For the Ulmo tree, see Eucryphia cordifolia

Eucryphia cordifolia

Eucryphia cordifolia is a species of tree in the Cunoniaceae family. It is found in Chile and Argentina. It is threatened by logging and habitat loss. The natural habitat is along the Andes Range from 38 to 43°S, and up to 700 meters above sea level. It is a very elegant tree with a thick trunk...

Ulmo (from the Valarin Ulubôz, Ullubôz via Ulumō) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

's Middle-earth legendarium. He first appears in The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...

 as a god or Vala (Middle-earth)

Vala (Middle-earth)

The Valar are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They are first mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but The Silmarillion develops them into the Powers of Arda or the Powers of the World...

 of the Elven

Elf (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...

 pantheon. Ulmo is a title, which means He who pours. He is also known as King of the Sea and Lord of Waters. Ulmo is similar to the god Poseidon

Poseidon

Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...

 in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Neptune

Neptune (mythology)

Neptune was the god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion. He is analogous with, but not identical to, the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto, each of them presiding over one of the three realms of the universe,...

 in Roman mythology

Roman mythology

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...

, Ægir

Ægir

Ægir is a sea giant, god of the ocean and king of the sea creatures in Norse mythology. He is also known for hosting elaborate parties for the gods.Ægir's servants are Fimafeng and Eldir.- Description :...

 in Norse Mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

, and Manannan in Celtic Mythology

Celtic mythology

Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...

. Ulmo was one of the chief architects of Arda

Arda

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Arda is the name given to the Earth in a period of prehistory, wherein the places mentioned in The Lord of the Rings and related material once existed...

 (the world).

Ulmo was third in majesty of the Valar, after Manwë

Manwë

Manwë is a god or Vala of the Elven pantheon imagined by J. R. R. Tolkien. He is described in The Silmarillion.Manwë was the King of the Valar, husband of Varda Elentári, brother of the Dark Lord Melkor, and King of Arda. He lived atop Mount Taniquetil, the highest mountain of the world, in the...

 and Aulë

Aulë

Aulë is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who is primarily discussed in The Silmarillion, but appears also in Tolkien's other works. In Tolkien's pantheon of Middle-earth, Aulë is a knowledge deity, sometimes worshipped as a god by men, representing skill and craftsmanship,...

; in other words, he was the third of the Aratar. He was very close friends with Manwë.

Before the creation of Earth (Arda

Arda

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Arda is the name given to the Earth in a period of prehistory, wherein the places mentioned in The Lord of the Rings and related material once existed...

) when the Ainur sang to their father Ilúvatar

Eru Ilúvatar

Eru Ilúvatar is a fictional deity in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Silmarillion as the creator of all existence . In Tolkien's invented language of Elvish, Eru means "The One", or "He that is Alone" and Ilúvatar signifies "Father of All"...

, Ulmo was the best singer and maker of music. This translates into the fluidity and versatility of water on Earth, blending with air to form clouds, freezing into ice, running on rivers and mixing in with all aspects of life and landscape. The Elves

Elf (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...

 owe their skill in music to the early teachings of Ulmo and recognize his melodies in the running of streams and rivers as well as the beating of the waves on the sea. Ulmo had always distrusted Melkor

Morgoth

Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...

, and the Dark Lord feared the Sea almost as much as he feared Varda, because neither could be tamed.

Ulmo had no dwelling in Valinor

Valinor

Valinor is a fictional location in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the realm of the Valar in Aman. It was also known as the Undying Lands, along with Tol Eressëa and the outliers of Aman. This is something of a misnomer; only immortal beings were allowed to reside there, but the land itself,...

, and went there only rarely, or any permanent dwelling on land as he preferred the deeps of the seas and the rivers. His palace, on the bottom of Vaiya, was called Ulmonan. He was never married, which added to his isolation.

He seldom came to the Councils of Máhanaxar, and only when in great need. He preferred to stay in Arda, not by walking on the land, as his form would fill Man or Elf with great dread. All waters were under his government; bays, rivers and even the waters under the earth. It is through these that he kept in touch with Arda, and thus knew more of the goings on with the Children of Ilúvatar

Children of Ilúvatar

The Children of Ilúvatar is the name given to the two races of Elves and Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium because they were created by Ilúvatar, the One God, without the help of the Ainur....

 than even Manwë, for it was said he lived in the very veins of the world.

