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He is known as the great smith of the Valar. He’s the maker of the dwarves and notably,
two of his maiar servants would fall to darkness.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the vala Aule.
Aule is among the greatest of the Valar - this is not merely a measure of power,
but an actual distinction among the valar. The Aratar or “the Exalted”, are the eight greatest
Valar. But we’ll go more in depth on the Aratar in the upcoming video on Manwe. Among the Lords
of the Valar, Aule is said to have been third most powerful, behind only Manwe and Ulmo.
Aule governs over the substances of the world, for he is the master of all works
and crafts - from small works of skin to the forging of lands and mountains, rocks and gems,
minerals and basins of the sea. We are told that Aule’s love of devising new things and
of being praised is similar to that of Melkor - however, Aule would always be faithful to Eru,
whereas Melkor would not. Likewise, Aule was never jealous of others’ creations unlike the
dark lord. This would lead to a personal strife between the two great valar - for Melkor envied
Aule and would ever mar his work, and Aule would ever seek to repair them.
In the beginning, Aule, like all of the Valar and Maiar, took part in the Song of the Ainur,
which Eru uses to create the universe. During the Song, Aule thinks most about the fabric
of the earth itself. And during the creation of Arda, Aule would work alongside Manwe and Ulmo,
with Aule fashioning the substances which make up Ambar - a term for the inhabited world of
Arda. In particular, Aule is heavily involved in the creation of continents and mountains.
As we know from The Silmarillion, it is these works, among others, that Melkor would seek to
twist, corrupt, or outright destroy. One of Aule’s maiar, whose name was Mairon, is ensared by his
bitter enemy and would turn to serve the dark lord instead. Thus Mairion becomes known as Sauron.
Though Aule did not save his greatest servant, he would help reclaim one of Ulmo’s. For Osse,
a maiar of the sea was also seduced by Melkor. However, Aule went to Uinen, asking her to calm
and restrain Osse. Thus Osse returns to Ulmo, and would faithfully serve the valar alongside Uinen
his wife, and they would become among the most known of the maiar to the children of Iluvatar.
In the early days of the world, Aule fashions the two lamps - the first light source for all the
lands of Arda. The lamp Illuin is set upon mount Helcar in the north, with Ormal set in the south.
But Melkor would sneak into the lands of Arda and destroy Aule’s lamps. In Illuin’s fall,
the inland Sea of Helcar is created where its roots had been. And the
fall of Ormal fall spills flame across the world, also forming the Sea of Ringil. The
destruction is so great that the valar retreat across the sea, building the lands of Valinor,
which were now lit by the two trees, which were created by Aule’s wife Yavanna.
There was yet another of Aule’s creations that would come into this tale of the battles with
Morgoth, however. Aule had forged a great chain Angainor, and with the pending awakening of the
elves, the Valar would personally move against Morgoth. Melkor is defeated and captured,
and bound in Aule’s chain, he would be captive in the Halls of Mandos for nearly 3000 years.
However, Aule would not be content while awaiting for the promised Children of Iluvatar with the
creation of devices. He wished for children to love and to teach the works of his craft. During
this time when Middle-earth is covered in darkness - it is a period known as the Sleep of Yavanna,
where she set everything good to sleep and await the light. The only things
that roamed the lands in these times where monsters from Melkor’s fortress of Utumno.
Thus Aule sets to creating children of his own who would be hardy, strong,
and resistant - able to endure great hardship. However, having only a vague
impression of Eru’s promised children, Aule’s creations are shorter and structured quite
differently - Aule’s children are the dwarves. Of them, he creates seven - the
seven fathers of the dwarves. He teaches them a language of his own creation - Khuzdul.
Now Ilúvatar knew what was done, and in the very hour that Aulë’s work was complete,
and he was pleased, and began to instruct the Dwarves in the speech that he had devised for
them, Ilúvatar spoke to him; and Aulë heard his voice and was silent. And
the voice of Ilúvatar said to him: ‘Why hast thou done this? Why dost
thou attempt a thing which thou knowest is beyond thy power and thy authority?
Iluvatar points out that it is only he who possessed the flame imperishable
and could give true life. Thus the dwarves could only move and speak
when Aule wished them to do so. If his thought should be elsewhere,
they would be motionless and helpless. Aule says this was not his intent, and that he
only wished to love and to teach so that his children may perceive the beauty of creation.
And in my impatience I have fallen into folly. Yet the making of things is in my
heart from my own making by thee; and the child of little understanding that makes a play of the
deeds of his father may do so without thought of mockery, but because he is the son of his father.
But what shall I do now, so that thou be not angry with me for ever? As a child to his father,
I offer to thee these things, the work of the hands which thou hast made. Do with them what
thou wilt. But should I not rather destroy the work of my presumption?’ Then Aulë took up a great
hammer to smite the Dwarves; and he wept. But Ilúvatar had compassion upon Aulë and his desire,
because of his humility; and the Dwarves shrank from the hammer and were afraid,
and they bowed down their heads and begged for mercy. And the voice of Ilúvatar said to Aulë:
‘Thy offer I accepted even as it was made. Dost thou not see that these things have now a life
of their own, and speak with their own voices? Else they would not have flinched from thy blow,
nor from any command of thy will.’ Then Aulë cast down his hammer and was glad,
and he gave thanks to Ilúvatar, saying: ‘May Eru bless my work and amend it!’
Eru gives life to the dwarves, but will not allow them to awake before his own children. Thus Aule
sets the seven fathers to sleep beneath the stone across the lands of the world,
waiting for their time to awake. And Iluvatar tells him that ever the
firstborn - the elves - and the dwarves will be at strife - the children of his creation,
and the children of his adoption. And the dwarves would indeed take after their creator - delighting
in his works and revering Aule, who they called in their tongue Mahal, above all others.
After the awakening of the elves, and their subsequent travel to Valinor,
the Noldor would become students of Aule,
and learn much of his craft. His greatest pupil would be Feanor, who would use his
learned knowledge to craft the Silmarils, which contained light from the two trees.
However, the two trees themselves, would also be destroyed by Melkor. He had been given a
second chance by his former brethren, and feigned remorse and repentance,
before wreaking havoc upon Valinor. With the help of the giant spider-like creature Ungoliant,
he destroys the two trees and steals the silmarils, leaving Valinor in darkness.
However, thanks to Yavanna and Varda, Laurelin bears one last fruit, and Telperion one last
flower. And Aule and his people create two great vessels to carry them. The fiery fruit
of Laurelin is made into the Sun, and the silver flower of Telperion is set as the Moon - and the
great vessels are set beyond Melkor’s reach to bring light to all of Arda once more.
While this would be the last of Aule’s great crafts of which we are told,
it is not the end of his story. We are also told that much later,
after Morgoth’s defeat in the War of Wrath, and Sauron’s rise in Middle-earth,
Aule would send another of his maiar to a meeting. This gathering is made in order to send emissaries
to help the free peoples fight back against the second dark lord. The maia is Curunir,
and he volunteers to travel to Middle-earth on this mission. Becoming the first of the Istari,
he would be known in Middle-earth as Saruman the White…and another of Aule’s servants would fall.
Despite his impatience and his less than stellar record of servants turning to darkness,
Aule was indeed great among the Valar. The works of his hands would not only
light the world so long as it endured, but his love and hardiness would live on
in his greatest creations, the adopted children of Iluvatar.
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