He is among the Aratar, greatest of the Valar. A huntsman who would slay the beasts of Morgoth,
he would also be the Vala to discover the newly awakened elves.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover Orome, the Huntsman of the Valar.
Orome loved the lands of Middle-earth, and after the destruction of the two lamps,
he left unwillingly and was the last of the Valar to retreat to Valinor. Tolkien describes
Orome as a mighty lord, and while he may be less strong than Tulkas, he is more dreadful in anger.
While Tulkas was strong, he was rarely angry. But Orome was known for his terrible wrath.
Among the Valar, Nessa the dancer is his sister and his wife is Vana the Ever-young. Vana,
like her sister Yavanna, has influence over the flora and fauna of Middle-earth. Orome is
said to love all trees, which earns him the name Tauron from the Sindar, meaning “Lord of Forests”.
Orome would spend time in the forests that Yavanna had brought forth in Valinor,
where it is said he would train his folk and his beasts for the pursuit of the evil
creatures of Melkor. During this time, when Middle-earth is left in darkness,
Orome would often pass back east over the mountains, returning with his host to the
hills and plains of Middle-earth. There he would take delight in hunting the monsters of Melkor.
And Oromë tamer of beasts would ride too at whiles in the darkness of the unlit forests;
as a mighty hunter he came with spear and bow, pursuing to the death the monsters
and fell creatures of the kingdom of Melkor, and his white horse Nahar shone like silver
in the shadows. Then the sleeping earth trembled at the beat of his golden hooves,
and in the twilight of the world Oromë would sound the Valaróma his great horn
upon the plains of Arda; whereat the mountains echoed, and the shadows of evil fled away,
and Melkor himself quailed in Utumno, foreboding the wrath to come. But even as Oromë passed
the servants of Melkor would gather again; and the lands were filled with shadows and deceit.
One day in YT 1085, while riding near the Orocarni,
Orome and his steed Nahar hear the singing of many voices. Thus they
discover the newly awakened elves. Orome returns to Valinor where a council is
convened and in YT 1101 the Valar decide to invite the elves to live with them in Aman.
Orome returns to Cuivienen, but the elves are unwilling to come with Orome back to Aman. It
turns out they do not trust him in part because of Melkor. We are told Melkor greatly hates and
fears the riding of Orome, so he would send his dark servants as riders and send lying whispers
to the elves so that they would shun Orome if they should ever meet. Having also seen the Valar
battle Melkor in the Battle of the Powers, the elves are also fearful of the Valar in general.
Instead, Orome takes three elf chieftains to Valinor. Finally, in YT 1105, at the
behest of their returning chieftains, most of the elves begin their great march west,
led by Orome upon Nahar. Orome is the first to refer to the elves as the Eldar,
meaning “people of the stars”, for they loved the creations of Varda.
In addition to his great horse, we know that Orome had an affinity for hounds. Huan,
the famed hound from the Beren and Luthien story, is originally given by
Orome to Celegorm. This particular hound, who had been one of Orome’s hunting dogs,
was given special powers - he was immortal, tireless, sleepless,
and the size of a small horse. Huan would go with Celegorm during the exile of the Noldor.
Shortly before this, when Morgoth and Ungoliant destroyed the two trees, Orome is the first to
attempt a pursuit...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 so soon as any came up with the Cloud of Ungoliant the riders of
the Valar were blinded and dismayed, and they were scattered, and went they knew not whither;
and the sound of the Valaróma faltered and failed. ... But when the Darkness had passed,
it was too late: Melkor had gone whither he would, and his vengeance was achieved.
Orome being the rare vala who travelled in Middle-earth in his physical form during
the Elder Days, has great connections to the free peoples even into the Third
Age. The Northmen called him Béma, likely derived from the Old English word meaning
“trumpet” in honor of his great horn. These Northmen are the ancestors of the Rohirrim,
and their famed horses the Maeras are descended from Nahar himself. These would include Felaróf,
the steed of Eorl the Young, first king of Rohan, and Frealóf’s descendant Shadowfax.
It’s also likely that Theoden’s horse Snowmane was one of the Maeras as well.
Indeed, Theoden himself is compared to Orome during the Battle of Pelennor Fields,
giving an indication his greatness: "Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of
his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old,
even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young."
In the east, near the Sea of Rhun, there is another beast believed to be descended from
Orome’s. These were the Kine of Araw, a type of oxen hardier and wilder than any other in
Middle-earth. They are named this as Araw is the Sindarin form of Orome’s
name. According to Hammond and Scull’s Lord of the Rings Reader’s Companion,
there is an unpublished manuscript at the Bodleian Library where Tolkien said the kine were similar
to aurochs - an extinct cattle species nearly a foot taller than modern domestic cattle.
In the middle of the Third Age, Vorondil, the Steward of Gondor would hunt the kine
and from one of their horns he makes the Great Horn which would pass down
his line to Boromir son of Denethor. And just like the great vala Orome,
the descendants of Vorondil would wield this great horn in battle in the centuries to come.
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