Airefëa

Airefëa
Background Information
Other names	Secret Fire, Flame Imperishable, Flame Imperishable
Location	Eä
Owner(s)	Eru Ilúvatar
Appearances
Books	The Silmarillion

"Therefore Ilúvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Eä."

—The Silmarillion, "Valaquenta"

Airefëa, also known as the Secret Fire, Flame Imperishable or the Imperishable Flame, refers to a mysterious heavenly power in Eä.

History

Airefëa seems to refer to Eru Ilúvatar's Power of Creation. This power was with Ilúvatar alone from the very beginning and was an aspect of his being, so when Melkor sought for it, his efforts were in vain. Later, Ilúvatar set Airefëa at the heart of Eä.

Airefëa was also described as being part of all Fëa, the soul of a living being or the spirit: it was that Gift which makes sentient beings capable of independent thought and will, for though other beings within Arda can create to a greater or lesser extent, even the Valar cannot bring new life into being that is independent from Eru's own design (beings can, for instance, procreate, but they cannot give life to their thought as Eru can). This lack of ability to bring into being ideas of his own was what initially led Melkor down the path of Darkness, for he wished above all else to order the universe in accordance with his own desires, and not be subservient to the will of Eru.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf the Grey referred to both Airefëa and the flame of Anor at the Bridge of Khazad-dum when confronting the Balrog:

"'You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."

—The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, ch. V: "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm"

Anor was a name for the Sun in the mythology, as well as a name for the True West (i.e. Valinor). Further, some have speculated that Gandalf said "flame of Anor" in reference to the fact that he wielded one of the Three Rings of Power, Narya. Thus, it is uncertain if the flame of Anor was identical to the Airefëa, but both it and Airefëa identified Gandalf as a servant of the Valar.

Etymology

Airefëa is a name in Quenya meaning "Holy Spirit", being a compound of airë ("holy; sanctity, holiness") and fëa ("soul, indwelling spirit of an incarnate being").

In other versions

In the Qenya Lexicon, the Qenya term Sâ was glossed as "Fire, especially in temples, etc. A mystic name identified with Holy Ghost". Sâ was later emended to fairë aista.

Inspiration

In a discussion with Clyde S. Kilby, Tolkien talked to him "at some length about the use of the word 'holy' in The Silmarillion" and revealed to him "that the 'Secret Fire sent to burn at the heart of the World' in the beginning was the Holy Spirit", the third person of the Holy Trinity.

See also

• Fëa and hröa

External links

• "Tolkien, Servant of the Secret Fire" by Jonathan McIntosh

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Geheime vuur
Albanian	Zjarri i fshehtë
Amharic	ምስጢር እሳት
Arabic	النار السرية
Armenian	Գաղտնի կրակ
Azerbaijani	Sirli yanğın
Basque	Sute sekretua
Belarusian Cyrillic	Цакрэтны агонь
Bengali	গোপন আগুন
Bosnian	Tajna Požara
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Тайния огън
Cambodian	អគ្គីភ័យជាការសម្ងាត់
Catalan	Foc Secreta
Cebuano	Sekreto nga kalayo
Chinese	秘密的火
Cornish	Tan Kel ?
Croatian	Tajna vatra
Czech	Tajný oheň
Danish	Hemmelig ild
Dutch	Geheim vuur
Esperanto	Sekreta fajro
Estonian	Salajane tulekahju
Fijian	Vuni na bukawaqa
Filipino	Lihim na apoy
Finnish	Salainen tuli
French	Feu Secret
Frisian	Geheime Fjoer
Georgian	საიდუმლო ცეცხლი
German	Geheimes Feuer
Greek	Μυστική Φωτιά
Gujarati	સિક્રેટ ફાયર
Haitian Creole	Sekrè Dife
Hausa	Asirin Wuta
Hebrew	האש הסודית
Hindi	गुप्त आग
Hungarian	Titkos tűz Olthatatlan Lángot
Icelandic	Hinn launhelgi logi
Indonesian	Api Rahasia
Irish Gaelic	Rúnda tine
Italian	Fuoco segreto (Secret Fire) Fiamma Imperitura (Flame imperishable)
Japanese	神秘の火/不滅の炎
Javanese	Rahasia Geni
Kannada	ರಹಸ್ಯ ಬೆಂಕಿ
Kazakh	Құпия өрт (Cyrillic) Qupïya ört (Latin)
Korean	비밀 화재
Kurdish	Agir Dizî (Kurmanji Kurdish)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	жашыруун өрт
Latin	Secretum Ignis
Latvian	Slepenā uguns
Lithuanian	Slaptas gaisro
Luxembourgish	Geheime Feier
Macedonian Cyrillic	Таен оган
Malaysian	Api Rahsia
Malayalam	രഹസ്യ തീ
Maltese	Sigriet nar
Manx	Aile Follit ?
Marathi	गुप्त आग
Mongolian Cyrillic	Нууц гал
Nepalese	गुप्त आगो
Norwegian	Hemmelig brann
Northern Sami	Suollemas Dolla
Pashto	پټ اور
Persian	(Secret Fire) آتش راز (Flame Imperishable) شعله زوال‌ناپذیر
Polish	Tajemny Ogień (Secret Fire) Niezniszczalny Płomień (Flame Imperishable)
Portuguese	Segredo do Fogo (Secret Fire) Chama Imperecível (Flame Imperishable)
Punjabi	ਗੁਪਤ ਅੱਗ
Querétaro Otomi	Ar tsibi secreto
Romanian	Focul Secret
Romansh	Fieu Adascus
Russian	Негасимое пламя
Samoan	Lilo Afi
Scottish Gaelic	Teine dìomhair
Serbian	Тајна ватра (Cyrillic) Tajna vatra (Latin)
Sesotho	Sephiri Mollo
Sinhalese	රහස ගිනි
Sindhi	راز کي باهه
Slovak	Tajné požiaru
Slovenian	Skrivni ogenj
Somalian	Dabka Qarsoon
Spanish	Fuego Secreto
Swahili	Siri Moto
Swedish	Hemlig eld
Tajik Cyrillic	Сирри оташ
Tamil	இரகசிய தீ
Telugu	రహస్య అగ్ని
Thai	ไฟไหม้ลับ
Turkish	Gizli ateş
Turkmen	Syr Ot ?
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Секретні вогню
Urdu	خفیہ آگ
Uzbek	Сирли олов (Cyrillic) Sirli olov (Latin)
Vietnamese	Bí mật lửa
Welsh	Tân dirgel
Yiddish	סוד פייַער
Yucatec Maya	Secreto K'áak'
Zulu	Umlilo Imfihlo