Wisdom pertaining to Nienna

[artanaro]

This is the place where additional information concerning Nienna is to be recorded....

[artanaro]

There is a saying in Tibetan,
"Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength."
No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is,
if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.

-His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

I found this to resonate with Nienna alot.

Namarie
Artanaro

[artanaro]

Names:
Nienna (pronounced nee-e'nna)
Fui (also the name of her Hall)
Qalmë-Tàri (Mistress of Death) {early}
The Weeper

Family:
Nienna is the sister of Namo/Mandos and Irmo/Lorien. Her brothers are the Fëanturi (Masters of Spirits). Namo is the Lord of Doom. Doom as in fate or destiny, because he knows the future, pronounces curses and sits in judgement of the dead. Doom also refers to the afterlife, for all elves who die go to his halls called Mandos (the spirits of Dwarves go to a different part of Mandos). Irmo is the master gardener of the Valar and his gardens are called Lorien. His gardens give peace to all who walk in them. He is the Lord of Dreams, Visions and Passion. Nienna has no spouse. Gandalf was her student.

Queen of Pain
Nienna knows well of grief and sorrow. She is never overwhelmed by sadness, but turns it into wisdom and hope. Her heart is full of pity. Her tears have the ability to restore. She does not come to the city of the other Valar, Valmar, which is full of happiness. She stays by herself in her hall called Fui, a dark place lit by a single coal and adjacent to Namo's hall. In her hall the souls of Men are gathered after their judgment and she sends them to her black ship, Mornie. From there, they sail to only Eru knows where
Notable Deeds:
Bringing Light
Nienna's tears and Yavanna's song created the Two Trees of Valinor, which gave light to all of Valinor. Melkor and Ungoliant (mother of Shelob) destroyed the trees. Nienna and Yavanna once again combined their strengths to create another pair of trees which gave the Sun and Moon. The coming of the Sun signaled the awakening of Men.

Training Gandalf
Nienna and Irmo were the tutors of the Maia (plural Maiar: a lesser, but still powerful, group of spirit beings) who became known as Gandalf, also called Olorin, Mithrandir and other names. He learned the greatest virtues of his teachers. From Nienna he gained pity and patience. From Irmo he gained the ability to give peace of mind to those who listen to him. Gandalf was the wisest of the Maiar and loved the Children of Iluvatar. [It is only after the White Council that Saruman rose in prominence.] This love prompted him, at Manwë's request, to go to Arda and help the Children fight Sauron. But instead of taking the forms of warriors, the Istari (those Maiar that entered the earth) took the forms of old men so that they would be accepted as counselors. Although still immortal, their forms could die, as happened to Gandalf and Saruman. *The Valar, perhaps with Nienna in the lead, gave Gandalf the body of the White and sent him back to Middle Earth to help in the War of the Ring. Considering the strong family relationships Tolkien presents in his works, I think it is safe to say that Nienna was like a mother to Gandalf. She may have used her healing tears to reform his body.* Regarding Gandalf's staff and clothing, it is easy to see how they could have come from Irmo (staff) and Nienna (clothing). Ian McKellan notes in the commentary track of "FotR" that Gandalf's staff looks like a young tree, which could have easily come from the master gardener Irmo (or possibly Yavanna). Note that Saruman's staff appears to be made of metal, and he was a servant of Aule the Smith. I think Nienna had a maternal relationship with Gandalf, so providing him his clothes in her color makes sense.


from www.geocities.com/ladystrange2k/nienna.html

[artanaro]

Traits Shared With Other Goddesses
Goddesses of the Dead

Epona: Although mainly a goddess of horses, Epona escorts the souls of the dead to their final destinations. She is a Celtic goddess and was also worshiped by the Romans.

Ran: The Norse goddess of storms and keeper of the souls of drowned sailors.

Mania: Roman goddess of the dead and the underworld. She shared the duties with her husband, Mantus. She is called the mother or grandmother of ghosts.

Nyx: A lesser-known Greek deity who is goddess and embodiment of the night. Nyx is the daughter of Chaos (the void from which all things come). She bore many children: some by her brother, others apparently just popped out. I mention her because among her children are Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), Woe, all destiny-related deities and Styx. Although most recall Styx is the name of the river of death, it gets it's name from the goddess.

Unmarried or Virgin Goddesses

There appear to be no virgin goddesses that correlate with Nienna.

Goddesses of Wisdom

Only the Greek Athena shares the characteristic of wisdom.

Mourning, Tears
Site visitor Bhavani tells me that there is a crying Indian goddess named Tara who is also very wise. Thanks for that info.

