benevolent dictators of practice and policy, they needed to have made it their business to know about those things. (Surely Orome had some knowledge.) There is no indication that the Valar intended to assume a hands-off position with the Children as they referred to them upon their arrival in Aman. Quite the contrary, their conception was to safeguard, nurture, and instruct and, in the case continuing contentiousness became alarming, they were quite ready to intervene if they deemed it necessary.

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

I would say that the Elves do not seem to have had experience with internecine war or violence at that point. The meeting with the Avari happened after the Noldor left Aman and returned to Middle-earth, when they had gone a lot further down the road of, well, acting like Secondborn. Even then, there is no indication that there was actual violence between the two groups.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

We know the Greek and Roman gods and also the Norse gods are fickle and arbitrary.

I think that explains my massive problem with the Valar, too. With the Greek, Roman and Norse gods, you know they're basically human, only with super-powers; and they haven't been appointed to rule the world by anyone, they've struggled for their place against other powerful beings themselves. Even as a worshipper, you don't believe they're perfect; you just try to keep them on your side or at least sufficiently entertained so they'll either aid you or be content to leave you alone. But the Valar rule by super-divine appointment, and they're supposed to be Good (TM) except for Melkor, and if they don't always do the right thing, at least they think they do. That is, in the published Silmarillion! In the earliest drafts, they seem to be a lot more free in that respect, but when Tolkien decided to turn them from gods into angels... well, some things no longer quite work.
And then - the question of responsibility. As you say, the Noldor are only human. If the Valar were only human, I'd likely be more forgiving towards them; but they clearly aren't supposed to be, and although we're told they've got their limitations as far as foresight/understanding of fields outside their personal expertise are concerned, we're also told that they mean well, have the right to rule, and know things what we mere mortals don't. Well, they don't seem to be making particularly good use of it!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

The dome reminds me of the Simpsons' movie

I'm so glad I'm not the only one!

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

My view of Ungoliant is that she was one of the Ainur who wasn't really into music. She liked silence and darkness and peace, and the Song was a dreadful shock to her sensibilities. Others like her stayed in the peace and quiet of the Void as far from Ea as possible, with their metaphorical hands over their ears, but she decided to actively enter Ea and possibly do something about it. Then she realised that her chances of destroying the universe were rather low, and settled for being the Arda equivalent of Nidhogg instead. Manwe and Varda didn't notice her because she wasn't doing anything active. They have a whole world to watch, and they probably assumed that nothing nasty would dare come near Valinor. And to be fair to Ungoliant, there is no indication in the text that she would have tried to do anything to the Trees on her own.

I am sure that there are lots of Maiar whose main interest is the natural world, and who don't interact with the Children much at all. So they would mostly go around dressed as trees or animals or charged particles or water molecules and the Eldar would never notice that they were there. So if the Valar wanted not to be recognised they wouldn't be, but I expect that out of politeness they would probably not sneak around in disguise too often. Olorin of course did, but presumably it was for active therapeutic and educational purposes and he had authorisation from Lorien and Este.


I think that the reconciliation scene between Feanor and Fingolfin was Fingolfin trying to do the right thing for his father's sake, while hoping that Feanor wasn't actually insane.

[independence1776]

Others like her stayed in the peace and quiet of the Void as far from Ea as possible, with their metaphorical hands over their ears, but she decided to actively enter Ea and possibly do something about it.

That's a very interesting way of thinking about her. I like it!

What you say about the Valar and Maiar makes a lot of sense to me, too.

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

Ungoliant is an interesting character, I found it fun to think about what someone like that would actually be about to themselves.

Basically I think that the Valar and the Maiar would usually go around invisibly when they're on their own business, and not deliberately interacting with the Children.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you brought up your interpretation of Ungoliant again, because I find the idea totally intriguing.
I agree that she wouldn't have attacked Valinor on her own (too dangerous, according to the text, and in your interpretation, too bright and noisy as well, I suspect!), so she wouldn't have been a problem if Melkor hadn't bribed her into helping him!

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

There are other possible interpretations. She could be a bit less aware, simply a hungry entity out of the darkness, like a Middle-earth version of Cthulhu, but that doesn't really square with the Ainulindale, because it would imply that (a) Eru made her that way deliberately (or that she was a reflection of a particularly scary aspect of the One); or (b) that there were beings in the Void that Eru didn't make and that had an independent existence, which would contradict the monotheistic element of the mythology. Or else she would simply be another Ainu who didn't support Eru's Themes, while not necessarily supporting Melkor's either. But I find that less interesting to contemplate.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I find all of these options interesting. So far, my ideas about her have indeed been either a) Eru made her that way (or at least made her in a way that was easily corrupted into what it became) - he also made Melkor, so he definitely's got his dark side - or b) she somehow came into existence by herself, sort of an equal but opposite force to... something. Light, I suppose - or Vairë? (Which would imply further anti-Valar, I suppose, and that's definitely an idea I find fascinating.) But the "Ainu of Silence" idea is new to me, and thus currently the most shiny. ;)

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's interesting that Vaire's title is "The Weaver" too. Though I think of Vaire as the Ainu of Knowledge, or Data Accumulation, at least, not to mention Universal Surveillance, which has certain metaphorical resonances with what Ungoliant does in absorbing light and turning it into darkness. Vaire absorbs data and turns it into information, which is a necessary element of Judgement, which is why She is associated with Namo/Mandos.

If you think of Manwe and Melkor together (brothers, remember?) as Ainur of the Laws of Themodynamics (and Varda as the Electromagnetic Spectrum), Melkor as Entropy is actually a necessary part of a universe that has time in it. Which would make Ungoliant an agent of order, not disorder, as she gradually evens out the distribution of energy and matter until the heat-death of Arda. Thus making perfect sense of her association with Melkor.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

In the end, don't you have to decide which information to keep and which to dismiss (or delete)? That sort of resonates with what Ungoliant does, too. So she really may be Vairë's counterpart in a way.
Oh my! The more I think about this, the more intriguing it gets!

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

From the point of view of Judgement, i expect that everything you do is relevant.

Ungoliant does make me think of Charles' Stross Laundry series, which is full of eldritch, infovorous monsters from other universes.