The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Immortal; existed before the making of Arda
Location
Dwelt throughout the seas of the world, and especially the Outer Ocean surrounding Arda
Origins
One of the Ainur who descended into Arda at its creation to become the Valar
Race
Division
Settlements
None1
Other names
Sometimes seen in the form 'Dweller of the Deep'; associated with the titles King of the Sea, Lord of Waters
Title of

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  • Updated 8 October 2024
  • This entry is complete

Dweller in the Deep

Ulmo, Vala of the Sea

A title given to Ulmo, one of the greatest of the Valar, whose province was the waters of the world, from streams to great rivers to the oceans. It was Ulmo who carried the Eldar into the West on the island of Tol Eressëa, and after the Exile of the Noldor, it was he who gave most thought to the plight of Elves and Men in Middle-earth. He became known as the 'Dweller in the Deep' (or occasionally 'Dweller of the Deep') because unlike the other Valar his halls were not in Valinor, but instead he dwelt beneath the dark waters of the Outer Ocean.


Notes

1

The Silmarillion is explicit that the Dweller in the Deep had no single hall or dwelling-place beneath the waves, saying that Ulmo '...dwells nowhere long, but moves as he will in all the deep waters about the Earth or under the Earth.' (Valaquenta). In earlier accounts of the Valar, however, Ulmo did dwell in a particular place in the deep, in halls named Ulmonan beneath the Outer Ocean. This is an older conception belonging to the Lost Tales, and was evidently abandoned in Tolkien's later writing.

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About this entry:

  • Updated 8 October 2024
  • This entry is complete

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