Other Mythical Beings
Nienna reminds me of the Celtic banshee: a forewarner of death, but not it's bringer. However there are many banshees and only one Nienna, and Nienna only appears after death. Banshees of Ireland are described as wearing a grey cloaks and green dresses, possibly explaining Nienna's grey cloak. In honesty, it is more likely that Tolkien based Nienna on the banshee than any other mythical goddess since he was trying to create a native mythology for the United Kingdom, and the banshee concept is exclusive to Ireland and Scotland. However traits of other goddesses might have made their way into Nienna without the good professor realizing it.

from www.geocities.com/ladystrange2k/nienna.html

[artanaro]

History
The changes Tolkien went through with Nienna are drastic. Nienna began as a cold, heartless Mistress of Death and the wife of Mandos. She judged the souls of all the dead, elves and men, sending some to the Hall of Mandos, some to Melkor and some onto her ship Mornie, where they would sail away to an unknown (to the Valar) land to await the end. She could even grant permission to some to live among the Valar in Valinor.
In her second incarnation, Nienna became the sister of Manwë and Melkor (!!!). She now becomes concerned with pity and suffering.
In her final incarnation she is the sister of Mandos and Lorien. She uses her wisdom to teach patience and pity to those who will listen. She brings healing and is forever a thorn in Melkor's side, turning what he intends for evil into good. Although she still hates what Melkor has done, out of pity she agreed to defend him when he was brought to judgment after his chaining in the Hall of Mandos. Although her association with death and judgment has been "watered-down", it has not been contradicted by anything found in Tolkien's writings. Now judgment is done by Mandos, although I think it is still likely Nienna is a soul-escort, guiding the dead after their judgment to their home for eternity.


Theories and Observations

Nienna is a bridge
The use of the color grey in Tolkien does not signify moral uncertainty or indecision. I believe it signifies a bridge between the worlds. Not only the worlds of the living and dead, but also of mortals and immortals, created beings and their Creator.

from www.geocities.com/ladystrange2k/nienna.html

[artanaro]

The Norse Rune ISS (the I - Rune)

Potency : The power to maintain and preserve. Stability and the stillness of inertia. The concentration of single-minded purpose.

Key Qualities : Contraction, cohesion, preservation, stability, inner strength, stillness, suspension, self- containment.

Practical Uses : When the pace of modern life causes concern, ISS can slow things down and enable you to focus on the real issues. It is an aid also to bringing your dreams into 'solid' reality.

Challenge: Just as winter does not last forever, neither does any situation in which you may find yourself. Have the courage to move forward. You need to do in order to know.

The Rune can help you to:
* still your mind and meditate
* Focus attention
* Immobilize unprovoked attack or harmful intent
* Strengthen your Will
* Calm hyperactiveness
* Overcome restlessness

I have studied the Norse runic system for a while in the past and this Rune relates to some of the things I have said earlier concerning the formation of Winter and the connection to Nienna. This is the Norse view on Ice.

In elven mythology though, the key difference is that Melkor creates the ice to thwart the creations/themes of Ulmo, but it is Nienna's theme that turns Melkor's ice into something beneficial and ends up weaving ice and winter into the natural order , ever increasing its beauty.

Ice also acts as a transformer of energies within. When a glacier moves over the land, the land is transformed, shaped, and changed and so it is within when we experience the power of Ice. Indeed perhaps Melkor intended glaciers to crush the creations of his brethren, only to find that this gave rise to transformation, to new and more beautiful things. The key is not to resist the Ice but to accept it, for if you resist it, it will crush you. Acceptance gives rise to inner strength, which incidentally is one of the lessons I learned of Nienna, who teaches the power of Ice and how it can be used to ones advantage, thus turning Melkor's works of malice into tools of transformation.

[artanaro]

Here follows an account by a Runic shaman who experienced the power of the Iss (ice) rune and the teachings of Nienna:

"The first understanding I had of the power of ISS was that it contains a great portion of beauty. I naturally connected with my experience of winter, for winter for me in the heart of Sweden is clarity, quiet nights, moonshine on the white shining snow, and air that is easy to breathe. Altogether a kind of razorblade light, for its light is sunlight multiplied by the glittering snow and a moonlight that makes the nights as light as day.
About three years ago I has a vision of ISS that pointed out two aspects of its power. First, the power of beauty and structure, as in a snow crystal - a kind of power that makes it possible to see things that have been hidden in disorder. Second, I saw in that vision how a person dominated by ISS is someone who has a strong need to experience things for him/herself, someone who cant accept any kind of borrowed knowledge or second hand experience. As a winter wisher I knew the weakness of old, grey, mud-like spring ice - so dangerous and resistant, keeping a grip on its existence as long as possible yet unable to bear me over the lake. I also knew that ice is not melted by Sun alone. There is no spring until there is heavy rain and the last ice on the lakes sinks in the water and melts. The wind is also part of it, breaking the ice into smaller pieces so Water and Sun can do their work.[ This relates very much to the Ainulindale] But altogether I had a strong, positive feeling for the beauty and clarity of ISS.
So with this understanding I found it quite natural when I realized that ISS should be my road between my 39th and 40th birthdays. The situation was that I had an essential part of my Soul life-energy retrieved around my 39th birthday, and I knew that by re-integrating that part of my life I needed to go through whatever experience in order to bring me clarity and a more structure lifestyle. On a shamanic journey I learned that this should be the year when I become the person I really am inside. And I was glad to go on that journey because my life had been involved in confusion and I was reaching a point where I could not stand any more chaos. ISS seemed to be the right power to teach the structure of 'I' - of me. I figured that ISS would force me to do just that. And I figured right.
Just as you cannot stop winter from coming, it came, and I soon realized that one part of ISS power I hadnt been in contact with was the aspect of Arctic glacial ice - the ice of the Ice Age. The only way to get away from that is to move away from it. If you dont it will press you down or in towards yourself, and as I see it the only way to survive ISS in its most powerful form is to be willing to be transformed by its weight and power, just like the landscape was transformed during the Ice Age. As I had invited ISS I could not escape by moving away from the situation my life was in. However tempted I might have felt to simply opt out of the circumstances in my life at that time, I recognized that now I had put myself in a situation where there was no way out! As ISS has a tendency to cut you off from communication, it was impossible to express to anyone what was going on in my life. Every time I tried to reach out, I was forced back into myself again. Trust, and a willingness to transform , were the only thing I had to hang on to. And as we all know, these things are not easy at all. They are easy to talk about and believe in, but to do? - that is something else. With ISS's clear eye watching me, every attempt to pretend I was able to trust and transform was an expensive mistake. ISS wouldnt let me pretend anything of the kind. My experience is that if you let ISS loose in its full potential you must transform, otherwise you will break. And I had to do it alone.
Then the climax came. Something broke in me and the ice started to melt. And with that amount of ice to be melted the result, of course, was a lot of water - emotions, tears, anger. Memories that had been frozen in the ice like big stones, came to me, and with them all these feelings.[ I would like to note that Nienna is known as the weeping one which fits with these concepts.....ice transforming, melting/weeping] There was water all over the place. It seemed for a while that all of me was hidden under an ocean of emotions. But them I became able to reach out to friends and helpers in all levels of Reality. New land was starting to rise.
For a time I was so 'new' I could not go to shops or make contact with people I had not met before. My own inner landscape was so new I couldnt figure out how I might react to outer stimuli. Anything could happen. I could not put my finger on what had changed. 'New' is the only word to describe how I felt : I had new eyes to perceive things differently, new ears to hear what I had not understood before, a new brain to reason conclusions I had not arrived at before, and a new mind that no longer wanted to judge and make comparisons. ISS has instilled a positive attitude that seeks to support, put in order, make beautiful structures of seemingly confusing information.
In my experience, ISS has not only the power to bring structure out of chaos, but the power to teach you to act and experience for yourself. It also helps to bring about transformation. I did not really understand this before, because I had not realized that ISS acts as a transformer. It changes the way things appear. It changes the way you function. It changes the strength of the energy you apply. It changes the mode of exertion from one which was alternating and sporadic to one which is continuous and persistent.
So I now feel a great respect of ISS's power, though I have applied this power in the form that some who understand the Runes might call its negative aspect. But just as dear Mama allows herself to be renewed by ice and winter, so we two-leggeds need to do that too. Sometimes we do need to undergo an Ice Age in our lives. Then we need to bear in mind that the more we resist, the heavier the pain. But I wouldnt have changed it for anything. There really is something beautiful about such clear moonlit nights and the cold Northern winds that make it easier for us to breathe and to have a cool head to face difficult decisions."
from Rune Power by Kenneth Meadows

This is a very beautiful account and in my mind fits right on with the energy and teachings of Nienna and Olorin as well....

Namarie
Artanaro

[Indis]

I love the info you put on here. I know hwo to turn to *smiles*