He was said to be fearful to look upon to mortal eye, dressed like a giant wave in glittering green armour, blowing his great horns the Ulumúri.

Ulmo's vassal Ossë

Ossë

Ossë is a fictional character in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. She is introduced in The Silmarillion as an angelic being known as a Maia, associated with Ulmo, one of the Valar ....

, and Ossë's wife Uinen

Uinen

Uinen is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. A Maiar spirit known as "The Lady of the Sea".Her hair lies spread throughout all waters, and her love is given to the creatures that live in salt streams and also the weeds that grow there...

 were (along with Melian), to the Elves, the best known of the Maiar

Maia (Middle-earth)

The Maiar are beings from J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy legendarium. They are lesser Ainur who entered Eä in the beginning of time. Tolkien uses the term Valar to refer both to all the Ainur who entered Eä, and specifically to the greatest among them, the fourteen Lords and Queens of the Valar...

. Through them Ulmo would learn much of the Elves.

Ulmo had always loved both the Eldar and the Edain

Edain

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Edain were men who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves....

, and during the Exile kept the elves ever in his thoughts for though the Valar waited for the appointed time to assail Morgoth Ulmo who had not been fooled by Morgoth during his freedom in Valinor still brought council to those east of Aman

Aman

-External links:*...

.

He opposed Oromë's plan to bring the Elves to Aman, and ordered Tol Eressëa

Tol Eressëa

In early versions of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium , Tol Eressëa was an island visited by the Anglo-Saxon traveller Ælfwine which provided a framework for the tales that later became The Silmarillion. The name is the Elvish for "Lonely Island"...

 to be anchored in the Bay of Eldamar, which he did because he knew the minds of the Teleri

Teleri

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Teleri, Those who come last in Quenya were the third of the Elf clans who came to Aman...

.

Ulmo was the Vala most responsible for the fall of Morgoth

Morgoth

Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...

, by urging Turgon

Turgon

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Turgon "the Wise" is an Elven king of the Noldor, second son of Fingolfin, brother to Fingon, Aredhel and Argon, and ruler of the hidden city of Gondolin....

 to build Gondolin and Finrod to build Nargothrond

Nargothrond

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Nargothrond , called Nulukkhizdīn by the Dwarves, was the stronghold built by Finrod Felagund...

. He appeared before Tuor

Tuor

Tuor is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is the grandfather of Elrond Half-elven and one of the most renowned ancestors of the Men of Númenor and of the King of the Reunited Kingdom Aragorn Elessar...

 and urged him to go to Gondolin as a messenger to Turgon; when he got there he eventually married Turgon's daughter Idril

Idril

Idril Celebrindal is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in one of his chief works of literature, The Silmarillion, published posthumously by Christopher Tolkien.-Character Overview:...

 and fathered Eärendil

Eärendil

Eärendil the Mariner is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is depicted in The Silmarillion as a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried the morning star across the sky.-Etymology:...

; Ulmo saved Eärendil's wife Elwing

Elwing

Elwing is a character of Middle-earth, created by J. R. R. Tolkien. She is Half-elven but counted among the Elves, notable for saving a Silmaril from the destruction of the Havens of Sirion and, with her husband Eärendil, going to the Valar to ask their help for the people of Middle-earth...

 from the sack of the Havens of Sirion, allowing her to take a Silmaril

Silmaril

The Silmarils are three brilliant jewels which contained the unmarred light of the Two Trees in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. The Silmarils were made out of the crystalline substance silima by Fëanor, a Noldorin Elf, in Valinor during the Years of the Trees...

 to her husband, which allowed him to gain admittance to Valinor and plead for aid. Ulmo also defended them in the council from the potential wrath of Mandos.

Other uses

Ulmo is also another name for St. Elmo

Erasmus of Formiae

Saint Erasmus of Formiae was a Christian saint and martyr who died ca. 303, also known as Saint Elmo. He is venerated as the patron saint of sailors...

, who, (coincidentally or not) is the patron saint

Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 of mariners.

External links

• Ulmo Appears before Tuor as illustrated by Ted Nasmith
  Ted Nasmith
  Ted Nasmith is a Canadian artist, illustrator and architectural renderer. He is best known as an illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien's works — The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion....